Awful PC Express pickup service.

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Aug 8th, 2021 9:27 am

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Jul 26th, 2021 3:59 pm

Oni-kun [OP]: Deal Fanatic; Mar 17, 2004; 5487 posts; 952 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 26th, 2021 3:59 pm

Awful PC Express pickup service.

Long story short my wife placed an order for the Real Canadian Superstore near 401 and Brimley road. We arrived on time and waited a full 44 minutes for our order to come out. It didn't appear very busy and it looked like at least 4 different staff were working it but it took way too long.

We ordered Applesauce and they were going to substitute No Name cups of fruit and syrup. Not even close to the same thing. When we called when we arrived my wife told them we didn't want the substitution. They told us no problem. Guess what showed up in the bag. Not only was it there it was twice on the receipt.

We also were missing an item and another item was also wrong.

I tried calling the store after I got home but they were not helpful. When I called the PC express customer service line they tried to offer me a voucher. Now I have to wait to get a refund.

Quite ridiculous and not "express" at all. Would have been faster to walk in and buy the items ourselves. Never using it again. Awful.

35 replies

Jul 26th, 2021 4:01 pm

kr0zet: Deal Fanatic; Jan 16, 2011; 7205 posts; 9218 upvotes; The NORTH

Jul 26th, 2021 4:01 pm

Wait till you try grocery pickup at walmart... Substitutions up the wazoo, garbage produce and trying to understand the customer service rep on the phone will drive you to drink.

+1

Jul 26th, 2021 4:12 pm

Oni-kun [OP]: Deal Fanatic; Mar 17, 2004; 5487 posts; 952 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 26th, 2021 4:12 pm

kr0zet wrote: ↑ Wait till you try grocery pickup at walmart... Substitutions up the wazoo, garbage produce and trying to understand the customer service rep on the phone will drive you to drink.

Oh I've had a bad experience with them too. That's why we tried PC. But it's worse than walmart.

We've actually had a good experience with No Frills. Maybe because the management at some locations actually care

Jul 26th, 2021 4:19 pm

TomRFD: Administrator; Jun 17, 2013; 17337 posts; 34223 upvotes; Scarborough

Jul 26th, 2021 4:19 pm

I stopped doing grocery pickup at that very RCSS long ago because it was never a great experience. Albeit my issues were mainly with them consistently not having 25-30% of what I ordered, but a few times I had to wait a very long time similar to your experience. After that I sometimes did pickups at Shoppers but then they ended that service, so now if I need to do a pickup order I go to the Loblaws on Musgrave.

kr0zet wrote: ↑ Wait till you try grocery pickup at walmart... Substitutions up the wazoo, garbage produce and trying to understand the customer service rep on the phone will drive you to drink.

I mainly use Walmart grocery delivery and while not perfect, I don't have any real complaints about it. Much better item availability (compared to Brimley/401 RCSS), Fresh items are good 9 times out of 10 for me. The main problem is that sometimes it seems like a specific bag of groceries goes missing and doesn't arrive. It sucks but I only have to spend a minute in the app to submit my request to get a refund for those items.

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Jul 26th, 2021 4:23 pm

caltran: Deal Addict; Jan 10, 2009; 2538 posts; 1871 upvotes; Boom and Bust Calgar…

Jul 26th, 2021 4:23 pm

Yeah, those things have happened to me lots of times too. I swear sometimes they're still picking stuff when you get there.

I drove to a further RCSS because even though it added 20 mins to the drive time they always came out in a couple of minutes with my order, thus saving me 20 mins overall.

Jul 26th, 2021 4:35 pm

Oni-kun [OP]: Deal Fanatic; Mar 17, 2004; 5487 posts; 952 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 26th, 2021 4:35 pm

So the PC Express manager of that location called me. She seemed very nice but it basically came down to her staff might be * with the substitutions.

Last edited by MrDisco on Jul 26th, 2021 4:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: inappropriate

Jul 26th, 2021 5:56 pm

PointsHubby: Deal Expert; Feb 7, 2017; 24452 posts; 23691 upvotes; Eastern Ontario

Jul 26th, 2021 5:56 pm

Oni-kun wrote: ↑ So the PC Express manager of that location called me. She seemed very nice but it basically came down to her staff might be * with the substitutions.

