Safeway

So I’m new at Unilocal but I must be honest. I left a nail shop and stopped at the store thinking I’d grab some stuff and get started on dinner. Well deli staff practically ignored me, and I was bombarded by strangers while walking to my car. Needless to say I was not comfortable even going to Safeway with out a can of mase. Ridiculous.

A little creepier, less clean, slower checkout, and smaller selection Safeway than other Safeway markets in town. At night the clientele gets a little less stable. If you want a bit of a show, go late into their business hours and you are sure to be entertained.

My friends and I have nicknamed this the «Heathen Safeway». There is an older lady who works as a cashier who is absolutely batshit crazy. On multiple occasions, friends of mine have been threatened by the cashier. It may have been slightly deserved a time or two, but other times not so much. When my friend walked in and saw birthday cake Oreos for the first time and said «holy s***!» The old lady at the register stopped scanning for the person she was helping, spun around, and yelled at us. My friend was very apologetic and said he didn’t meant to be offensive, but she threatened to wash his mouth out with soap, telling him «this is a family establishment!» She threatened to kick the three of us out for using such words. Keep in mind this was at like 11pm and all the people in line were either high kids buying chips or people buying beer on their way to a party. Another time the same old lady was there and also threatened my other friend, saying she would wash her mouth out with soap and told her she better watch her mouth, because she quietly said «oh crap» after hitting the wrong button on the card reader at the register.
Then my third experience with this old lady… This was before the other two times. This may help explain why it takes forever and a half to get through the register. I was there with a friend who was very sick and had asked me to drive him to the store to buy some NyQuil. He was all stuffed up, caughing, sneezing, and clearly sick. I was behind him in line buying some lucky charms and milk. She saw us talking in line, and insisted that she had to see both of our IDs to sell him the NyQuil. Keep in mind I was 20, he was 21. We both looked clearly over 18. My friends and I do not look at all like the «wrong crowd» we just look like average less-​popular college kids.
Another time some friends of mine went to this Safeway and witnessed this lady ring up a guy buying beer. She carded him, then waited for him to leave. As soon as he left she followed him out of the store, followed him to his car, and carded everybody in the car. Like yeah I get it that selling to people who will encourage underage drinking is illegal, but this is a little extreme. I have not seen her there for a while, although I have stopped shopping there. I would like to shop for groceries without being criticize for possibly accidentally letting «crap» slip out of my mouth in front of a bunch of high college kids, and without having to be carded because my obviously sick friend is buying NyQuil for himself. I am always afraid I will forget my ID, or somehow look suspicious or something. This lady doesn’t just look for tr age, she takes like a good 30 seconds-​1 minute reading over your ID, and checking to make sure your photo matches your face. Which is frustrating when there are like 7 people in line who are buying beer, and it takes her forever to read over your drivers license to make sure you are old enough to buy whatever you are buying. Be aware, if you swear you will be threatened to be kicked out, and you will be carded for just about everything.
Now onto the inventory: one of the more expensive safe ways I have been to, and they have a very limited inventory. If you are hoping to find a more adequately stocked Safeway where you will not feel so judged by the employees, head to the one near philomath. It’s way bigger with more variety, and the employees are nice. And they have self checkout, so you won’t have to spend 20 minutes in line waiting for some insane old lady to read over everybody’s IDs if somebody is buying cold medicine.

I’m all about hospitality. I can tell these employees are under a lot of stress. If they could relax a little they’d treat their customers much better. The deli girl was very cold and not too keen on customer satisfaction. There is one certain cashier there as well that made me feel a bit uneasy the way she treated me. I treat everyone kindly and with respect, so this took me back a little. Maybe it’s just how she comes off under pressure. Everything else is just great, but if you don’t have customer service you don’t have anything!

Normally, I wouldn’t review a grocery store (especially a chain like Safeway), but this location is special. EVERY time I go to this store (doesn’t matter day or time), there are never enough cashiers. They always have long lines and the cashiers don’t seem to be in any hurry. PLEASE install self-​checkout registers at this store so people can get on with their day! If you go here, plan to wait.

this store is ripping off customers. they are no longer fallowing Oregon law that says if an item is no good or does not work you can return it. they refused to refund my money for two items that were no good and did not work after i got home and tried to use them the items are defective. took them back the same day they say they no longer do refunds. everyone needs to boycot theses stores that refuse to refund. i did not know we were living in a communist country.

I like this store. It’s kind of expensive, but between Albertsons and Winco, this is the only decent place to get meat and deli items. It’s definitely pricier than Winco, but a bagillion times better than Albertsons. Who even shops at Albertsons?!

3.5 stars.
I could get used to this re-​opening of this store although it is a little smaller than the one down on Philomath. I avoided this place at all costs… the produce looked so old it was gross. The lettuce was frail and floppy, the tomatoes were pretty much orange, and the atmosphere in general just did not feel very welcoming.
I’m really glad they did a whole upgrade including the parking lot because the whole shabaam needed it if this place was going to survive in these uncertain times. Although I’m not sure if it was because it’s still in it’s grand re-​opening state that there were more employees than I’ve seen before and that everyone was extra helpful. I was in the express lane finishing up my order, then the cashier was nice enough to let this couple with a cart and a half of groceries to go through her lane. Okay. Why on earth did they have a whole cart and a half of groceries? Dare I ask? Well… who the hell knows but they came armed with coupons and the coupon book that was mailed out to all of Corvallis.
One gripe is that the parking spaces feel narrower! what the hell?
Way to clean up Safeway, a job well done.

Yesterday this Safeway have a re-​grand opening day because they just recently remodeled.
I went to the preview party yesterday because on their ad they mentioned free samples and there was a booklet filled with ‘free’ coupon items. So why not?
These were the things I noticed:
— They added more light, the place is now brighter.
— Newer signage and much cleaner.
— A lot of the stuff got shifted around and group together.
— The parking lot arrows are repainted.
— Customer service is now on your left instead of on your right.
— Etc.
[+] Those were the changes I’d noticed, not why I gave them a 4 star. The main reason why I gave them a 4 star is because of the great customer service they provide. I went in there to purchase contact lens solution and a few other things, but of course I can not find them. So I asked the near by store employee. She stopped what she was doing (she was stocking the eggs) and instead of telling me the aisle number, she actually led me to the exact location of the item! I really appreciate it when they actually show me where things are because I hate it when someone tells me, «it’s on aisle #5, on your left side, next to the mayo» Oh right, like I know where the mayo is!?! ugh. Not only her, but I did that to a few other employees, not to test them, but I really didn’t know where things were! Same thing, extremely nice and helpful!
[-] The only bad thing I would have to say is don’t go in there during the night shift. I had to go back there the same day, (but at night) because the computer for some reason didn’t rang up the promotion saving deal for the ice cream I purchased. I was literally standing by the customer service desk for like 7 – 10 minutes and I was not acknowledged by anyone at all. I had to go ask a nearby cashier, if someone could help me. Night crew lack good customer service.
Safeway prices are a bit pricey, but shop with coupons, so it’s not a big deal for me. They occasionally have the ‘double your manufacturer coupon’ which helps with the groceries.
((It could be that they had a grand re-​opening, that might be why everyone needed to be on their best behavior. LOL I will come back and update if the customer service went downhill in the near future.))