MARTIN SLOANE | Supermarket Shopper Savvy consumer is getting groceries for 'free'

Dear Martin: I am eating free! I am ordering my groceries online every 18 days from www.albertsons.com. They have everything I need and they deliver within a two-hour window that I choose. They charge a modest fee for delivery, and when I receive the delivery, I just smile when I think of my new way of shopping. Roy Lavender, Long Beach, Calif.
I called Roy to congratulate him and find out the secret for his free groceries. He told me that he recently gave up driving and the savings on the car, gasoline and insurance are more than the $100 to $150 he spends on the groceries from Albertsons.com (www.albertsons.com). His 18-day ordering cycle is determined by bananas. Roy orders three "hands" of bananas (6 to a hand).
Dear Martin: I am sometimes reluctant to ask a store clerk for the location of a product. Depending on their mood, they can be uncooperative. Why don't supermarkets offer shoppers a computer where they can look-up a product and find its location? I recently circled the store three times before I found the item I was looking for. It had been moved to a special display at the front of the store. A reader in Pennsylvania
Dear Pennsylvania Reader: The idea of using a computer kiosk to locate a product in the supermarket has been around for many years, but to my knowledge, it has never worked. One reason is the store moves products around, and it is difficult to keep the location information up to date. For most shoppers, the easiest way to find an item is to ask a clerk. If a clerk is uncooperative, he or she should be reported to the store manager.
Dear Martin: I want to tell you that I was a grocery cashier for close to 20 years and no matter how many times you warn parents about the dangers of their children standing in the cart or not being strapped into the cart seat, they do not listen. Becky McCarney, White Oak, Pa.
Dear Becky: Thousands of young children are seriously injured each year in falls from supermarket shopping carts. Researchers recently reviewed shopping-cart injuries seen at the Alberta Children's Hospital emergency department from March 1990 to December 2001. The injuries were most common in children under 5 years old. More than a third of the accidents involved skull fractures, concussions and other head injuries. The most frequent causes were falls from the cart (70 percent) and tipping the cart (14 percent).
As we move into September, a very busy month for supermarkets, it is important we mention it again. Buckle up your child! Unprotected children in the cart basket are in danger. Do not allow your child to ride along on the side of the cart! Other readers have mailed me on the subject, offering helpful tips. Doris Hannon, a reader in Downy, Calif., cautions parents to stay close to their cart and keep a careful eye on their child even if buckled in.
Dear Martin: I regularly send coupons to military bases, but I notice that some coupons say they are good in the United States only, or good only in continental United States -- are these redeemable at the military commissaries overseas? Fran, Albany N.Y.
Dear Fran: Thank you for the question. For redemption purposes, the "Good Only in USA" does not apply to military commissaries overseas.
Dear Martin: I enjoyed your column about new services being introduced by supermarkets. The one I liked most was the car wash. What a great idea! I would certainly use it. Shirley Days, Bridgewater, Mass.
Dear Shirley: Most of my readers who responded to that column liked the idea of having their car washed at the supermarket. They were far less enthusiastic about the NCR Super Scanner that allows cashiers to rapidly scan with both hands and in batches.
A reader has complained that the scanner at her Wal-Mart Supercenter beeps so loudly it hurts her ears. I wonder if anyone else has experienced the same problem. Please let me know if you have.
A note to readers who take advantage of rebate offers on back-to-school items and high-value products like computers: Because of the value, the manufacturers are stringent in enforcing the requirements. Read the mail-in form carefully. Take special care if the requirements -- often in small print -- say that printed address labels are not acceptable, and you must fill in the form by hand. The forms often say you cannot use a post office box. These restrictions are intended to reduce redemption errors.
During the 2003 back-to-school season, specially marked BIC Cristal and BIC Round Stic ball pen 10-pack packages contain sweepstakes entry instructions, plus a "Rent 1, Get 1 Free" coupon from Hollywood Video. This coupon is good on all New Releases, VHS tapes, DVDs and Hollywood Film Library movies and games.
Award
This week's Smart Shopper Award goes to Cherry Adam of Long Beach, Calif.: "Ralphs had Gerber Graduates on sale at four for $2. I used a Gerber coupon good for $1 off on four. Ralphs doubled the coupon and I got the four jars, free!" Cherry will receive a copy of my Guide to Coupons & amp; Refunds, and her Shopping Adventure will be posted in my column support Web site, www.martinsloane.com.
Are manufacturer online coupons -- the ones you can print out on your computer from the Internet -- about to crash? Read this important story in my column, next week.
XSend questions and comments to Martin Sloane in care of this newspaper. The volume of mail precludes individual replies to every letter, but Martin Sloane will respond to letters of general interest in the column.
United Feature Syndicate