Whole Foods Market Services
Reviews and Complaints

On the 17th of Oct. 2014 I purchased a bag of fresh pistachio nuts.That same day they were-as usual giving out samples of Olives which people are sticking toothpicks into as well as some French cheese.I came home and in the middle of the bag was a soiled, dirty toothpick from the tasting.We had eaten some of the nuts out of the top of the bag at first and then decided to store them in an airtight container and there was-and in the midst of Ebola, Entero virus and flu-this toothpick.I had a bad feeling when I tasted the first nut.They tasted old and I hadn't seen them there in a while and since the store I shop is a flagship store they were obviously transferred from a store doing less traffic.
I am revolted and dumped these nuts. I plan to get some compensation.Stop the free samples (which I never eat) as I see people putting used toothpicks back into the clean ones.Care for some olives and cheese someones' coughed all over?

To All that Care About Quality:

I do not speak for all Whole Foods (WF) employees I can only convey what I lived, and how it shaped my current opinion of a grocery chain I once loved. On many occasions I went home in tears. I experienced sexual harassment, I was not properly trained, staff members laughed at my expense, strong work ethic was not rewarded, leadership through fear was deployed, and discussions of drinking on the job put me on unstable footing. Overall the negative energy I received from my experience at WF has added a deeply engrained layer of skepticism that I could do without.

In my experience, Whole Foods has an extremely hostile work environment. I do not appreciate being REPEATEDLY asked out by multiple people (staff that had already been voted in) to have drinks when I was in the vulnerable position of proving myself to get voted onto the team. Being voted in is a unique and scary experience in the work place. When a person’s livelihood is on the line, they should not have to deal with the added pressure of turning down dates.

From the very beginning, I was treated like an outsider. Not one person took me under their wing and guided me to understand the culture and the expectations. Cruel remarks were not absent from my day, and comments about my weight caused the most pain. Also I was treated like a child, I was told by my manager to have “little mouth big ears.”

In addition, I do not appreciate being mocked as a Republican when I am not a Republican. Superiors have no right to judge me on my politics; I was a subordinate trying to get voted on the team, determining my political affiliation was inappropriate.

I was always on time; I never missed a shift, and my primary manager told me that I was a hard worker, but I just did not fit in with the team. I am not sure why other options were not presented, since not being liked was the reason given for release not poor work ethic.

I could not talk to managers about anything because I was in constant fear. The asst. manager talked badly about the manager, and told me to do things opposite of what I was told by the manager to do. I had to choose constantly between listening to my manager or my asst. manager because they contradicted each other on a daily basis.

On many occasions, I sought knowledge from both my manager and my asst. manager only to be disregarded. I requested information on subjects to improve my skills as a worker only to be ignored by management. In my opinion the asst. manager ran the team not the manager but to my dismay I did not figure that out until the end. Unfortunately, from what I saw the asst. manager was more interested in power struggles instead of dedicating himself to lift up the team for the good of all employees under his charge and to create a great customer experience.

In my opinion, weekly reports in my experience were not designed for my improvement; the manager used this as an opportunity to chastise, and belittle me:

Accused of not switching gloves when I was switching gloves.

Consistently told by management to slow down, and then I was told I was not moving fast enough.

Reports stated I was handling customers very well, and then I was told I was not handling customers well but I was never given points to improve. A customer known for complaining about other staff members was used against me as an example of my poor customer service.

Leadership focused on mistakes, and rarely gave praise nor offered any suggestions for improvement. Being told I was wrong over and over like a drill instructor was very disheartening.

Accused of being a liar, but once I proved that to be an untrue accusation no apology was offered.

My assistant manager told me not to upsell customers, and then the boss of his boss told me to upsell.

Working for an asst. manager that bragged about drinking beer on the job with the opening employee during the morning shift was frustrating because I could not trust the answers I was given by someone that drinks on the job.

I clearly conveyed that I had religious studies to attend on Thursday nights, and had to constantly remind leadership of this fact. And at times had to miss my studies based on being scheduled for work. In my opinion, my asst. manager did not approve of my religious dedication. I never brought it up, I only answered questions when asked, but not all my answers were well received.

