Reader Phyllis sent over a screenshot of an “incredible” deal on Laughing Cow Baby Bell Cheese from her Dominick’s Just For U, which added new ecoupons for personalized deals today:
She writes, “The worst part is I actually added it. I aimlessly clicked the deal before fully reading it. Oh well – I’ll have to avoid that item.”
UPDATE: I checked my own Just For U deals too, and I’ve got a stellar price on pork chops!
But that’s not all…
Cecropia spotted a “good” Just For U deal on Weight Watchers Smart Ones:
artmom6 says
anything is possible!
PatK says
the Cow is laughing! The joke’s on us!
rrgallo says
I just checked and they have removed the laughing cow personalized deal. Imagine that…
Coupon Maven says
This one’s on the Dominick’s Facebook wall now:
twinmom75 says
This is very interesting. My Just For U only shows personalized prices. How do you get to see the regular price, because I don’t think mine has ever done that? So, how many times have I gotten overcharged for not knowing the prices and assuming they are giving be a good deal?
Turken says
I’m sure that somewhere internally at Safeway/Dominick’s the unofficial name for this program is more along the lines of “Just Screw U.” (Now before you go censor that, hear me out…) Not so much in the vulgar sense, fitting as it may be, but in the fact that if you’ve been watching you’ll notice that every time the program updates with a new set of offers those that you actually used in the previous period will likely stay on your card but get the price ratcheted up a notch. With this “personalized” system, they can let a bunch of computer algorithms and statistical behavior models dictate just how tightly to turn the screws on your wallet before the painful prices keep you from buying an item.
So, now that the system has had a few cycles to make multiple adjustments, we’re starting to see the laughable outcome of algorithm-based pricing. I’d bet good grocery on money that the folks who wrote the software behind this either didn’t know (or didn’t care) that item prices tend to be cyclical, and were too lazy to put in a double check on the personalized price vs. normal. So, when one subroutine ratchets your prices up another notch, while another drops the comparable price to match to the weekly sales ad, we get stuff like this in return. Then again, maybe there is a check in place, which is why half my personalized prices don’t have any sort of comparison next to them…
Turken says
Has anyone with one of these “deals” tried to buy the item in question to see what happens?
shari3145 says
I have to tell you, I always shopped at Jewel and Target 100%… until Dominicks started Deal Match. I’ve tried it several times and I’ve always gotten the lower price, whether it was from my Just4you or from the deal match or their regular price. I’ve had very few mistakes, and customer service has been wonderful about taking care of the few I’ve had. Not only do they correct the mistake, but they’ve even given me the benefit even if I was mistaken!! And they are wonderful about swapping something else if the shelf is cleared. They converted me!!
Coupon Maven says
It gets better!
I logged back into JFU today and saw my pork chop “deal” is still there, only now Dominick’s has removed the regular price of $2.79:
That’s really playing dirty if they’re going to now hide the (cheaper) non “deal” price of the item..!
Phyllis posted in another thread that the SAME thing happened with her Laughing Cow cheese too, the item that started this entire discussion – the high price stayed, but now Dominick’s took off the lower, regular price, apparently hoping she’ll still think it’s a deal.
Patch says
I hate what a time waster it is..checking, loading, printing..ughhh!!!
I really don’t want to spend all that time on the internet..I try to use the computer in the store to load onto my card and print..but all in all I really don’t think Dom’s is that cheap..I prefer Target..
honeybee77 says
Wow, I have not run into this so far, thankfully. I just started shopping at Dom’s when I moved to Crystal Lake. I actually love the fact that I can load deals onto my card – super convienent for me. When I signed up, I actually read the FAQ and this is what it says:
What if an item goes on sale for a price lower than my personal price?
Our systems will honor the lowest price.
https://www.dominicks.com/IFL/Grocery/Justforu-FAQ#faq7
So, hopefully, they would indeed honor the lowest price even if the computers botched it with a not-so-good “deal.”