Hy-Vee: Where There's a Helpful Credit Card Skimmer in Every Point of Sale Terminal

[Macloney]

We will go to our local Hy-Vee (Lawrence, KS) about every 3 weeks and drop between $150-200. We almost always come away with between .02 and .05 cents in Fuel-Saver points. This is in contrast to our local Kroger chain, Dillon's, which gives .01 per $1.00. They also get crazy on gift cards and scrips.

I basically go to Hy-Vee for the nostalgia of growing up with it and because of a few select items. My wife is not from Iowa and is really close to being done with Hy-Vee, but she did go to ISU and that is the only reason I can still get her through the door.

 

[Farnsworth]

I was there in the days before machines, counting each wretched, nasty bottle and festering Busch Light can. Worst job in the store. Summers were the worst for it too.

I was in a smaller store in high school and customer service had to take care of that but I had to help from time to time which sucked. I did collect a massive amount of pepsi points though.

Best job, dairy dept for sure.

 

[dmclone]

I did collect a massive amount of pepsi points though.

Funny, did the same thing.

 

[dosry5]

Also because they do that they now almost treat you like a criminal when you try to leave the store as they have the greeters stop you and scan your receipt and check to make sure the items match."

The solution to this is simple. Just say no thank you and keep waking out with your stuff. I’ve never had a “greeter” follow me out when I do that. It’s my ****, I just paid for it and own it, and you have no legal right to detain me.

 

[Farnsworth]

The solution to this is simple. Just say no thank you and keep waking out with your stuff. I’ve never had a “greeter” follow me out when I do that. It’s my ****, I just paid for it and own it, and you have no legal right to detain me.

When I worked at the vee in high school we had to insist that we bring the grocery to the car. Even if they refused you had to walk beside them and try to load it for them or at least stand there to return the cart.

 

[Deleted member 8507]

I know a place in Des Moines where you take your bags of cans and all you have to do is drop them off and they give you $12 a bag, and a new bag for every bag of cans you drop off. It takes a matter of minutes, and I never have to touch a can. I've already said too much...

I take all of mine to Michigan in an empty U.S. Mail truck. Foolproof plan.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

Massive data/privacy breech and all anyone can ***** about is prices and can redemption?

 

[dosry5]

When I worked at the vee in high school we had to insist that we bring the grocery to the car. Even if they refused you had to walk beside them and try to load it for them or at least stand there to return the cart.

I was talking about the “greeter” checking your receipt, not the socially awkward teenager making small talk while pushing your cart to the car.

 

[VeloClone]

The solution to this is simple. Just say no thank you and keep waking out with your stuff. I’ve never had a “greeter” follow me out when I do that. It’s my ****, I just paid for it and own it, and you have no legal right to detain me.

Yes, you have the right and I'm sure you will exercise it. You will also exercise your right to ***** about price increases when people who aren't paying for everything they are taking out of the store are jacking up costs which the rest of us are paying for.

 

[Cyched]

Massive data/privacy breech and all anyone can ***** about is prices and can redemption?

Must be an Iowa/CF thing.

Like when talking about restaurants we default to price and portion sizes

 

[kcdc4isu]

I wonder if something that they could do is separate HyVee brand stuff from particular HyVee stuff. That way you’d still get the special stuff that some could do while not making people mad. I think a lot of complaints are that they’ve gotten to corporate and lost their identity.

If you are talking about salads, at one time a store was allowed to do their own and name it the store special so not to be confused with the other similar salads.Not sure they are still doing this as I have been retired 11 years (retired early) and you also have cost issues with doing your own. Also I love how people claim that one store has better meat than another store when both get the product from the same supplier.

 

[KnappShack]

Scary stuff - more an issue of when it happens to you, not if.

The really scary examples are when the information is used in Russia to buy things. Fill up your tank and the info is around the world in a heartbeat

 

[Urbandale2013]

If you are talking about salads, at one time a store was allowed to do their own and name it the store special so not to be confused with the other similar salads.Not sure they are still doing this as I have been retired 11 years (retired early) and you also have cost issues with doing your own. Also I love how people claim that one store has better meat than another store when both get the product from the same supplier.

I worked through college with some of the more recent changes and I don’t think they really did anything. They’ve really cut down on the flexibility (almost none) the past 5 years IMO.

 

[dosry5]

Yes, you have the right and I'm sure you will exercise it. You will also exercise your right to ***** about price increases when people who aren't paying for everything they are taking out of the store are jacking up costs which the rest of us are paying for.

Yeah, ummm me not letting them check the bag they just video taped me bagging and paying for makes no difference on if someone else steals something. And the geezer that checks the receipts isn’t really checking anything anyway.

 

[isuno1fan]

I've honestly considered doing an actual price comparison between stores, because the stuff spewed on CF doesn't make sense to me.

Target is by far the most expensive for groceries, and I don't think it's close. I'm talking meat, frozen goods, pantry items, pop/alcohol.