Thanks to my boyfriend I came to believe in Whole Foods quality, but watching my manager grab old soup and tell me to add expired soup to the new soup was extremely disheartening. Other practices cause concern as well. Team members would leave fish membranes on their cutting boards. I witnessed violations of recycling standards to save time, which are a contradiction of the standards conveyed on the website. And when our manager was out of town food temperatures were not taken, plus re-icing went undone. This caused great concern, due to potential bacteria growth. Now my boyfriend (a life long WF supporter) will no longer shop at WF.

In truth, each day the treatment I received influenced an internal battle to quit. But I kept telling myself that I was just being hazed, and not to take it personal. I was wrong, in my opinion each nasty comment directed towards me was meant to force me to quit, and when I did not the intensity of the negativity increased until they decided to get some blood on their hands and voted me out.

If I could deliver a message to the world, I would say boycott Whole Foods Seafood internationally until auditing 3rd parties prove that WF delivers on the quality they promise.

Best Wishes to All that Care,

Rebecca

Very bad and rude. I am wholefoods customer since last 4 years now. And just today i got a chance to explore the real customer service.. My question was simply about an ingredient of a product and all of them answered me rudely. First i called and she forwarded to another guy. Then another guy forwarded to third guy and then this rude most guy has talked little bit and cut my phone without even understanding my question..

Wholefood is really going down in customer services. I have never experienced such things in past. God bless wholefood.

I went shopping at Whole Foods in Mill Valley this morning and asked a store employee if the loud, unpleasant music could be turned down. She gave me a dirty look, and replied frostily 'I'll inquire'. Within minutes the music was turned up. When I asked another employee I got the same response, but fortunately the music was not turned up again. When I got home, my neighbors across the street were having a garage sale. I mentioned my experience to them and they told me they no longer shop at that store because of loud, unpleasant music and contemptuous employees.
This is not because of a local problem. Whole Foods simply does not care about customer service, or the well-being of their customers. They are the only national grocery chain that makes it impossible to lodge complaints with their corporate office.
As long as they continue to give customers the finger, I will shop elsewhere.

My complaint is the fact that this green life like any other business has turn overs and i have been here almost two years and they do everything to hire women of all races and white men and men of all other races except for African American males. they are service jobs and no matter how little the pay is green life will take a black mans money but as far as supporting the African American male for a job they wont. they use excuses like our workers never leave, but they do because the pay is so low they have to have a high turn over rate.

lot’s of gay’s and lesbians and white men and Asian men are there but never any African American males. there excuse is the african american males don’t come in for a job. they don’t because green life, like so many other companies, hide the equal opportunity law in the back and not visible so that it can be noticed that they are equal opportunity employer.

please send african americans to this establishment to see what i am talking about and make them in there 40 or less.

