Flannerys Benowa — Local services in Gold Coast City

At the time of me writing my review, there were 21 (yes, 21), other one-star reviews, indicating that it’s not only me.

A common theme in those reviews is the alleged poor attitude of the staff, and the poor quality produce. I have been shopping at Flannerys Benowa for over two decades, and I allege that the business seems to be failing.

A few months ago I was waiting at the naturopathic counter for service. When no one came to serve me, I looked around for a naturopath - and here she was, Cassie, receiving what seemed to be a very sensual shoulder massage from a male customer. I have seen similar displays of what appeared to be a lusty encounter, in seedy nightclubs in my early twenties, but I didn’t expect to see this type of thing near the egg display in an organic supermarket while I was waiting to purchase my supplements .Whilst Cassie seemed like she was enjoying herself, it was pretty unsavoury, to say the least. I allege that she was in no hurry to give up her massage to serve me, to the point that I had to ask her ‘Are you actually working?’

Fast forward a few months, and on two occasions (once at Benowa, and once at Miami), a practitioner-only product that I had ordered, and I have a script for, was sold to other customers (Cassie was allegedly the culprit in one of these situations - interesting that), leaving me without. I emailed head office asking someone to call me so that I could register my complaint, only to be ignored (haha, I allege they’ll take the time to gaslight me in their reply to this review though, as at least one other author of a one-star review experienced).

‘As a professional of over 30 years in the industry expressed to me ‘They really don’t deserve the business - very disappointing.’

When I shop at Market Organics (MO), in Southport, I have noticed that no less than seven former team members from Flannerys Benowa now work at MO. I have also noticed that many of the customers that I would usually see at Flannerys over the past two decades, now shop at MO. I dare say that is because the service, and fruit and vegetable selection at MO is allegedly much better quality....

I attended a session with the in-store naturopath, who went through a number of things including a blood smear test which showed 'parasites' under the microscope. I subsequently visited an infectious diseases specialist at a hospital who after conferring with the microbiologist from his lab confirmed that the type of microscope used in this setting would not be detailed enough to be able to detect parasites within that amount of blood, as the kind that is needed (and used in proper labs) is much more advanced and able to see much smaller objects. I was charged $100 for this naturopath session, and to be honest feel kind of scammed and would like an explanation.

EDIT in light of their response: This really has nothing to do with being a 'personal health conversation', rather with the honesty and integrity of a business, its practices and the practices of its employees, which i'm concerned that you are not more concerned about. Especially when a medical specialist and a scientist have essentially said i have been lied to, and especially considering the amount of money i spent on supplements to cure the supposed 'paresite'. I was told after sitting down in the naturopath's room that I had to pay cash, so I'm sure you conveniently won't be able to locate me in your system, but that doesn't matter. I'll be leaving it at that and won't be supporting your store anymore. I hope you take the time to do the proper and appropriate internal...

The staff are always lovely and the store upgrade is gorgeous. Isles are easy to navigate and theres an amazing selection of healthy and organic brands! However.. Sadly every time I’m in the bread section there is always mouldy bread on the shelf, every time without fail. Which I feel was never a problem in the years I’ve shopped here until the last few months. I’ve let the staff know a few times very nicely cause I adore flannerys but it’s starting to get to the point that it’s really gross cause it’s always there. I’ve also noticed a few expired products on the shelves and wilted veggies in the fridge. A few months ago I bought some meat strips and returned them about 2 hours later because they were 5 days out of date. No other Flannerys has ever had these problems (that I’ve seen) so I just wanted to leave some constructive critisisim cause I really would love to see this store thrive and do better. In saying this, any time I have bought home food and it has been expired, the staff have given me a refund straight away and apologised. So the customer service really is great. I would just love to see a little more love put into...