There’s a whole trick to ordering with PC Express that we discovered during the height of Covid, when it was the only way we bought our groceries c/o Loblaws Group (back then it was the only curbside way to get groceries … as Sobeys, Metro, and Costco didn’t offer it. And we won’t shop at Walmart at all … it’s a crap retailer)

The trick to PC Express is you have to decide if you are ok with substitutions or not … that’s step one
Then if you check YES … you have to go ahead and fill in the ADD INSTRUCTIONS Field

Write in SPECIFICALLY what your parameters are

Example … you chose No Name Apple Sauce
Substitutions = YES
INSTRUCTIONS … fine with any size NN, or another brand 500 ml jar less than $ 3

Then the pickers tend to get things right

No instructions … and you are at the stores mercy

Once we caught onto the extra INSTRUCTIONS field things went much better for us

We weren’t shy either … we used it for most things on our grocery list

Example … Meats
Looking for 6 Chicken Breasts in Total. No more than $ 18 total.

+2

Jul 26th, 2021 6:26 pm

cslusarc: Deal Addict; Mar 26, 2005; 2805 posts; 3804 upvotes; St Clements, MB

Jul 26th, 2021 6:26 pm

I love PC Express mostly. I love that RCSS here in Winnipeg proactively Ad Matches Walmart, Giant Tiger, Freshco, Save-On-Foods and Safeway/Sobeys I do not allow substitutions period. I do get a lot of cancellations, but we do get our order twice weekly. I do have to complain with almost every order because something did not meet our expectations. When we wait we connect our devices to the free wifi.

Jul 26th, 2021 6:36 pm

submalst: Deal Addict; May 31, 2008; 1481 posts; 1035 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 26th, 2021 6:36 pm

my average wait time is about 18-19 minutes and its been like this for a while. Im pretty sure they are short staff or something.
I find it maybe shorter when you arrive at the beginning of the hours versus the middle or end.
I used to wait 44 minutes last year - it was unbelievably frustrating but things have improved.

Jul 26th, 2021 7:17 pm

Kiraly: Deal Expert; Jan 9, 2011; 17132 posts; 23683 upvotes; Vancouver

Jul 26th, 2021 7:17 pm

I never tried online grocery ordering and pickup/delivery ever. I was too suspicious that everything that has been reported in this thread would happen. Glad I stuck with in-store shopping.

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+2

Jul 26th, 2021 8:21 pm

KhetysTeachings: Member; Jul 7, 2020; 376 posts; 201 upvotes

Jul 26th, 2021 8:21 pm

I had at least three terrible experiences with them before quitting for good. I usually even avoid in-store shopping at the PC stores.

I had pickup experiences that took at least an hour, and one time it was going so slow that I couldn't even get a parking spot in the designated area. I drove around in a circle like an idiot for 15 minutes and not one car moved.

Jul 26th, 2021 8:37 pm

Genia11: Sr. Member; Jul 5, 2003; 788 posts; 126 upvotes; Mississauga

Jul 26th, 2021 8:37 pm

I stopped doing grocery pick ups because of my shopping list is never complete. Have you ever tried to buy ingredient for a certain meal only to have one item unavailable? There was also an instance where I ordered 4 units of okra (100g per unit) only to get 4 okras... what am I supposed to do with 4 okras?!

I have also waited for 45 minutes for an order. I could have walked into the store get everything I wanted and paid in less than 20 min. My other frustration is the price discrepancy between what is posted in their flyers vs app...

I also don’t allow substitutes.

Anyway, with restrictions lifting, I don’t think I will be going back to pick ups.

Jul 26th, 2021 10:31 pm

cslusarc: Deal Addict; Mar 26, 2005; 2805 posts; 3804 upvotes; St Clements, MB

Jul 26th, 2021 10:31 pm

Over the past 4 weeks the other 2 adults in the household have been receiving offers for bonus points based on total order value. We have earned $130 bonus points over the last 4 weeks and could possibly earn a further $20 & $25 this week if we place two $100 orders.

Jul 27th, 2021 1:54 am

amplified: Deal Addict; Oct 13, 2006; 2881 posts; 1343 upvotes; Burnaby

Jul 27th, 2021 1:54 am

The only time I would use this service really is if my grocery list was only pre-packaged, non-perishables or items that tend to have long expiry dates. There's a reason why they entice you with bonus points for min. spend amounts.

If its a bag of rice, dressing/sauces that have year long expiry dates, frozen food its pretty hard to mess up. But if its for example, a carton of milk at Superstore which can have best before anywhere from 4-12 days, I'd rather choose it myself because you just know you are going to get the one with 4 day best before date in your order. If you're buying expensive cuts of meat why would you not just go instore and choose it yourself, instead of relying on a min wage worker. I understand if you're a single parent, immune compromised, elderly that this is a nice option to have, but otherwise skip it.

