Safeway, one of the largest supermarket chains in the North America with 1,641 stores in the U.S. and Canada, including 20 in Hawaii, has been crowing about its “Just For U” loyalty program.

The program is “driving market share gains and profits,” the company said in a press release last month announcing its latest quarterly financial results.

But the promotion has also drawn complaints from consumers who say advertised discounts aren’t always applied, resulting in overcharges.

Count me among the complainers after being overcharged repeatedly when “Just for U” items scanned at regular rather than special advertised discounts.

“Just for U” was rolled out first in Hawaii, which served as a test market for the complex promotional system. The company says it has now enrolled 5.4 million customers in the program, which is charting new retail territory by offering personalized prices and special deals geared to the buying patterns of individual customers.

While the promotion offers some great deals to consumers, it can, and too often does, go wrong.

Safeway’s public affairs department in Pleasanton, California, referred all questions to the company’s director of public and government affairs, Keith Turner. He did not respond to a request for comment submitted early Monday afternoon regarding allegations of overcharges.

Not For U

Here’s an example of the problems with the program.

My wife and I headed to our regular Safeway store in Kaneohe over the weekend armed with a shopping list that included a few items with special “Just for U” prices. One of those special offers was for Dreyer’s Ice Cream in a 1.5 quart container at the special price of two for $7, matching an advertised price at Times Supermarkets.

But when we looked over the receipt after checking out and paying our bill, we discovered we had been charged $13.98 instead of $7.

A further explanation is needed here. In most supermarkets, mispriced items can be caught at checkout, which is easier for everyone.

But unlike other retailers, Safeway’s point of sale system doesn’t necessarily display the price you are actually paying as items are scanned. Some items scan at regular price, with discounts applied afterwards when the total purchase price is calculated. Sometimes the discounts aren’t even linked to a particular item, making it even more difficult to determine if an advertised price has been received.

Here’s where consumers are at a terrible disadvantage. If you spot an apparent error, you’ve got two choices. You can stand your ground at the checkout while the clerk tries to sort out what has happened (or not happened), leaving those in line behind you fuming.

Or you can walk over and stand at the often unstaffed “customer service” counter and wait for a store employee to finally respond. Employees aren’t happy, since they don’t appear to have a specific protocol for dealing with these errors. It’s extra work, and can be complicated. And sometimes unpleasant.

Consumers are put in the position of deciding whether it’s worth complaining about errors, balancing our time, the inconvenience to other shoppers, and the hassle it causes for store employees, against the amount of money in question.

In cases where the potential error is relatively small, you have to carefully weigh the costs of your different options. In many cases, it doesn’t seem worth the hassle to get every discount. But multiply those small amounts by the number of people facing similar situations, and you can see that this could result in significant ill-gotten gains for the company.

There seems to be no down side for Safeway. The consumer complains, store employees confirm the mistake and give them their money back. Or store employees say the transaction didn’t really qualify for the discount, and most consumers will give up without a fuss. When consumers don’t complain, the store pockets the unclaimed discount without potential penalty. And there doesn’t appear to be a regular system for internal reporting of errors by Safeway employees. This means the process is rigged against the consumer and Safeway misses out on any opportunity to correct the problems.

And Back In Kaneohe

With about $7 at stake in this case, we knew we had to complain. So, taking a deep breath, we steered our cart and the disputed ice cream over to the customer service counter, where we were greeted by a longtime store employee.

I showed her the receipt. Then I showed her the actual “two for $7” offer received from Safeway and now displayed on my iPad, which I’ve started carrying for use in precisely such circumstances.

Instead of quickly refunding the difference between the two prices, she made a show of picking up several sets of papers and then poring over what appeared to be product lists, or perhaps lists of specials. She then retreated briefly into a back office for some other kind of check, and finally walked back into the store to look at the ice cream display case.

When she returned, it was to say she was very sorry, but our ice cream was not part of the advertised special. Yes, it was Dreyer’s, but … no, not on special.

She rustled the sheaf of papers, threw around empty phrases like “selected varieties” and “fine print,” and apologized again while trying to cut off the conversation. What she was unable to do was explain why the clear and unequivocal “two for $7” advertised price was not being honored.

The episode ended badly, even after she suddenly changed course and sent us off with a full refund and the two cartons of ice cream, now free. Despite the ostensible “win,” I was sputtering in frustration at the lack of any clear explanation of the store’s action, and now with an added overlay of guilt for getting angry, causing a scene, and taking a freebie we had never asked for.

Is it possible that this pattern of overcharges is a result of deliberate corporate policy, implicit or explicit? Safeway has previously said its error rate is about average for retailers, although I suspect overcharges are much more likely among items in the “Just for U” and “Deal Match” promotions.

While there’s no proof that overcharges are deliberate, our weekend adventure clearly wasn’t an isolated incident.

Undercover shoppers went into five Safeway stores in three Northern California counties as part of a 2012 investigation by a CBS affiliate in San Francisco, and were overcharged five times.

And the State of California sued Safeway in 2003 and again in 2008, alleging overcharges and other violations. The 2008 case resulted in a stipulated settlement and permanent injunction requiring the company, among other things, to have a price audit coordinator in each of its California stores responsible for conducting regular price accuracy inspections on at least 500 items per week, with records subject to inspection by public authorities.

In addition, when an item scans at more than the lowest advertised price, Safeway is required to give it to the customer for free, if it costs $5 or less. If the item costs more than $5, the customer must be allowed to buy it at the lowest price, and also receive a $5 gift card, according to the terms of the settlement and injunction. These requirements apply only to the company’s California locations, but published reports indicate they are widely ignored or even unknown to Safeway employees.

In 1999, Safeway was found to have shortchanged some shoppers who redeemed promotional “5 percent discount” coupons issued by the retailer. The problem came to light when I identified the issue while working as an investigative reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and questioned Safeway about it.

At the time, the company attributed the problem to an error in the computer code of their point of sale software, but agreed to issue refunds to consumers and to make a special $5,000 contribution to a charity in Hawaii.

On the other hand, Safeway has been named one of the 2013 World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute, according to a company press release earlier this month.

So are overcharges the result of chronic mistakes or implicit company policy? We simply don’t know.

Advice To Consumers

The state’s Office of Consumer Protection enforces Hawaii’s laws against unfair and deceptive trade practices.

Bruce Kim, executive director of the state’s Office of Consumer Protection, declined to comment on whether the issues with Safeway’s “Just for U” and related promotions would be covered by those laws.

“What is an unfair or deceptive practice is determined on a case by case basis,” Kim told me on Tuesday.

“Without commenting on whether something is or is not unfair or deceptive, the only way we are going to get to the bottom of that is if a complaint is filed,” Kim said. “The only thing I can do is encourage anyone who has questions to file a complaint.”

Complaint forms are available from the Office of Consumer Protection website, or by contacting the office at 586-2636.

Safeway’s “Just for U” help desk had another suggestion for shoppers trying to challenge an overcharge.

“Give us a call from the store, and we will talk to the customer service representative or the store manager,” a helpful staffer explained this week.

The “Just for U” hotline can be reached at 1-877-723-3929, and is staffed 24 hours a day.

Read Ian Lind’s blog at iLind.net.