I have a friend that works for Safeway, and she told me that
lately they have been jacking up their prices and then putting
items on sale.
“I have a friend that works for Safeway, and she told me that lately they have been jacking up their prices and then putting items on sale. I didn’t need her to tell me this because I had already noticed their outrageous prices and ridiculous sale prices. My family, co-workers and friends have noticed the same thing. I want Safeway to bring their prices back down! Please tell them that we all know what’s going on.”
Red Phone: Dear Disgruntled Shopper, You may have discovered one of a retailer’s little secrets. It’s not just Safeway. Red Phone has noticed that merchants will do whatever they can to get you to buy their products like putting the stuff you need in the back of the store so you end up buying more than you came in for.
With Safeway, the third largest supermarket chain in North America, and some other grocery stores, you need a club card to save money. But company official deny raising the prices only to lower them.
“This is certainly not the case,” said company spokeswoman Teena Massingill. “Safeway prides itself on competitive prices and runs substantial price promotions on thousands of products on average each week. Starting this week, customers will notice new signs showing even better prices everyday on the products throughout the store.”
There is a difference between a product’s regular price and the promotion price, Massingill said.
“Both prices are based on a number of factors, including consumer demand, product costs and competitors’ prices,” she said. “None of these factors have warranted a recent wide-scale increase in prices. Our pricing strategy is to always give the best regular and promotional prices to our customers throughout the year.”
At least you can get an overpriced cup of Starbucks coffee or save a couple of pennies on your gasoline bill at the same time you do your shopping.
We’d like to know what what store you shop at and what deals you have found. Go to www.gilroydispatch.com to comment at the end of this story.
Garbage on Santa Teresa
“It’s time to request South Valley Disposal to sweep the bike lanes and intersections along Santa Teresa. There is build up of automotive debris – glass, broken chrome objects – and construction material, such as wood screws and nails that puncture bicyclist’s tires. Thank You.”
Red Phone: Dear Punctured Again, We’re sorry to hear about your bad luck with finding the debris along side the roads on the bike paths during your commute between Gilroy and Morgan Hill.
It’s especially rocky with the ongoing construction at the new school. Hopefully it should clear up a little once the school opens in the fall. But then instead of nails on the road, you’ll have to worry about cars. But that presents a whole new set of problems.
This isn’t the first time a caller has had problems with debris on the trails. Several months ago, a call to Red Phone got South Valley Disposal to clean up the trail.
South Valley Disposal, which contracts with the city to provide street cleaning services, recently increased its scheduled cleaning along Santa Teresa to try to compensate for the increase in garbage that is being kicked up onto the bike paths, said South Valley Disposal General Manager Phil Couchee.
“Santa Teresa is a very busy street,” Couchee said. “It does not take long for debris to build up, especially in intersections.”
So hopefully the added cleaning will help. Remember South Valley Disposal only cleans the area through Sunrise Drive. For the rest of the area, you are on your own.
