Depending on what area of town you live in will determine the quality of the Kroger store, so I have come to find. I have been able to save quite a bit of money shopping at Kroger, but best of all is their customer service. They have a great selection of organic food. I will pick them any day over Walmart.
Kroger sometimes gets a bad reputation for being expensive. I have a favorite Kroger that I love to shop at because they have better deals in the store along with what is advertised. I do agree with you about the customer service, the Kroger I go to has exceptional customer service.
In my area, I like to shop at Kroger for meat and produce because they have the best sales and quality. They can be a tad bit more expensive than Walmart, but I usually leave the store in a much better mood, so it's worth the few extra dollars to me.
Kroger is my closest grocery store, but I usually do my major shopping at Walmart, simply because they're cheaper on the kitty supplies, which I stock up on once a month. In between those trips, I hit Kroger, and usually get some good deals. In the Kroger surveys, if I explain why I buy certain products at Walmart (or another store), such as the half and half is $3.88, rather than $5.18 (I made up the $5.18), the next time I shop at Kroger, their half and half will be $3.88. They will usually try to stock items that I have to travel to Walmart for, if I mention in the surveys that I have to drive to Walmart because they don't stock an item, and since I'm going there anyway, I might as well do the rest of my shopping there. I'd actually be happy to shop at Kroger all the time, since it's closer, less crowded, and I save on gas, but I also use the Walmart Savings Catcher, so I do get some money back, occasionally, which I go back and spend there.
Every grocer is going to have better deals on certain items than others. I'm not going to not shop at Walmart because of its bad reputation or Kroger for its reputation of being expensive. Every single store is different from the rest, which means that there are plenty of gems out there for each company. However, we don't have Kroger out here, but it's not like grocers are that different from each other.
