New Kroger MSC

@amyann2 wrote:

Thanks, yes, I saw that about substitutions when I signed up for one and got the complete guidelines. This does look pretty simple; I'm looking forward to it!

I happened to notice on the job list, it says $5 fee and $30 max reimbursement. *Inside* each listing, however, it says reimbursement is $25. Still elsewhere it says that there could be a pick-up fee of $4.95 and they will reimburse that without the shopper having to ask for it.

So I'm not sure if the reimbursement is really $25 or $30, and/or if a fee is imposed, you would be reimbursed $29.95 or $34.95. (It's that annoying part of my brain that wants all the info to match/add up!)

The way I'm interpreting it is that they will reimburse a max of $25 for items purchased, plus the $5 fee, for a total reimbursement of $30. Meaning that if you buy $30 worth of stuff, and also get charged $5 for the fee, you will only receive $30 reimbursement. Also meaning that if you buy $35 worth of stuff to avoid the fee, you will only get reimbursed $25.

If my interpretation is correct, ordering $25 is the way to go if you dont want to have to spend any extra money.

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They bonused one on the shops page that was a 40 mile drive for an additional $40 in my area. So far the only bonused one. But with the higher reimbursement (which was close to the standard PAD anyway), I'm not complaining. Also, the most recent posting covers a two week period, has the usual shop 4 times per location and there is a new shop as well.

Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230

Don't expect quick responses from the MSC.

I suspect that they will, simply due to instuctions on how to evaluate the types of meat packages at a competitor's shop.

Due to the quick pay and app, I'll miss them. But for higher pay I'll deal with it. Using the website (you can check in with their app, but if you want to submit the shop it goes to the web app.

I am so happy you folks mentioned the pick up shops!! $25 worth of groceries will go a LONG way.. I signed up for one next week. I'll see how it goes and see if it's possible to get some to do while I'm out on a route..

@Morledzep wrote:

I am so happy you folks mentioned the pick up shops!! $25 worth of groceries will go a LONG way.. I signed up for one next week. I'll see how it goes and see if it's possible to get some to do while I'm out on a route..

I did my first pick up shop today, super simple. The report was super easy and I was at the grocery store 10 minutes max from time of arrival to time of departure .

Completed my first pickup. A bit of a learning curve but still fairly simple. I ordered over $35 to avoid the $6.95 fee. However one of my items was not available so the total order was under $35. Happily, Kroger (Ralphs) did not charge me the fee.

Did my first today. I ordered 9 items well over $25. I got the text about substitutions and ignored it as instructed, but the employee who brought my groceries did not offer me any substitutions to review even though I know very well there are a lot of similar products. So I'm under on items and under $25, which I imagine is fine under the circumstances, but I only got $15 of groceries instead of $25, so the trip wasn't as worthwhile as it might have been.

Oh well. Hopefully that won't happen often. And it certainly is an easy shop.

@amyann2 wrote:

Did my first today. I ordered 9 items well over $25. I got the text about substitutions and ignored it as instructed, but the employee who brought my groceries did not offer me any substitutions to review even though I know very well there are a lot of similar products. So I'm under on items and under $25, which I imagine is fine under the circumstances, but I only got $15 of groceries instead of $25, so the trip wasn't as worthwhile as it might have been.

Oh well. Hopefully that won't happen often. And it certainly is an easy shop.

I know, with the previous MSC, that not spending the minimum amount, or the minimum number of items, will get your shop rejected. I hope, for your sake, that is not the case with the current MSC.

@amyann2 wrote:

Did my first today. I ordered 9 items well over $25. I got the text about substitutions and ignored it as instructed, but the employee who brought my groceries did not offer me any substitutions to review even though I know very well there are a lot of similar products. So I'm under on items and under $25, which I imagine is fine under the circumstances, but I only got $15 of groceries instead of $25, so the trip wasn't as worthwhile as it might have been.

Oh well. Hopefully that won't happen often. And it certainly is an easy shop.

They don't offer you substitutions. They just tell you what wasn't filled since they couldn't do substitutions.

Either there are no local shops or I missed them. (I presume that local people scoop them up immediately.) Oh, well. I still do best when I get everything that I need for awhile in one ginormous grocery stock-up which no one reimburses. No one asks me to break my stride for required activities, and I can check out via whatever lane is shortest when I am there. It would be nice to have a few reimbursed items, but... oh, well...

Bach is not noise, Madam. (Robert, in Two's Company)

I know I must be overlooking something, but can someone please advise where you can find the assigned checkout method (self-checkout vs full-service)?

I see this morning that the reimbursement now says $32. So, $25 for groceries plus up to $7 for the pickup fee. I assume they increased it as the pickup fee in some areas like mine is $6.95, not $4.95 as they state in the instructions.

@jettafan2006 wrote:

I know I must be overlooking something, but can someone please advise where you can find the assigned checkout method (self-checkout vs full-service)?

