H-E-B — Attraction in Leander

First of all, let me start by saying I love HEB, but this particular experience made me write this 1-star review. I was discriminated against by an HEB employee. I am a Pakistani descent US citizen. I went to Heb on my lunch break thinking I would be in and out in 20 mins. I went to the self check out on the Pharmacy end of the store where you can have 25 items or less. Every time I have been here (note I live 1 mile away, so I come here many, many times), the employee standing at the computer bags and places your groceries in your cart while you are scanning.

This incident happened between 12:50-1:15 on 9/25/2025. I got behind a customer who was done scanning and was paying for their groceries. I first placed all of my groceries on the conveyor belt. Then, I proceeded to scan my groceries and slide them to the employee, Amy, that was there so she could bag it. I was in my zone, scanning my items. Then, I noticed that none of my groceries were being bagged and the customer (white female) at the register right across from mine was getting all of the assistance. I didn't mind thinking I would get help next. But to my surprise, Amy, started helping the next customer (another white female) on the checkout register across from me. Please note that these two registers are side by side and at the end of the register is a computer in the middle where the employee stands and assists the customers. I was a bit thrown off, because now all of my groceries were piled up to the scanner where I couldn't even scan more items. So I looked at Amy, but she continued to help the other customer. So I started bagging my items so I could finish scanning the rest of my groceries. I saw behind me a line of customers forming. At this point I was done scanning and was proceeding to scan my coupons and pay. The groceries were still there waiting to be bagged. Amy didnt even bother to put the groceries I bagged in my cart. The gentleman behind me came around to Amy to ask why she is not assisting me with bagging and only assisting the other customers on the other side. To which she responded, "oh, I cannot reach her groceries!" 🤨 "Plus the customers always want to bag their own groceries." Please note, that 1, she never asked if I want to bag my own groceries or not and just assumed. And 2, all the shopping bags are in front of her, not accessible to the customers scanning. Like I mentioned before, I have been here before and every time the employee bags the groceries. I am independent and don't need the assistance, but the way these registers are built, there are no bags available for the customers because they are in front of the employee working there. After Amy's response to the gentleman behind me, I spoke up. I told her that if she couldn't reach my groceries, then she could have asked me push them her way. The groceries were right in front of her, she chose not to assist. She then acts to help me by putting one grocery bag in my cart, saying let me help you.

I am not the kind of person to get upset like this, but I truly think this happened because my skin color.

I went and talked to the store manager, didn't get her name, but she was a younger female. I told her exactly what happened to which she said sorry and that she will review the footage with the employee to let her know where Amy went wrong. The manager did NOT note down my information or time of incident or anything. How will she remember to review with the employee? How will I know this won't happen again?

I later met the gentleman in the parking lot and he said that Amy was rude to him and didn't even reply when he said thank you and she gave him a mean...

"H-E-B" Has Everything But... At opening time you will find yourself searching for an unlocked entryway. Don't bother knocking. Self checkout will be disabled leaving you to wait for a cashier to become available.

If I were the store manager I would re-examine opening procedures and anticipate early shoppers who are zipping in and zipping out quickly at opening

Early evening time is total chaos, as expected for one of the only grocery stores in the fastest growing area of town. Unfortunately the amount of available cashiers is typically no more than 4, although there are multiple lanes open. You might think they are there for shopping surges during the holidays but that rings false. Self check out is fully open. However be prepared to face long delays and malfunctions. No tap to pay No card swiping Constant bad chip reads Item limits Cramped space No cash majority of the time Very small bags

If I were the Area manager or sales director I would add tap to pay to move the lines of people using self checkout faster. More momentum more sales captures and repeat returns.

Or just pull people from stocking during midday rushes to run cash registers.

Online Outside Pickups. The entrance is a big crash zone waiting to happen. For some reason the wrap around of the building isn't being used to funnel cars in. Instead they come and often que at the main entrance.

If I were anyone planning the logistics of this. I would open the other entrance and have them que on the large shoulder on the road versus the main entrance. Causing the flow of traffic not to be back and forth but move in 1 direction. You'd reduce the frustration of those shopping in person and problably capture more sales from indoor shoppers over time

Tried to be as constructive as possible. Anything more I'm willing to give for flat rate...

They seemed to have cheaped out on the build to save space. The aisles are very narrow and the ceilings are short. It feels very crammed in the store. The parking spots are very narrow as well and a basic F150 or 1500 style pickup truck barely fits without keeping the tires on the edge of the line.

In general it feels like a hectic shopping experience because of the way the aisles, walk ways, and checkout lanes are so crammed.

Their floors are made of some very slippery material that feels like you’re walking on a thin sheet of dust over gloss tile. Almost as bad as slipping walking out of a shower onto polished marble floor.

Lastly, this could be a cause and effect of inflation however it did seem the prices on everything was significantly more than other local H-E-B stores.

Feb 2022 Update: During the very short 2 day “winter freeze” the store did not salt, sand, or shovel/plow any ice in their parking lot. I saw 2 people fall and a vehicle slide nearly hitting into their Texas backyard area out in the front of the store. There is no excuse that they couldn’t/shouldn’t have prepared for this and at a minimum had rock salt and sand at the ready. Poor management to allow this safety and liability hazard with black ice still there even 72 hours later in the drive thru pharmacy lanes. Ridiculous.

March 2025 Update: I rarely go here and just order online. It’s not worth the stress. Between it taking an hour for a trip that should take 20 minutes with slow workers and crowded aisles, one of the worst things is all the people who don’t wear deodorant when walking around in their dirty open toes flip flops smelling like they haven’t...