Burned yet again by Whole Foods

[Anonymous]

To the OP -Don't bother with the store manager, who I am sure does not care if it keeps happening repeatedly.

Go here:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company/service.php

And under the "Contact us by Email" drop down, select "Quality Standards." The comments go to HQ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the only grocery store where I never had a bad item is Harris Teeter. Whole Foods has always been the worst as far as produce. DD and I like berries [blue, rasp, straw, etc ] and they are expensive. Nothing more annoying than getting home and finding mold in the middle.

WF's parking lots are such a hassle. If the WF's is in an area where lots of business people come in at lunch time then it might have more of a freshness problem. The WF's on 123 in Vienna is one where I never had anything returnable.

Why? Because the business people are presumably buying from the prepared foods area only? What about all of the other people that live near those WF and do their shopping there? Wouldn't they be buying from the non-prepared foods section? Just trying to follow the logic. I'm thinking of the North Bethesda Marketplace WF (Rockville). Tons of business people at lunch but also see tons of moms with kids, etc buying groceris.

[Anonymous]

www.whitewhine.com

[Anonymous]

I have bought organic chicken breasts on at least two occasions that were bad (from River Road). I actually try not to buy meat at Whole Foods now.

[Anonymous]

I've definitely had this problem at the Tenley WF with fish, especially what's on sale. (You'd think I'd learn by now to ask to smell first, but I usually forget, although I also usually have a preschooler with me so I do have distraction as an excuse.)

Never had a problem with the meat or chicken, or anything else.

With Trader Joe's we do have problems more often - usually when we forget to look at expiration dates and buy something that is right at the end of its shelf life. Again, we should have learned by now to always check the dates, but with a child in tow . . . . well, I figure at some point I'll be a somewhat lonely old women with plenty of time to check my groceries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the only grocery store where I never had a bad item is Harris Teeter. Whole Foods has always been the worst as far as produce. DD and I like berries [blue, rasp, straw, etc ] and they are expensive. Nothing more annoying than getting home and finding mold in the middle.

WF's parking lots are such a hassle. If the WF's is in an area where lots of business people come in at lunch time then it might have more of a freshness problem. The WF's on 123 in Vienna is one where I never had anything returnable.

Why? Because the business people are presumably buying from the prepared foods area only? What about all of the other people that live near those WF and do their shopping there? Wouldn't they be buying from the non-prepared foods section? Just trying to follow the logic. I'm thinking of the North Bethesda Marketplace WF (Rockville). Tons of business people at lunch but also see tons of moms with kids, etc buying groceris.

Exactly right on the customer base issue. Lower turnover on produce, fresh meat, and seafood. Sometimes I'm in a crowded WF's and am only one of a few people browsing in certain areas.

[Anonymous]

5:57 hasn't had problems with Harris Teeter foods, but I have, especially some expensive shrimp that smelled horrible when I went to use it later that day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Twice I've brought home strawberries from the Old Town WF and the next day they were covered in mold. Now, we buy and eat the berries the same day we buy them. Agree about the fish comment too. Even the frozen fish smelled "off" when we defrosted it. We do almost all of our shopping at WF because it has what we need, but I've learned to be really careful about my purchases and check each item for spoilage. PITA.

This is a strawberries problem, not a WF problem. Strawberries have an EXTREMELY short shelf life. Most of WF's strawberries come from Watsonville, CA. Even if they fly them here - which they don't - the strawberries are on their way to bad before they even get to DC.

[Anonymous]

I had this happen at the WF in Friendship Heights. Bought 2 containers of crabmeat for $60. When I opened them that night to use, both were no doubt spoiled. The sell by date was a few days away. I took it back and the store gave me a full refund. But I was ticked off by the hassle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Twice I've brought home strawberries from the Old Town WF and the next day they were covered in mold. Now, we buy and eat the berries the same day we buy them. Agree about the fish comment too. Even the frozen fish smelled "off" when we defrosted it. We do almost all of our shopping at WF because it has what we need, but I've learned to be really careful about my purchases and check each item for spoilage. PITA.

This is a strawberries problem, not a WF problem. Strawberries have an EXTREMELY short shelf life. Most of WF's strawberries come from Watsonville, CA. Even if they fly them here - which they don't - the strawberries are on their way to bad before they even get to DC.

I posted the strawberries comment. I understand that strawberries mainly come from CA and are a delicate fruit, but I seem to have bigger problems with the WF berries than when I buy the exact same, organic brand from Safeway (sometimes for less!). I came back on here because I just opened a jug of fresh concord grape juice, with an exp date of 10/16/11, and was greeted with a strong alcohol smell and juice fizzing out the top. Clearly, there was a refrigeration issue with this product, since it seems to have fermented well ahead of it's "use by" date. Frustrating and with a two year old and constant morning sickness, I never seem to remember to take these products back to the store or tell management about the issue. Oh, and someone asked "why not just shop at TJ's?"---their exp dates are even sooner than WF! I've had more issues with spoiled produce, meat, and bread there than at WF. Like someone upthread said, I think it's because lots of Old Town shoppers are buying small amounts of specialty foods to eat for lunch or for dinner that night, so there isn't great turnover of produce, meats, loaves of bread, larger sizes of milk, etc. Will have to say that a point for TJ's is that they are wonderful about returns. Again, I almost never remember to take something back, but the few times I have, they have been awesome about it.

[Anonymous]

TJs has terrible quality control for anything perishable - things sit on a hot truck before they are unloaded and then in the store for long periods while they are stocked. TJs is great, but I ONLY buy non-perishables there.

As for WF, I have never had a problem, but I almost exclusively shop at P Street, which has such high turnover I wonder how they keep things in stock.

[Anonymous]

I think if there are repeatedly spoiled meats or fish from a certain store despite the date promising otherwise the store's HQ need to know about it, and honestly the Department of Health!!!

[Anonymous]

Wah, wah, wah, wah, my smelly chicken, wah wah wah WAH. Cant shop at any Whole Foods because I bought chicken once and it was bad. Wah Wah Wah. Oh my FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS that I AM SO LUCKY TO HAVE. OH, OH ENTITLED ME.

End scene.

[Anonymous]

I have never had a problem with meat or fish in Clarendon.

I do find that their bread is often stale.

I prefer Moms when I have the time to go to Alexandria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wah, wah, wah, wah, my smelly chicken, wah wah wah WAH. Cant shop at any Whole Foods because I bought chicken once and it was bad. Wah Wah Wah. Oh my FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS that I AM SO LUCKY TO HAVE. OH, OH ENTITLED ME.

End scene.

Agreed. No one has ever gotten sick or died from eating spoiled food.