7 Food Lion Secrets Employees Wish Tennesseans Knew
Food Lion’s rules aren’t exactly secret.
They’re just easy to miss until one of them affects you.
Here’s what Food Lion employees wish Tennesseans knew, so there’s no surprise at checkout.
1. Alcohol and Tobacco Returns
Food Lion’s return policy bars alcohol exchanges and refunds in four states: Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Tobacco gets the same treatment in Tennessee and West Virginia.
Where your state does allow alcohol or tobacco returns, you need a receipt.
Where tobacco returns are allowed, they can go back only to the exact store where you bought them.
Decide before you pay.
2. Tipping at Pickup
Tipping works differently at Food Lion pickup and delivery.
At pickup, the help center says Food Lion appreciates your thoughtfulness, but store employees aren’t permitted to accept tips.
Delivery is different.
A tip is optional and isn’t expected, though it’s always appreciated.
Pickup currently costs you $1.99 on all orders with a $25 minimum.
Pickup isn’t available in all areas, so check your store.
3. Leave at My Door Rules
Leave at My Door is a Food Lion delivery option that lets you have your driver leave your groceries at your door.
If you pick it, Food Lion says you fully accept responsibility for your order after delivery, including theft or loss due to damage or spoilage from temperature.
The order won’t be left if your driver feels the spot you picked is unsafe.
Age-restricted items in your order rule the option out.
Someone over 21 with a valid U.S. ID has to be there to accept that delivery.
Paper coupons and cash tips aren’t accepted with Leave at My Door orders or deliveries by third-party delivery partners.
Your order may arrive packed with dry ice.
Don’t touch it bare-handed.
4. Seven-Day Price Guarantee
Your online Food Lion cart comes with a price guarantee, but only under two conditions.
You have to submit the order before the sale price expires.
Then you have 7 calendar days from the day you placed the order to get it, by delivery or pickup.
After 7 days, prices adjust.
You can find the dates for current advertised sale prices on the Specials page.
What Food Lion’s Price Guarantee Doesn’t Cover
Food Lion’s online price guarantee excludes loyalty rewards, clip coupons, manufacturer coupons and other promotions with specified expiration dates.
Prices and totals listed online and on email confirmations are estimates that can change with actual weights, taxes and availability.
Those estimates don’t include any applicable bottle deposits or bottle taxes.
Unit prices are subject to rounding error, so look to the price field to determine the total cost.
5. Bag Fees on Online Orders
A bag fee may show up on your Food Lion pickup or delivery order, depending on state and local laws.
Where no state or local law requires a fee, the chain may add a taxable 10-cent charge for each bag used.
Bags can cost extra.
Associates are trained to keep the bag count down.
Food Lion calculates the number of bags when your order is packed, and the fee shows up on your final receipt.
Paper and reusable bags carry a fee too, as part of Food Lion’s move to eliminate single-use plastic bags.
6. Shop & Earn Substitutions
When an item on your Food Lion online order runs out, the chain reserves the right to substitute a product with no Shop & Earn offer.
That applies when Substitutions are on and the item you ordered had a Shop & Earn offer.
You earn no points then.
You can manage substitutions with the toggle in your cart or under each item.
Your final total will reflect the price of any substituted items.
Ingredients can vary, so check a substituted item carefully for allergy concerns.
7. Baby Formula Returns
Baby formula has separate rules in Food Lion’s return policy.
You can exchange baby formula without a receipt, but you can’t get a refund.
The replacement has to be the identical item, meaning the same brand, flavor and size.
With a receipt, you can get a refund the way you paid.
WIC payments are the exception.
Food Lion exchanges baby formula bought with WIC for the identical product only, with or without a receipt.
Psst! How much do you know about Food Lion? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Food Lion Know-How
Answer these questions on Food Lion’s rules, rewards and history. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
According to the popular account, what was the first item ever scanned with a UPC barcode, at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio, in 1974?
Special Orders and Product Requests
Food Lion's help center says the chain doesn't special order most products it doesn't carry.
There are exceptions.
Stores can order some specialty items, so check with your local store.
Those include natural and organic products, gourmet specialty products and some health and beauty care products.
To ask Food Lion to carry something, you can fill out a comment card in the store or use the online comment card.
Include the size and variety you want, plus the Universal Product Code (UPC) if you know it.
All forms and emails go to Food Lion's buyers, though the company can't respond personally to each request.
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