Damn near everybody here always blasts Hy-Vee for being most expensive, but it's just not true (particularly if you take advantage of sales & coupons - and I'm NOT talking fuel saver).

Fareway is not better at most items price-wise. Their meat is better, but also usually more expensive. Their Doritos are definitely more expensive (as Hy-vee's are almost always on sale), not to mention Fareway only carries like 2 flavors in family size. Which brings me to my next point - selection. Fareway sucks for selection. You can get maybe 3 brands of yogurt, and of those 3 brands maybe 3 flavors each? Hy-vee has like 10 flavors of 10 different brands.

And Hy-vee Wine & Spirits is almost good enough to shop there exclusively for everything. Everyday beer prices are nothing great, but something is always on sale. And there is no grocery store that touches their beer or spirits selection.

One of these months I'm going to buy the same items at each store (to a degree, since Fareway doesn't carry much of what I want). Hy-vee overall isn't as much higher as most make them out to be, and their selection makes the difference more than worth it.

*not at all nor have I ever been associated with Hy-vee.

My wife is retired and checks adds weekly. Each week she goes to Walmart, Aldi, HyVee, Fareway, and sometimes Natural Grocers. She keeps a weekly diary of what she spends for everything. It’s a pain in the ass to run around to all the stores but we estimate we save well over $1000 annually by doing this vs just hitting one store all the time.

 

[Waukee100]

I still know a few people at Hy-Vee, they do constant price comparisons and here is what they tell me. This is comparing like grocery products: Most expensive from top to bottom.

Target even with 5% discount
Price Chopper-Pricing is all over the map
Hy-Vee
Fareway
Wal-Mart
Aldi-They can't compare to Aldi because they carry very few of the same brands. They did mention that Aldi is the best place to go if you just want to get the most bang for your buck and not worried about selection or quality.

He did mention that if you truly want to save money, it's all about coupons and sales regardless of store.

I've honestly considered doing an actual price comparison between stores, because the stuff spewed on CF doesn't make sense to me.

Target is by far the most expensive for groceries, and I don't think it's close. I'm talking meat, frozen goods, pantry items, pop/alcohol.

Damn near everybody here always blasts Hy-Vee for being most expensive, but it's just not true (particularly if you take advantage of sales & coupons - and I'm NOT talking fuel saver).

Fareway is not better at most items price-wise. Their meat is better, but also usually more expensive. Their Doritos are definitely more expensive (as Hy-vee's are almost always on sale), not to mention Fareway only carries like 2 flavors in family size. Which brings me to my next point - selection. Fareway sucks for selection. You can get maybe 3 brands of yogurt, and of those 3 brands maybe 3 flavors each? Hy-vee has like 10 flavors of 10 different brands.

And Hy-vee Wine & Spirits is almost good enough to shop there exclusively for everything. Everyday beer prices are nothing great, but something is always on sale. And there is no grocery store that touches their beer or spirits selection.

One of these months I'm going to buy the same items at each store (to a degree, since Fareway doesn't carry much of what I want). Hy-vee overall isn't as much higher as most make them out to be, and their selection makes the difference more than worth it.

*not at all nor have I ever been associated with Hy-vee.

Multiple people have claimed target is the most expensive which I don’t think is even remotely true, maybe for meats and produce but that’s it. They blow everyone away when it comes to baby stuff like formula I believe. They’re actually much closer to Walmart in prices than you would think if you google which is cheaper overall.

A twin cities extensive report was done on all their grocery stores, overall prices is the key thing to look at

 

[Tailg8er]

Multiple people have claimed target is the most expensive which I don’t think is even remotely true, maybe for meats and produce but that’s it. They blow everyone away when it comes to baby stuff like formula I believe. They’re actually much closer to Walmart in prices than you would think if you google which is cheaper overall.

A twin cities extensive report was done on all their grocery stores, overall prices is the key thing to look at

First off, it's awfully convenient of you to ignore the quality scores lol. But second, what was used to determine 'overall' price? Did they cross check prices on every single product in the stores?

I'm not arguing against anything other than groceries here, and I don't think Target is cheaper. Definitely not on meat, definitely not milk/dairy, not chips or coffee, not dressing..

 

[FDWxMan]

The F&F in the Fleur Hy-Vee was tarped off today...apparently getting ripped out, or it at least appears that way.

Also had one of, if not the first Market Grills, which has since been scaled back to the Express as well.

I noticed after the F&F was added, selection variety dropped as there was obviously less available shelf space. But they kept wide selections of weird items, like 15 different vanilla extract brands. Weird.

Glad F&F is apparently out, not looking forward to them rearranging everything again and having to relearn the store.

 

[Rabbuk]

First off, it's awfully convenient of you to ignore the quality scores lol. But second, what was used to determine 'overall' price? Did they cross check prices on every single product in the stores?

I'm not arguing against anything other than groceries here, and I don't think Target is cheaper. Definitely not on meat, definitely not milk/dairy, not chips or coffee, not dressing..

I assume they probably just used a "basket" of goods you can find at any grocery store

 

[dmclone]

People like to hate the most popular.