Whole Foods Market Services

CC:

We were in your store today, July 5, 2009, at approximately 2pm. We did some shopping through the produce area and then proceeded to the bulk foods aisle. Julie got some bulk sesame sticks and as she stood there an entire container full to the brim of rice fell out of nowhere on to the top of her head. I am appalled at the way this situation was handled. She clearly was out of it and was stunned at what just happened..in pain and crying. A team leader named Cherish went and got her a bag of ice and 2 bottles of water, wrote some stuff down on a blank sheet of copy paper, gave her a business card and said to call her if anything more comes of it. No incident report was made, a medic was not called to make sure there was no further damage...just a "Have a nice day".

So now, the rest of our day is ruined. My girlfriend is laying in bed in pain with a terrible headache...I'm sitting here worried and watching her to make sure she doesn't have a concussion. We had plans today, which included shopping at Whole Foods, and fifteen minutes into being in your store, our plans are gone because you have failed to keep your store safe for shoppers.

Cherish mentioned that it's not the first time you've had issues with these bulk canisters falling off the wall...even mentioning she had trouble with the pumpkin seeds canister just last week. She also mentioned that sometimes the brackets break and that's why they fall off but that there was no reason this specific canister fell off the wall saying the brackets were not broken or anything.

Within 5 minutes of the incident, there were already employees cleaning up the mess and taking photos of the wall the canister had just fallen off of...quick action for a store that cannot even muster the concern for a shopper to even have a store manager come out to fill out an incident report or contact a medic specifically because this is a head injury.

I am quite surprised that a retailer of your stature could not handle this type of situation properly, likely because a low level employee was sent to handle an incident that she is clearly not trained to handle properly.

I am care copying this message to your regional and corporate offices because your team leader was fully aware there is an issue with the bulk food canisters being a safety concern to shoppers. I will never shop in a Whole Foods market again and I do plan on warning your shoppers of this danger since you have not done so yourselves...allowing shoppers to be clubbed over the head while standing unknowingly in danger.

Julie is an electrician construction worker, must wear a hard hat for work and works strenuously throughout the day. If she is unable to attend work in the coming days due to this incident you will definitely be hearing from me again. Needless to say, the both of us are extremely dissatisfied with our experience at your store this afternoon.