+2

Jul 27th, 2021 5:33 am

death_hawk: Deal Expert; Aug 22, 2006; 30351 posts; 15856 upvotes

Jul 27th, 2021 5:33 am

TomRFD wrote: ↑Albeit my issues were mainly with them consistently not having 25-30% of what I ordered,

That was my experience too. Pointless because I'd have to schlep to another store to get what I need.
Even worse where I'm expected to pay upwards of $5 for the privilege.

What's even more laughable is the Primesque yearly fee for free pickups. How that's worth $120/year is beyond me....

Do you not have anything else to do rather than argue with strangers on the internet

Nope. That's why I'm on the internet arguing with strangers. If I had anything better to do I'd probably be doing it.

+1

Jul 27th, 2021 11:59 am

Oni-kun [OP]: Deal Fanatic; Mar 17, 2004; 5487 posts; 952 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 27th, 2021 11:59 am

death_hawk wrote: ↑ That was my experience too. Pointless because I'd have to schlep to another store to get what I need.
Even worse where I'm expected to pay upwards of $5 for the privilege.

What's even more laughable is the Primesque yearly fee for free pickups. How that's worth $120/year is beyond me....

The only thing "express" about it is how fast they take your money.

+2

Jul 27th, 2021 12:00 pm

lecale: Deal Guru; Nov 15, 2008; 12745 posts; 7979 upvotes

Jul 27th, 2021 12:00 pm

I have been using Walmart's delivery service (delivered by DoorDash) & it has been great. I do go through my entire grocery list on StockTrack.ca though so I am not surprised about substitutions. The local store has been fairly intelligent with what substitutions they have made, but if there is a risk of a substitution, I make sure I am not in a position to be crippled by it. I have even been using them for produce & it is delightful to get a bag of cherries bigger than what I paid for.

+1

Jul 27th, 2021 2:31 pm

death_hawk: Deal Expert; Aug 22, 2006; 30351 posts; 15856 upvotes

Jul 27th, 2021 2:31 pm

lecale wrote: ↑ I have been using Walmart's delivery service (delivered by DoorDash) & it has been great.

I've done 3rd party via Uber eats which is via Cornershop since it comes with Eats Pass. It's been surprisingly okay.
It's not bad since the shopper actually messages you when they can't find something so you can approve/deny on the spot.
But that also sucks if you're not around to approve/deny. I've gotten some weird subs before, but that's my fault for not paying attention to the notification.

I do go through my entire grocery list on StockTrack.ca though so I am not surprised about substitutions.

I never thought about using stocktrack for food items. I might steal that.

Do you not have anything else to do rather than argue with strangers on the internet

Nope. That's why I'm on the internet arguing with strangers. If I had anything better to do I'd probably be doing it.

Jul 27th, 2021 3:13 pm

lecale: Deal Guru; Nov 15, 2008; 12745 posts; 7979 upvotes

Jul 27th, 2021 3:13 pm

death_hawk wrote: ↑ I never thought about using stocktrack for food items. I might steal that.

It is not perfect because the odd item shows in the system as not carried by the store (even though it is) but the nice surprise is that you get it, and not a substitution after all.

I checked on the Saturday the week they had Belmont burgers on for $5.97 and they had over 300 so I figured that I was ok for a Monday delivery but they were out of stock by then (!!). They restocked a small number though so I was able to go into the store to pick some up. I've learned that < 15 cashew milk means they are going to be out of stock the next day. Almond milk it is. Other stuff does not move that fast though and is safe to order when you see those levels. It is all just part of learning to make it work for you.

I have tried store pickup with Zehrs & because they only have a "low stock" warning (that is not very accurate for the same reasons above, some items move faster than others) I have been unhappy with the number of items they are unable to rummage up. On the other hand, if they are out of stock of a bakery item the pickers will check the day-olds shelf in the bakery so sometimes I have had them pick a deal for me that I was happy with. I had a much lower hit rate overall with Zehrs than Walmart/StockTrack.

+1

Jul 27th, 2021 4:35 pm

ateddybear: Member; Mar 1, 2015; 309 posts; 213 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 27th, 2021 4:35 pm

Been using PC Express for about a year and a half now and maybe I've been lucky. I've only had a 2-3 issues, but I sent a support request and they gave me a refund (voucher once) that same day I did my pickup.

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