QFC IN SEATTLE Y2K....this is for FAT TONY among others

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

I kept trying to wait, as this happened yesterday, but i never got around to going to the library to post anonymously.

the QFC(grocery store) in seattle i went to yesterday, to my surprise, had a sign up saying they'd just gotten new registers, for y2k. luckily i was getting only a few non-essential items, because when i got up to the register..... came to 30 bucks even... weird...ok, sure, Ran the ol check card through --said $14.43

??? tried again...no dice.. store clerk said it had been happening all day, and to take my money out of the bank!(of course to his detriment, he said watchout for 9-9-99) so anyway, after a 3rd try, i walked 7 aisles down, quickly took the money out of the atm, and came back with.....CASH.

if the banks have problems transmitting information, there won't be an atm to go to....

only people with cash will have a means to buy groceries. unless of course, you decide to use a check(if they're accepting those) -and if you go to a store KNOWING you have to use a check to get groceries, how much more likely are you to LOAD UP!!!

I'm a realist, and you could totally say this was a "minor inconvenience", but just as easy, it could turn into something not so minor. I think i'll be taking as much money as is feasibly possible, for y2k.

The store is real, the story is real, and i could go so far as to post the location if you want to drive or fly to seattle to check it out. not to mention it's not like it's an incredible story or anything.

This was my "over the edge" event. as "Doomer" as i am, i just didn't want to prepare any more(i've made very modest preps), and definitely didn't want to withdraw any money besides my 12-30-1999 check, as i didn't want to collapse the system(which of course i still don't)

remember though, this had been happening all day, and the sign was on the side of the sliding automatic glass doors, as you go in the qfc. so when the problems occured, i'm thinking people made the correlation...

maybe BW, and Valkryie can go to a qfc and see if they all have just replaced their systems, or if it was just the one I went to.

and finally, as if anybody cared, i'm going away for a while. It's gotten way too hectic to keep up here, even by going to the "new answers" part, and i can't keep checking in at work, for fear of getting the boot.

If some kind soul is out there, can you email me if there is any 12-inch headline type news? slfsl@yahoo.com

i don't believe in aliens, and i don't think black helicopters are circling, preparing to impose martial law, but i do believe we're in some deep stuff, because of the SCOPE of y2k. Like you i've been following this for some time, and each day a new, rational possibility for chaos emerges. It boggles the mind.

on my way back to lurking everyonce in a while, i'll send thanks to Diane j, and Chuck.

also, there are sooo many people here, i urge you guys to organize into a positive force for change. I was so surprised, that with all the talk here, that nobody organized a y2k awareness day... & i never seemed to be able to get enough people's attention to do it.

yelling in a vacuum helps to a point, but one organized demonstration, on the downtown streets of a major city, would have gotten more media coverage(and thus reached more people) than our wonderful forum here has ever gotten. let people see that "doomers" are calm, intelligent people.

oh well, have fun dissecting my post, and good luck. good thing is, it won't be long before we know who was right, and who wishes they'd have listened.

hey tony-- tell my mom i said hi! i just posted this as an example of a "guess what happened to me just now" story that's quite real.

ttfn

-- Super aka SuperLurker (slfsl@yahoo.com), September 03, 1999

Answers

Super -

I have a friend who works at the QFC in No. Bend. When I talked to her in July she said that they were to have gotten a whole new computer system in June but it was delayed by the supplier so they were supposed to get it installed in Sept. and there would be no vacations in Oct. because they were all to be in training. I will have to give her a call and see what she has heard. Will also check out my local QFC to see how they are doing. Need some more Milkman any way. Thanks for the heads up.

-- Valkyrie (anon@please.net), September 03, 1999.


Cash is fine, but: Forget going to the stores in January. Buy what you need now.

-- kosky lies (koskylies@pompous.net), September 03, 1999.

Super, I guess we do have skeptics on this forum, but the same thing happened to me a few months back. I used my ATM card at the grocery store and a couple days later I get a letter from my bank apologizing for double debiting my account on transactions that I made on the 30th and 31st of the month. It was a computer glitch, and the last time I ever used an ATM card.

As far as "yelling in a vaccum" to get people aware of Y2K I suppose is fine if one wants to go through all the trouble. There are several types of people in regards to Y2K awareness, the GIs, DGIs, DWTGI, FS (fence sitters). There may be a few who will finally GI but only when something happens to them, like a layoff, loss in the stock market, bank or credit card statement doesn't jive. We have 4 months to go, the holidays are coming up and people will go merrily about their business. We GIs have already been labeled fanatics, wackos, fear mongers.......so, I just go about my business and I am not my brother's keeper.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 03, 1999.


Super,

This is easy to explain.

came to 30 bucks even... weird...ok, sure, Ran the ol check card through --said $14.43

QFC has taken over so many of our neighborhood Markets with their high priced stores that anything that costs $14.43 at any other store will cost you $30.00 at QFC.

Go to Albertsons or Safeway or or what is left of our neighborhood Markets and pay less everyday.

I MISS ART'S FAMILY FOOD CENTER!!!

GGrrrrrrr

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), September 03, 1999.


Since Cherri and I also live in the Seattle area, I would like to relate *my* QFC story.

I was in the Redmond QFC (Redmond Way) on Tuesday afternoon. I saw the same "new registers for Y2K" signs prominently posted. Did I have a problem with my ATM card? Nope. Were there any other problems, besides the checkers' unfamiliarity with the new system? Nope.

Considering that they installed the registers at 2 AM that morning and were working with them before the formal training, things were going just fine.

I'm sure this first-hand account will be promptly dismissed; after all, it doesn't fit the doomer perspective.

Miss Steak

-- Miss Steak (MissSteak@hotmail.com), September 04, 1999.



italics off...hopefully

-- superlurker (slfsl@yahoo.com), September 04, 1999.

Nope Miss steak--- THAT'S THE ONE I WENT TO. got a pizza hut in the parking lot, a radio shack, a starbucks and a chevron across the street.

only i went that NIGHT, AFTER YOU DID... so you see, just like a lot of things, they may work fine at first, then have Problems.

so without cash, you might be FINE at first...then you might have some problems.

I'm a realist, definitely not a tinfoil, nor a doomer

-- Super (Slfsl@yahoo.com), September 04, 1999.


Superlurker,

Nope Miss steak--- THAT'S THE ONE I WENT TO. got a pizza hut in the parking lot, a radio shack, a starbucks and a chevron across the street.

That describes a LOT of QFC's (starbucks, sheveron etc by them) giggle

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), September 04, 1999.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