On the first page. Below the address.

@pegleg2000 wrote:

@jettafan2006 wrote:

I know I must be overlooking something, but can someone please advise where you can find the assigned checkout method (self-checkout vs full-service)?

On the first page. Below the address.

I'm sorry, but I still cannot find it. I'm under "Scheduled Shops". It shows:

- Kroger
Full-service; Make exterior & interior store observations. Purchase required
03/07/2022 -
change shop date

<address of Kroger store>
instructions

And then a link to the instructions. Am I on the wrong page? Sorry!

@jettafan2006 wrote:

@pegleg2000 wrote:

@jettafan2006 wrote:

I know I must be overlooking something, but can someone please advise where you can find the assigned checkout method (self-checkout vs full-service)?

On the first page. Below the address.

I'm sorry, but I still cannot find it. I'm under "Scheduled Shops". It shows:

- Kroger
Full-service; Make exterior & interior store observations. Purchase required
03/07/2022 -
change shop date

<address of Kroger store>
instructions

And then a link to the instructions. Am I on the wrong page? Sorry!

It is in your comment. Under Kroger it says full service..

I have been spending $35 to avoid the fee. Evertime it has been under the $35 and i have not been charged the fee.

Thank you. I didn’t realize that.

@pegleg2000 wrote:

I have been spending $35 to avoid the fee. Evertime it has been under the $35 and i have not been charged the fee.

Thats what happened to me. I guess the trick is to order something you know that don't have and with no substitutions it gets deleted. The fee is still waived.

@Morledzep wrote:

I know, with the previous MSC, that not spending the minimum amount, or the minimum number of items, will get your shop rejected. I hope, for your sake, that is not the case with the current MSC.

Fortunately, the shop is already showing as approved for payment. I see now that their Pickup Program FAQ states that if substitutions cause you to go under $25, you'll still be compensated.

Re: substitutions, the detailed guidelines state now state to select "Best Match" or "Allow substitutions" while ordering so that the car-side substitution process can be reviewed. I'm fairly certain the original quidelines said to check "Do Not Allow Substitutions" but I can't confirm ATM because I downloaded those guidelines to another computer.

Looks to me like they're refinding the process as they go, and doing a good job of trying to cover all the bases.

Too bad the MSC didn't send an email notifying us of the change in the instructions. Fortunately, I read this forum and will now handle substitutions correctly. I already completed one of these following the old instructions and I don't always reread everything before doing the next one.

I have now completed two pickup shops for Kroger (Ralph's). Here are some things I have learned in the process. If your order is over $35, the pickup fee is waived (6.95 in California). On my first order an item was deleted, and the order wound up being under $35 but the pickup fee was still waived by Kroger. On my second order, I received a text message of a substitution which was Charmin toilet paper instead of the Kroger brand. Of course the Charmin brand was more expensive but they only charge you the lower price when an item is substituted. So that was a win. However, they also deleted two of my items as they apparently they did not have a compatible substitute. I did not notice that in my text notification so I am not sure if it was even there. This resulted in my order being about $20 so I lost $5 in possible reimbursement. I thought this info might be helpful to other shoppers so take it for what it's worth. Unfortunately the MSC does not have a comment section in the report for things like this. I assume the client would like to know. Of course regular shoppers would not be concerned about reimbursements but they may want to add an item even if Kroger does not suggest a substitute for a not in stock item.

Apparently the (at least) 2 other previous Kroger shoppers in my town have not migrated over to the new MSC for our 4 local Kroger stores. I've just been asked to do the remaining 2 shops for each of the stores, (not allowed to schedule more than two per month per store myself) which means I'll do the full months worth of 4 shops each plus 2 pickups for the two that offer the service. PLUS, the extra shops are paying $15 bonus for each of the in-store and $5 bonus for the pickups! So that's $404 in fees and groceries and all in town. I can usually knock out all four stores in the route in a little over two hours.
That, and they paid today for the February shops!
I'm liking this new MSC and I really really like my scheduler!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2022 09:44PM by JW.

Just posted, but no pick up yet. Hopefully they will follow.

I didn't notice the pickup jobs yet. Those were great!

Are you all seeing the same number of shops and the same locations the old MSC posted? I’m seeing a lot less in my area but I’m not sure if they’re just being snatched up quickly or they’re not being posted at all. Are they posting all of the shops for the entire month at once?

I have noticed all locations listed in my area.. they might just be getting picked up quickly because of the higher pay. I have seen them fly off the board quicker in my area with this MSC.

@Lissymaree wrote:

I have noticed all locations listed in my area.. they might just be getting picked up quickly because of the higher pay. I have seen them fly off the board quicker in my area with this MSC.

I have seen that too. Thurday they posted over 400 today it is down to 80.

Does anyone know if the pickup shops will be recurring or if they were a one-time deal? Only seeing the regular in-store shops this month…

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