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ON MENTAL ILLNESS: Safeway Grocery Delivery is Potential Help for Disabled People

Jack Bragen
Thursday November 30, 2017 - 03:50:00 PM

Going to a grocery store is an experience I am barely able to tolerate, if at all. When I was nineteen and working for a janitorial service, cleaning and polishing supermarket floors, I was almost killed, when two gunmen held me captive (for about ten hours) overnight and robbed the store in the morning upon the arrival of the manager who could open the safe. That was more than thirty years ago and I am not certain of whether or not it explains my dislike of supermarkets. 

Also, because of my psychological and neurobiological limitations, I find it difficult to handle some environments. I am not very good at filtering. 

There are many reasons that disabled people may have trouble getting to a grocery store. Not all mentally ill people drive. Some have physical disabilities that prevent shopping at a supermarket. Some may have agoraphobia. Yet, we all have in common the fact that we need to eat. 

Then, there is Safeway dot com, with grocery delivery which is usually affordable and usually dependable. Their delivery fee is $12.00, you are not expected to tip the driver, and they will show up with your food pretty much whenever you'd like. 

It is clear that Safeway does this to sell groceries; there is no ulterior motive. There is no scheme to rip people off. 

My wife and I had difficulties when one driver failed to deliver about half of our food. On the receipt a number of items were scanned twice, while others were scanned but did not show up. We were charged full price.  

However, Safeway is determined to maintain their reputation. 

It took quite a bit of phone calling on the part of both me and my wife to obtain a refund, which as of this writing, is supposed to show up in a few days.  

My wife was not willing to give up and kept after them, which is the main reason why this worked. She ultimately called the Safeway corporate offices, which are not located in California. 

Safeway may need to overhaul their system that handles complaints. However, most of my experiences with this service have been good. 

My wife and I will try them again, after we are refunded, and I am guessing that they will get it right in the foreseeable future. 

 

Addendum: Safeway did refund the $65 for the botched delivery, as they had promised to do. Overall, I believe their service is very valuable, and I think there is a big market for products and services to be delivered.