The letter below is my SECOND letter to Kroger and naturally no courtesy of a reply. The letter will explain my predicament. I am angered, not by the fall, but by the treatment. They had a man call, I call him the INTIMIDATOR and he basically told me they are not liable, my own stupid fault and so on and so forth. He says I will give you a 100.00 for bad customer service which I declined because that would be like saying that it is alright for a Corporation to treat the consumer like a worthless piece of garbage.
Where are all the others who have been treated in such a way? I cannot be the only one.
Three people have responded to me nicely ~ one an attorney who gives time to the Senior Centrehe told me a PI attorney would consider taking me on would be as if they were earning a plumbers wage, so they will not give me the time of day, especially when I say it is not about the money. He said Ralphs are certainly liable but the law does not work in my favor especially as there is no law against being rude to the consumer.
Fox TV I wrote to a lady Inv. Reporternice lady, but whoops! My mistake, she is in Florida and not California
The Department of Consumer Affairs who suggested I take them to Small Claims.
I have had so many no replies to emails and letters. Local attorneys, cant get past the receptionist and yet they all offer a FREE consultation. An Attorney recommended for our district for AARP Members
Elder Abuse for Riverside County. An Inv. Reporter, well known in L.A. Local TV New Station and so on and so forth.
I have never held a grudge and yet I cant dump thisit is just not right the way this was handled. I am obsessed with the bad manners and ignorance and just plain nastiness.
KrogerPresident/CEO
First of I admit to being a rambler, but I stopped apologizing for that many years agoI know you are probably cringing at another letter from me. Well! As you did not have the courtesy to respond to the last one I thought I would bombard you againbecause I am not going away
RE: My accident in your Ralphs store on 11.28.2007 in XXXXXXXX, Ca
First let me explain how this annoying little old lady could have been satisfied. Words that the manager could have said to mollify me and then you would have never heard from me at all.
1: Let me get you a seat
2: Are you in the store alone
3: Can we get someone to give you a ride home
4: In your interest and ours let us pay for a Doctors office visit.
5: Is it alright if I call you in an hour to make sure you got home alright.
6: I will call you tomorrow and check on you
7: When the accident report is finished I will send you a copy, or have you come in to sign it and verify that all information is correct.
8: Do you have a grocery list, let me get a clerk to pick up the items for you.
9: Let me get you some aspirin/how about a cup of coffee
10: Is there anyone we can call for you
and so on and so forth - but you get the idea.
Its sometimes called manners I believe.
This would have shown a caring individual and that would have been greatly appreciated.
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Then let me tell you about the GIRL whose cart I tripped over (she warrants capital letters, far more with decent customer service than the manager)
1: She became totally panicked, found it a bit of a problem to breath, close to tearsI imagine the loss of a job probably went through her mind, it would have mine if positions reversed.
2: She offered coffee which I declined
3: She offered Tylenol, which I declined as I had taken Aspirin before leaving the housethankfully I might add as it dulled the senses somewhat.
4: She ran and got a bag of ice for me to put on the large swelling on my head.
5: She acted as if she genuinely cared.
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The victimMe
1: I have a brash mouth that covers up embarrassment and insecurities, whilst the real me cowers beneath.
2: Having taken Aspirin before the fall was very helpfulSomeone was looking out for me it would seem
3: I made as light as possible because it was early morning and the girl certainly did not need her whole day ruined. Not her fault, management problem in not making sure employees properly trained in safetyin my humble opinion. Also a Corporate problem, like now, when managers bend the rules as they see fit.
4: The manager said I suppose I can help you up I declined, the man was way to uncaring and I struggled with it myself.
5: The manager said Give me your name and address just in case I certainly did not feel like writing so tore of the top of a deposit slip which had all pertinent information on it.
6: I finished getting my few groceries, feeling like an idiot with a bag of ice being held at my head.
7: Sat in my car for a spell as I felt a bit strange, then drove home very slowly and carefully.
8: Called my son who is in retail, and told him what happened. He said You will hear from them tomorrow, they have to follow through on an accident
9: I sat down and cried.
10: Yes I did get hurt quite nastily and I have already supplied you with pictures as I have the store.
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Next Day or any daynot a word and I knew just from the managers attitude he would not be making up any accident report, no doubt in my mind whatsoever.
I had drawn in pencil a couple of diagrams at what happened, so sent one to the Los Angeles address with an appeal to make for better stacking on the trolleys to avoid such accidents.
