9 replies to this topic

[jespert]

Did you know that you can get free groceries without buying anything at stores that offer a freshness guarantee? The only store I know of that currently offers such a guarantee is the Texas based HEB which includes HEB grocery stores as well as HEB Pantry and HEB Central Market. I have not yet visited the HEB stores in Mexico, but I suspect it works there also.

The way it works is that when you find items on the shelves that have passed their expiration date, you take one expired and one fresh one to the checkout. Let the cashier know which are fresh and which are expired and they will keep the old one and give you the fresh one without charging you anything! They used to exclude alcohol and tobacco products, but currently anything in the store that has a date on it is fair game including batteries, deodorant, camera film, disposable cameras, blood glucose monitors, blood glucose test strips, ink cartridges, and even spackling compound if you find it.

Other stores used to have a similar policy including Albertsons and Kroger. I'd like for anyone who reads this who shops at a grocery store to pay attention or maybe even ask a manager to find out if there are any other stores that have a freshness guarantee.

[Kubi]

Very interesting find. I'd be willing to try this out, if we had any of said stores listed near me. I could see people digging in the back of shelves looking for expired items, just to find out they have no fresh ones .

Thanks for the find!

[serverph]

i just wish other stores could adopt the same policy as you narrated here... perhaps it could get legislated!

unscrupulous vendors usually pass on their wares as fresh even though it is not. and it poses such great health risks and detriment to the public, who may unwittingly consume expired products. i hear (or is it just an urban myth) that there is some extra leeway in which you can use an expired product, up to a month after expiry on the label at least (i think, don't quote me on that)... but is it worth the risk to even try it?

[iGuest]

Replying to jespert
I use this every week to get about 100 dollars worth of free groceries. I haven't had to pay for groceries (other than soda- that is hard to find expired)in 2 months. I get better food now than I ever did when I was paying because I was on such a tight budget--- now I get all kinds of meats, cheese, bakery goods, bread, yogurt, etc...

The whole process takes about 3 hours of my time each week and is actually really fun-like finding a needle in a haystack...You just have to **** up your pride when you head up to the cashier and have to deal with the 20 minute checkout/manager process. Some of the managers are super nice and some are really mean so this isn't for the faint of heart... Or the prideful. Luckily I am neither and I look at it as I am doing them and all the "too busy" moms out there a favor.

-reply by topshopper

[iGuest]

HEB EmployeeFree Groceries With Freshness GuaranteeI am an Emplotee of this retail chain, ( HEB). There have been recent talks about ending this practice, due to the fact that customers are comming into the stores and " stashing" product, or even grabbing the fresh cut meat from the Market, Which is time stamped and holding it in their carts until the time stated has passed. So, to these untrustworthy people, thank you for doing our retail chain a favor and ending this practice. Everyone should be a little more considerate of retail policy and practices.

[iGuest]

Is the out of date guarantee at all H.E.B storesFree Groceries With Freshness Guarantee

Does each store decide on this policy or are all stores supposed to honor it.  I visited the store on Fry Rd  off I-10 Houston Yesterday to do my grocery shopping since I work on Fry Rd.  I do not use this store much anymore because in November I Had my wallet stolen out of my purse here so it kind of scares me. I found 3 items out of date with my large grocery items I was buying.  I was told that H.E.B does not have the out of date guarantee any longer.  I asked for a manager to tell me and the girl say it would matter we don't do that anymore.  My relatives in San Antonio said that it is still in effect there.  Why should San Antonio stores be different.  Let me know. I love the policy even though I don't find that much out of date 

-question by Pam Koenig

 

[iGuest]

freshness guaranteeFree Groceries With Freshness Guarantee

it's still in effect in Friendswood, TX. Got about $100 today of free stuff.

Manager was a bit rude, seems she didn't like that her store had some bad stuff on shelves. But I think it would be hard to keep all stuff current all the time. 

Anyway, last week, had a very nice person. Guess it just depends. I like free, so whatever it takes!! :)

-reply by momtogijot

 

[iGuest]

Fresh or Free very much alive !!Free Groceries With Freshness Guarantee

Hi...I just saw your post..  I live in the Austin area and am from San Antonio originally. So I go home to SA often. HEB's freshness policy is still very much in effect.  I have run across a few stores where they refuse to honor it.  What I do when that happens is tell the checker/manager in charge or whoever handles it, that I want a list of all the items that I found that were out of date and the prices. I tell them that I will be calling HEB corporate asap and report them. I did it a couple of times and corporate made them issue me a gift card for the amt of groceries they refused to honor.

The stores lose out on some bonus points when they have outdated items brought to their attention thru fresh or free. That is why they get upset sometime. But if they don't want to honor their own policy, they shouldn't have that policy.

So anywho...Just wanted to tell you about that. 

Happy Shopping !!

Gayle 

-reply by Gayle

[iGuest]

Is the out of date guarantee at all H.E.B storesFree Groceries With Freshness Guarantee

that was bull- that manager was wrong. Sometimes certain stores don't want to "deal" with it so managers will mis-inform the employees of the rules or sometimes they will be ignorant of the policy and give you a hard time out of ignorance. They get very righteous about what they think they know and they can easily bully you into just walking away and giving up...You should have asked her to call hq and confirm with them. I have done this before and I have always been proven right in the end along with many apologies from the manager. some managers can be really awful. To combat that I make sure to write glowing reviews for all of the managers that are kind and treat my like a human being and not like some kind of thief and I write scathing reviews for the managers that treat me poorly. It gets back to them and they won't give you a hard time in the future. Also, I really appreciate the managers that tell you it's mutually beneficial... I give them 3-4 solid hours of hard work in exchange for about 100-150 dollars worth of free groceries every week. It keeps employees on their toes and I work harder than any of the stock people will. I also keep an eye out for customers that are hiding food hoping it will go out of date for their next visit... I find this food and put it back in the right place and then I tell the manager that they have a person hiding groceries. I find that if you are fair and don't try to cheat the system the managers will find you helpful and treat you as such. For the most part I have found that if you stand your ground and treat the store with fairness and kindness then you will get respect back from the managers. My suggestion would be to find 5 stores that you always find a ton of expired groceries at...Then rotate them (but never on a regular schedule) so that you never hit one store more than 1 time a month. Always show up at different times and days so they don't start to figure out a pattern. If you do all this you will be pretty successful and if you stand your ground the managers will learn not to mess with you.

-reply by amber