I have been a customer of Harry's Farmers Market for over 15 years. When Whole Foods bought the place many years ago, I was all for the change..Its a big thing getting a Whole Foods in Marietta..With the product its the same as any Whole Foods, just a bigger store. Many people have come and gone in this store and I have built many relationships with many employees or as they call them Team Members. Within the last year or so, I seem drastic changes, some for good and some for bad, As a customer that frequented the store daily due to the distance to my house it was a pleasure shopping there and I noticed any small change. The biggest change was many of the team members now have a fearful look on their faces when they are working, and I thought it was maybe me, but over the fast few months I seen how much Wholefoods as an Employer who boasts they are one of the Best companies to work for is a SHAM...On a weekday evening while making myself a plate of dinner at the hot bar, I observed an African Manager just rip apart another employee an African lady who I always seen with a smile, to the point she just went into tears on her way out..I was appalled on how someone can humiliate someone the way they did, a little discretion please..I have no idea what was said as they spoke the same language but I don't think a interpreter was necessary. Its obvious this guy was a guy with no common class. Awesome Manager! One thing I notice also is the Radios in this store, I figure this is the way you guys communicate, Well they are not quiet as you can hear everything that is said, One voice stands out, as I shop every morning one lady voice I would hear just ripping people away, and as she calls people you can see people just bullied in their actions. I just do my shopping and I then hear the voice adjacent to me, first in your produce department talking to employees like they are idiots, she then loops around as I hear her again while I am picking up some chips, she then walks past me on on aisle like I was in her way..excuse you lady..but I pay some of your salary. I then continue on my shopping, and for like 45 minutes this lady is non stop, as I walk through departments I just see people shake their heads as she speaks you can see their dissatisfaction..I talk to a employee fixing some cookies and just said "rough morning I can see" his reply "nothing new, its daily..." then the black cloud followed me again as I continued shopping, she looks at me again like I don't belong in Whole Foods as she looked at my cart...I then walk to get my self some deli meats and the black cloud follows...she rips the hard working people behind the counter like they are animals...its visible they are working as they are sweating in that hot Kitchen...as I go to check out I see her again and was going to complain. But then I see her face on this wall as the Store Team Leader...what good my complaints will do...Within the last few weeks I would go and talk to the many faces I met in that store over the last 15 years and I questioned them, many just lost that connection and love they had, as I would see on my daily visits. almost all the people I talked to said this place isn't the same...I so do agree! As of late I do go in, for milk, some fish or meat, or a dinner plate when I am on the run...but I have taken my business across the street, or to any other small COOP that still respects their backbone of their business...even some large grocers have increased they treatment, but I see Wholefoods at this location has not...I may be a needle in a haystack but for a person who spent about 20k a year on myself and my family in your store, I am more than glad to take my business else where till Harry's goes back to what it was..Never in my life have I felt so uncomfortable to see people be treated so horrible and talked to like idiots. With the African guy He also was on the board of pictures, such a disappointment that he is the next guy in line...smh..I see why the life of this place has been sucked dry...goodbye Harry's hello Trader Joe's...

I worked for WFM for almost four years and experienced a lot of success and happiness at first. After Five Store "Team Leaders" in three years the store was in really bad shape both in appearance, quality and financially. One of the ways this new Manager was going to prove that he was doing something about the failing business was to fire 70 out of 99 employees from January to August 2011. He would laugh aloud about it during our Manager, oops, Team Leader meetings. All of the Team Leaders were then fired.

The other awesome idea he had was to use all of the produce departments garbage in the prepared foods department and salad bar. I walked into the PFDS walk in cooler and found 160 LBS of garbage from my waste bins and compost receptacles that the department specialist had gotten through dumpster diving as directed by his "Leaders".

I would suggest not eating here.

I am an abused long term customer who has just awakened from the manipulation and propaganda that Whole foods spins.
This year, over 50% of the Items that I purchased from Whole Foods were bad: moldy, stale, rotten, undercooked, over cooked, and tasteless.
When they first opened up, 98% of their produce, baked goods, and prepared foods were wonderful. Alas, in recent times, the quality has decreased considerably.
I made the mistake of returning much of the spoiled, moldy, expired, and bug infested items to “Customer Service.”
Like Wal-Mart, Whole Foods will cut off an individual customer’s ability to address grievances after what they consider numerous returns or complaints even with receipts.
The deception of Whole foods staff being positive, kind hearted, and concerned with 100% customer satisfaction is revealed when you confront them with the ugly truth. Their true colors are shown when you don’t buy into their sticky sweet illusions.
Whole Foods management and “team leaders” have also shown me their loathsome natures filled with contempt which is defended with character assassination and manipulation.
I was accused of abusing their return policy and labeled a “serial returner.” Several team leaders have falsely accused me of "tampering" with their products. I can never return any of their products, even with a receipt and I am banned from shopping at Whole Foods on threat of arrest.

Whole Foods Austin’s Corporate 6th street store has a very uncomfortable and “unsafe feeling” escalator. You use it to access the parking garage You have to go on with your basket in front of you and it is very steep.

Even when you go on without a basket, it feels like your going to slide down to the bottom. No one I spoke to likes it and they all feel unsafe.

When I got to the bottom, instead of rolling off, front wheels stuck, the belt kept moving, I went up underneath back wheels and it came down on my foot. Broke 2 metatarsals, injured my hip, have been in physical therapy. Over 5 months later still recovering!