No courtesy of a reply, even to say they maybe didnt understand itI didnt feel like writing, too much of a bad head to think straight.
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12.4.2007 Not a word so I emailed Kroger and got a reply from a lady which was appreciated,
She contacted a Rick at the XXXXXXXX store..
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12.8.2007 Rick called me and I went into see himhe said he had no idea that there had been an accident in the store, he had seen no accident report, but was quick to add But that doesnt mean there wasnt oneYeah! Right!
Saw the girl and she asked how I was, said I was a bit frustrated/angry as no one at Ralphs seemed to care. I had heard from no one at all. She stated she had not been asked to sign an accident report or even seen one. That she had asked the manager if they shouldnt call or send me a basket of fruit or something. He basically told her to shut up, there was nothing wrong with me and I was alright and he had taken care of it. She asked him several days in a row and he told her to just forget it.
On 12.12.2007 I sent this information to the lady at Krogerthis time no reply.
12.17.2007 The non-follow thru manager calls to apologizewhat a joke strictly a cover his rear-end trick, said he read me wrong - yes he certainly did, but what has that got to do with him doing his job properly, filing an accident report and having it signed by the three parties involvedtoo much paperwork, not worth his time or what?
Apology not accepted and I imagine by now there is an accident report in pristine condition sitting in the file.
I am going to take care of you, will have someone call you was basically his final words after I told him he did wrong in the way it was handled.
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12.18/12.19.2007 First a call from a girl who asked me for the facts and then she had to give them to her superior who would call me.
Next day a call from a man who said he was representing Ralphs. He was like an aggressive mean-spirited Pitbull, jaws clenched and going to rip the victim apart. After he is through telling me how stupid I am, or words to that effect with the meaning very clear he says I will give you 100.00 for bad customer service and I declined, accepting it would have said it was alright to treat people like trash. He told me he would send me a letter of decline which I said I certainly wanted.
This man should not be representing anyonehe is an insult, abusive and not praiseworthy in any way shape or form.
He left me shaking and I could envision him after the call rubbing his hands together and saying thats another dumb bitch of the booksin YOUR name, a representative of Ralphsmust make you very proud.
Yep! Like he said (the manager) he sure took care of me.
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I waited for the letter of decline, patientlynot received so on 1.07. I sent all this to you at the Corporate office addressed as personal and confidential to the President/Ceo asking you was this the proper way to treat people.
No courtesy of a reply.
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1.25.2008 The manager who I thought was decent - Rick, who said he would do anything to help me, I contacted next. Gave him all my information to put in my accident folder and asked him to please get me the letter of decline, I need it, I want to see that mans name and who he works for, I want that letter, I want to report him to anyone I can report him to.
The sealed envelope was hand delivered, addressed as personal and confidential to Rick and put on the managers counter..
No replySuch amazing non-care dont give a damn actions it would seem by Ralphs.
I cannot be the only person who has been treated like this and I have considered a letter to the editor of various newspapers or TV stations asking for others to come forward because it is just not right, and it just does not seem plausible that I am the only one to have been treated in such an un-worthwhile manner.
So why didnt I get the letter of decline? This makes me wonder was the person who called me maybe the non-follow thru manager, or someone he asked to do the job for him to get him of the hook? I hate that I am thinking this way and I cant drop itbut there is no excuse for this lack of follow through on an accident., no matter how minimal..
Then I wonder, do you even have a clue who is calling on your behalf and making you look so bad?
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I know I didnt break bones or die, but I did have the accident. Maybe knowing that no attorney would think I was worth their time is your mindset, but that does not give you the right to impart this type of rudeness on anyone.
I have written to many people about this, told a lot of people and I will do so until my dying day, maybe someone will hear me some day, maybe they wont but this has been an abusive affair.
I wrote to Department of Consumer Affairs and they suggested Small Claims, as did an attorney I talked to. I could use the money for surebut I am fighting for a principle here, to right what I see as an enormous wrong and if I take it to my grave so be it.
Who was the man who called and where is my letter of declineand do you even know who he is?
All I wanted was to know someone cared, a decent, honorable apology. To be told that new measures had been taken in regards to customer safety. To view and sign an honest accident report. To be informed that the nasty sounding man would not be used for intimidation purposes by you anymore. Not a whole lot and not one of the things I wanted came to pass.
Respectfully
5.30.2008
Anonymous
La Quinta, California
U.S.A.
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