Stephanie P.
Yelp
Back in the Before Times, I'd hardly ever been to this Fred Meyer. But during COVID-19, this location has turned into a standby for grocery curbside pickup. So this is a review primarily of their pickup service.
Their website is a little clunky, but works pretty well for searching and adding items to your cart. I've been impressed by the variety of items that are available, both on the grocery side and housewares side. The wine selection is pretty good and easy to order as well.
Meat and produce are the trickiest things to order. About half the time, I get produce that's WAY underripe, bizarrely small/large, damaged, or otherwise not something a normal shopper would ever pick out for themselves. The website is confusing because it lists produce prices by the pound, but if you ask for a quantity of one, you get one PIECE. An employee told me that you can use the notes section to request something specific, but that hasn't worked when I've tried it, so I just accept that the produce isn't the best.
Once you have what you want, you reserve a day/time and place your order, although -- annoyingly -- you don't get charged until the day you pick up. This matters because often you'll see a sale price, but the price changes before your pickup day, so you get charged more. This has happened regardless of the pickup day, so it seems a little sketchy -- it's not like prices always change on a Sunday or whatever. And you don't get a chance to review the prices of items in your order when you pick up. This is the most frustrating part of the process, and I wish they'd charge you when you place your order so you know how much you're paying!
The actual pickup, though, is pretty straightforward. You can let them know when you're on your way via the site, and when you arrive, you update it with your parking space. We usually only wait a few minutes for our order to come out (and you can tell they're always busy and working hard). They give you a printout showing any substitutions or items they were out of, and you can approve or reject these before the order is final. (However, you don't get to see the prices of regular items; that's all on their handheld device.) You can even give them coupons if you have any. Then they process your order, load the items in the trunk, and you're on your way.
To be clear, the problems with the process are mostly with the website and ordering system, not the employees, who are prompt and friendly (despite having to go in and out of the winter weather all day). Overall, curbside pickup is pretty good, and I love not having to go inside a crowded grocery store for an extended period of time. If that means getting bruised tomatoes and green bananas, so be it!