To shucks or not?

May 28, 2010-The giant California based grocery chain stores “Safeway” Memorial Day ad for the week of May 25 thru June 1, 2010 listed a “4 Day Sale! Friday 5/28 thru Monday 5/31 Only!” on “Sweet California White Corn 5 for $1 Club Price.” I visited the “Safeway” store at 350 Bay St and noticed the following sign by the special produce front sale of corn bins:

If you shuck the corn to remove the husks and silks it would be an additional surcharge of $1.19 each! Wow! I seem such signage among Chinatown’s produce stands along Stockton Street telling customers if they shuck the corn it would be a higher prices.

The reasoning being shucking create a big mess and these storefronts are located outdoors, lots of customers traffic and the City littering fines are not cheap. Therefore many stores would rather shuck the corns and sell them in sealed cellophane packaging. There is no such thing as customer satisfaction, if you do not like the pricing or packaging too bad. Majority of these stores holds the motto---right to refuse service!

“Safeway” is an indoor store, so what’s the deal? I checked the normal area where the corns are located in produce section of this store and it too had a sign:This sign made no mention about the $1.19 surcharge if you shuck the husk!

I was very intrigue to discover what’s the deal with ‘shucking surcharge.’ I could have called Michael Finney “7 On Your Side” the champion of consumer watchdog or I could go get some exercise. Therefore I visited the “Safeway” store at 15 Marina Blvd and noticed customers shucking corns with a large garbage bin nearby. I didn’t see any sign forbidding shucking. I walked to another local “Safeway” store at 145 Jackson St and there were some loose husks ontop of the corn bins but no sign forbidding shucking. I called a friend who lived in the Sunset District and he had just brought some of the sale corns at the “Safeway” located at 2350 Noriega St and he claims there were no sign forbidding shucking at that store too. So what’s the deal?

First some insight into ‘shucking corn.’ I recalled watching the “Food Network Channel” how some of the cooks recommended leaving the corn in the husk to roast over a bar-b-q pit or storing unhusk corn in the refrigerator help to retain its moisture content. The main reason customers want to shuck the corn is to ensure the kernels are not rotten or to prevent a big mess at home.

“Safeway” is a store that pride itself on ‘customer satisfaction.’ I have told by many of their employees how true they are to that motto. Take for example their lines of “Rancher’s Reserve” meat products, which in their own website states the following:
“With Rancher’s Reserve, you can feel confident you’re serving the most premium, tender beef available anywhere. Guaranteed, or your money back.”

An employee told me how a customer brought back only the Styrofoam meat packaging with the original receipt and said the meat was too tough and “Safeway” customer service rep would refund the full amount to the customer no question asked. A wine clerk told me how a customer brought back an empty bottle of expensive wine claiming the wine just didn’t fit the ambivalence of the elegant evening dinner. “Safeway” promptly refunded the customer.

The Wizard surmised that the “no shucking” policy is a this store only policy that “Safeway” corporation management are not informed about. The posting of these signs had to be approved by the Store Manager with the assist of the Produce Manager, or could this be the works of the produce employee’s ingenuity?

The “Safeway” ad never listed two pricings for the corn and shuck corn. I forgot the old proverbial---prices are subject to change, but I checked the ad fine print and there were no mention of that statement. Why no customers complained about the high surcharges or what the Store Manager verbal response for the surcharges…I was instructed by Regional Headquarters memo!

The cashier clerk in the checkout line must input the produce code for the corn in order for the cash register to calculate the correct pricing. The coding is by the Head Office of “Safeway,” and I doubt there is a code for ‘shuck corn’ which would automatically ring up $1.19, therefore each cashier clerk had to enter it manually as “special” and enter the amount $1.19. How was the amount of $1.19 decided for ‘shuck corn.’ Was the amount decided by “Safeway” headquarters or was the amount just someone random numbers. What happened if a customer refused to pay the surcharge of $1.19 for each shuck corn? Do the produce clerk place the shuck corns in the special “shuck corn section” priced at $1.19 each. Therefore who would pay $1.19 for shuck corn, when the customer can buy no shuck corn at 20 cents!

Did you notice that the sign was written in English, Spanish and Chinese? There were no additional Spanish translations for the $1.19 surcharges. The normal corn section sign did not state a shucking penalty; therefore a customer would be within their right to refuse to pay the penalty if they mentioned where did it stated that I have to paid $1.19 if I shuck the corn! Why wasn’t the sign made in Braille or voice-activated for the impaired customers. There are too many oddities to this whole situation, but the truth of the matters this store is managed and worked by some very strange work ethics.

Why my mean conclusion, because one morning June 26, 2009 at this very same “Safeway” store of 350 Bay St I noticed this sign at the corn bins:That was last year without any mention of shucking surcharges. I asked several employees what the deal. Most had no clue there was a sign in the corn section. A senior cashier clerk finally told me that the produce department was complaining how the Chinese customers were making a mess of the place when corn goes on sale. The store had provided garbage can in the past by the corn bins, but shucking corns can leave a big mess with all the husks and silks all over the floor. Why do other stores are able to clean up the mess but not these so-called “golden” employees. The other two “Safeway” I visited and called my friend had large influx of Chinese customers too; maybe this store is ripe for a discrimination corn-shucking lawsuit.

The irony to this whole incident is the “Safeway” store located inside the ‘Northpoint Centre Shopping Center.’ The customers are not allowing shucking the husks, but once out of the store I watched customers shucking the corn and leaving them at the mall garbage cans. Venture outside the building by the corner City public garbage bins are full with corn husks and silks. Maybe the mall and the City should bill “Safeway” for the clean-up costs since their workers don’t think it’s their job in the first place!

© 2010 Raving Corner