This is not about the guilt or innocence of a customer who was being stopped by a security guard, or whether or not she should have been stopped. This is about the excessive force used on a woman and the lack of care given an infant who was within arm’s length of their struggle. I could not readily find a means of registering a complaint directly with whole foods, except by writing directly to our local whole foods store … meaning that my email might end up with the same manager again. If this woman was a shoplifter, I would expect however that the whole foods organization would show greater civilized behavior than what I witnessed today. This was our last trip to Whole Foods.

I am very disappointed with the handling off my complaint in this store. The staff where very rude and even the store manager was laughing and rolling his eyes at me. The problem started when i tried to use the kids cards that entitled them too a free cookie or an item off the list on the card. My children where not with me that day so i decided to pick the cookies up on their behalf. I presented the cards when i was told that i cannot receive them free as i didnt have the children with me. I stated that it dosent say anywhere on the card that the children must be with me. I complained to the supervisor and she told me rules are rules. So i decide to take the complaint higher to the store manager. I was meet with a manager who didnt want too listen to my complaint and made a point to mock me. He explained that the free items where a condition that involved the children having fun in his store and getting a reward at the end. He wasnt prepared to listen to me and when i said that i will be not be shopping in his store again he just laughed in my face and said what over some free cookies! I just cannot believe that he was so rude and obnoxious. I have since not been back into that store. He just didnt get what i was getting at, it was not about getting freebies, it was the fact that you cannot offer a program and then not offer what you preech. Not a happy customer

During my shopping experiences with Whole Foods,
I have been subject to rude and discourteous treatment by management and staff.

Several times I have been confronted by staff from sampling food from the bulk items, when other customers have done the same with no warning.

The last straw came when an incident occured two months ago.
I was confronted by Loss Prevention who alleged I shoplifted. He presented a badge like he was a police officer, and demanded I show the goods. I had nothing in my pockets, but he threatened me and took me upstairs. At this point, he made various threats and tried to act again like a member of law enforcement. I had nothing in my pockets, he made a mistake and he did not apologize. Not only was his attitude condescending and arrogant, but downright offensive and racist.

At the end, I was convinced this treatment was due to my ethnicity. Most of Whole Foods employs hipster, drug-using tattooed low-lives who think they are better than everyone and are artistically arrogant.

Tell these people to get college degrees and dismiss their elitist attitude. The whole pretentious organic, hippie ethos of the company is both elitist and false. Their products are way overpriced and unjustified.

I found the people in the vitamins sections to be helpful and nice, the rest are just

Apparently after working for a month, late hours, closing when no one else would close, you also have to be "earthy" or "whole foodsy" as you can show up and sorry, no more work - so a welfare mom with a disabled child that has begun to trust an income again, and has set up college courses, and day care, and is recruiting new employees - has to start over Tip - don't wear any makeup. Don't bring any food from home to eat. And don't ask why you didn't make it, cause they won't tell. And they cannot even look you in the eye either.

This is not about the guilt or innocence of a customer who was being stopped by a security guard, or whether or not she should have been stopped. I am not in a position to know the answer to either of these two questions.

This is about the excessive force used on a woman and the lack of care given an infant who was within arm's length of their struggle.

On our way into the store (Feb. 6, 2011 afternoon) we watched as two security guards stopped a woman, presumably for shop-lifting. She attempted to continue walking. One guard pulled out handcuffs and grabbed her arm. There was a struggle, during which she tried to return to the supermarket, saying that she would wait for the police. It was clear however that she did not want to be handcuffed. So what? She had stopped and stated that she would wait for the police.

This could have been the end of it, with the security guards handling it very professionally. Just stand there and wait. They were twice her size. She was overweight and of small stature. There was a child at her side (about 2 years old). There was no way she was going to get around them. However, he attempted to handcuff her anyway and forcibly bent her arms back. After a good deal more struggling and shouting, he finally got the cuffs on. It was all very sloppy and awkward.

During the whole struggle her infant was very close and neither of the two guards paid the slightest attention.

I complained to the store manager about the excessive use of force. The manager justified it -- and with an attitude that suggested that this is how things are done here.

After my wife and I consulted with each other, we decided that we would file some sort of complaint with upper management at whole foods. I went back to get the manager's name. She gave it to me. I asked the security guard for his name and he refused. The woman who had been arrested/detained lifted up her hands to show where the skin on her wrists had been torn. It has been about 20 years since I have made a complaint like this … anywhere.

