All 250 HEB grocery stores in Texas have now dropped the $4.95 upcharge for curbside pickup orders of $35 or more.
An extra offering since 2015 that attracted shoppers more oriented to buying online, curbside pickup gained traction among a greater variety of shoppers after the COVID-19 pandemic motivated more people to skip crowds and buy what they needed online to avoid person-to-person contact and therefore minimize their risk of catching the novel coronavirus.
Until this month, shoppers who used HEB’s curbside pickup option paid an addition $4.95 per order for the convenience. Still, curbside orders that do not total $35 or more before taxes or discounts will be subject to a $2.95 fee.
Customers can place an H-E-B Curbside order through the My H-E-B mobile app or online at heb.com. Orders must be placed at least four hours prior to the scheduled pick-up time and may be scheduled up to seven days in advance of pickup.
Although the $4.95 fee has been dropped, HEB curbside pickup customers may continue to see higher prices for many of the items they select when compared to the price for the items inside the store. Random items that we checked were higher online — from a few pennies up to a 20¢ each.
For example, HEB Organics French Dressing was $2.19 in the store but $2.26 online — 7¢ higher.
Guittard Semi Sweet Baking Chocolate Chips are $3.18 in the store but $3.28 online — 10¢ higher.
Six count SkinnyPop Sea Salt Microwave Popcorn was $4.48 in the store, $4.61 online — 13¢ higher.
Hill Country Essential 1,000 sheets toilet paper is $6.45 in the store, but $6.64 online — a 20¢ difference.
Budget-wary shoppers may therefore prefer to skip the curbside pickup option.
Up the road from HEB, Walmart has never charged a fee for curbside pickup of orders of $35 or more and appears to charge the same price for items whether they’re purchased inside the store or through the Walmart app.
In the last few weeks I have noticed several items were almost a dollar to $7.04 more online at HEB. For example, the price in the store for a piece of meat was $7.77 per pound on the price tag but was $9.94 per pound online. This price of $7.77 was right on the label when I picked it up curbside. I was not given the price on the item and was over charged $9.94 per pound. That was a difference of $7.04. They were not going to credit my account so I told them I would drive back and return the item. I was finally given a credit. This is not the first time I was charged more shopping online than the price in the store at HEB. It might be the last time I shop at HEB though.
I have the same problem as I ordered the meat package of 52 dollars with 10 dollars off then the meat turn out 66.26 with 10 dollars off then the package actual 63.17 then the HEB web say all curbside and delivery free I GUESS NO MORE ONLINE ORDER OR CURBDIDE PICK UP OR DELIVERY. YHAT WAY YOU DINT HAVE ARGUMENTS OR NAD AG RND
I bought a package of meat from HEB curbside. I was charged $6.00 but the actual price tag was $5.91. Items I’ve bought from the bakery and deli were higher priced compared to the package price. I guess they charge more for the service and call it “free”.
Correction. The meat price was $5.19. I was charged .81 cents more.