I could not readily find a means of registering a complaint directly with whole foods, except by writing directly to our local whole foods store … meaning that my email might end up with the same manager again. I decided to use this complaint web site instead.

If this woman was a shoplifter, it would not be surprising to find that she would display poor conduct; I would expect however that the whole foods organization would show greater civilized behavior than what I witnessed today.

This was our last trip to Whole Foods.

Whole Foods playing their Customers -- and the Environment -- 4 a Sucker!

After spending a long time always separating my containers, forks, spoons, cups, newspapers, etc into the different "recycling bins" at Whole Foods we recently found out that they just scoop them up and dump them all into the trash!

After seeing them do that and asking the employees about it, most lied and said what we saw with our own eyes didn't happen. As it goes with human-animals. Nothing new...just creepy.

Finally, a nice & honest employee in secret told us that Whole Foods says "they can't AFFORD the $200 container for recycling pickups."

Oh, come on! Whole Foods. That's just plain stupid and horrible!

Then again, this isn't exactly a vegan store and is involved in billions of atrocities to God's defenseless babies. ;-(

I shop at your South Loop store in Chicago. When the store opened, everything was fresh and seldom did I find an out of date product. The service people were very friendly and helpful. In the last year, everything has changed. The employees are still friendly, especially Angle in produce, but after two emails to the store manager about problems I experienced at the store, I still have no response. I had an assistant manager tell me no one complains. There is a diverse clientele at that store. Many people do not complain because of their socio-economic and ethnic background. They don’t expect good service or respect because they haven’t had it before. I called and had assistant manager identified himself as the store manager so I didn’t get his name, thinking that here is only one. Now, I find out that there are many assistant managers and he was just full of BS. Before this store opened near my house, I shopped at your Evanston and Huron locations where I never had ANY problem with the quality or freshness of food.

In the last month at South Loop, I have had a bagger put my organic black cherries under a bag full of meat. Two days later, I purchased potato salad from the deli. The potatoes had been frozen and were mushy. Over the last year, I purchased Alden's ice cream, which had been defrosted and refrozen. The person filling the case said, "Oh it sits on the pallet. I just put them into the freezer compartment.” Well, how long are they on the pallet, out of the freezer? I purchased cookies from the "specialty" counter last week. The first time (a couple of weeks ago), they were fresh, last week they tasted rancid. In addition, the veggies along the wall are always soaking wet. Yes, they look good in the display but bring them home and they rot within a couple of days if each item is not totally dried. When the store first opened, you did not have that water spray. My veggies lasted from one to two weeks without any change in quality. Do you really think people care how something looks on the shelf when they rot in their home in two days?

Too bad your department manages don’t check out their departments. Too bad the store manage doesn’t take more interest in her job. I was a partner in health food store for 20 years and in charge of inventory, purchasing goods and services, and all accounting functions. I know how to please customers by hiring competent people. Having a great return policy is find, but not cost effective for the consumer. I’m not going to drive back to return something or get my money back unless it’s a substantial amount. My time is worth more than the refund.

You have a lot to learn if you want to make a go of the South Loop store.

Willa Douglas
[protected]@aol.com

Bocal Raton Whole Foods. Indifference to service, bad quality/expired foold on shelves, no response to complaints.

4/9/10 $192 total purchase to include OJ, Quiche, Chicken Salad. Chicken salad contained bits which appeared as closely cut to bone and taste was suspect. Quiche contained hard pieces of ham, taste also suspect. OJ date of expiration 4/9/10 (did not have glasses with me, would not have believed the date would be the very same date purchased). Submitted complaint via website 4/10/10, no response. Returned to store 4/16/10, asked for location of pate', shown, asked about mousse pate', told by clerk "this is the pate'" commented on his attitude and decided to request manager. "Evan" arrived after 5 mins, advised of last visit issues (OJ, Quiche etc.) his reply (after an obvious display of what was an indifferent attitude) was "I am sure it was not intentional, we make mistakes" . He then proceeded with ... "Well, what is your problem today?" at which point I advised I would again contact the home office to which he responded: "You do that" and walked away. Given Regional Manager name, called number, left message for "Juan" to return call regarding store issues, call never returned.