Here Organic Warehouse Ltd — Local services in London

Bought brown rice a few weeks ago from this store and opened today to find tiny insects crawling inside. I went to the store asking for a refund and they refused saying it is too late as I bought a few weeks ago and asking me where I stored the rice and then claiming the problem is with the wood in my cupboard; claiming that insects come out from the wood then also stating (worryingly) that in Iran they just throw out the bugs from the surface water and cook the rice (this was coming from the Iranian chef/store assistant who prepares the hummus and other dishes they sell in refrigerated section). The week before I had bought hummus from them (the one they make themselves) which had the expiry date on those outdated price tags, it was one day before expiry and was like sour milk when I put it in my mouth, I spat it out. I walked back there immediately but they laughed at me when I asked for a refund saying it is only a few pounds and also claiming they cannot refund as they had just closed off their system but when I asked them to write down their details suddenly they were able to scan the item and credit me back. I got a bad stomach the following day after eating the baba ganoush/aubergine dip they make.

I had also bought a bottle of oil from them which was month past expiry .Luckily I noticed when I got back home and went back straight away to request a refund and it took me 3 times of going there for them to self-servingly propose not a refund but an exchange for items from their store of equivalent value of what I had paid for the bottle. The first time was on a weekday when it took me 10 minutes of talking with store manager who shouted at me ''don't argue with me" and tells me to come back on Sunday. I came back Friday and they ask me to leave my phone number as I overhear them arguing with an angry customer who was saying they had been rude to him and them replying that it was because he/the customer had been rude to them. It was Saturday and I heard nothing from them so I walked in again as they claimed since the product appeared as a 'miscellaneous item'(per their records) the product was not theirs and someone had left it on the shelf (they sold me a bottle of oil one month past expiry).

Also as per commenters below you don't feel welcome in this store and they follow you around the whole time as if you're a...

I love supporting small local stores but this is a bad example of one. While the selection of food is wonderfully diverse, I would not recomend trusting any of the ‘fresh’ foods here. From my experience it either goes off very fast or (if you’re not careful in checking) vegetables may already be growing mould by the time you get home. This is a serious shame because their food (when actually fresh) is high quality and has great taste. I’m convinced that the stocks aren’t regularly checked. My stranges experience was when I picked up some ginger, starting to grow mould on one end, I toon it to (who I assume was) the manager to show my concern. She asked me to put it back where I found it. I was shocked to hear that, considering the mould would spread and taint other products. More recently I came home with a sealed packet of saussages I was silly enough to not check the expiration (I’m young and learning). I pupled them out of the fridge the day after and found it was already the expiration day. They were grey and discoloured and the underside was pink (I thought they were supposed to be grey, but no, all of the sides kept from the air were pink). How grose. It was my own fault for not noticing this sooner while in my rush at the store, but I’m also shocked that they were still on display in this state, and that the woman happily charged the discoloured meat and put it into my shopping bag without saying a word.

I’ve grown up around this area and hold the shop as a fond memory in my childhood. I don’t want to be saying bad things about it, I want to see it thrive but the staff seriously needs to take more care monitering the freshness of their food. I think I’ll only buy dried or jarred goods from Here...

Do not shop here. Zero stars. They are rude, unprofessional, probably deliberately sell defective produce and refuse refunds. They should be reported to trading standards. I shopped there for some time spending a lot of money and had experienced the rudeness, for example being abused by the owner for carrying a Whole Foods carrier bag, which should warned me off. Things came to a head when I had the misfortune of trying to return a bad bottle of white wine that had turned to vinegar in the bottle. I took the wine back and was firstly told by the staff they couldn’t give a refund and to return again when the owner was there. That took two more trips only to be told by the owner “this isn’t a restaurant” and refused a refund, or to swap for another bottle of wine or to knock the price off my shopping bill. I also noticed a lot of the same bottles of wine at the front of the shop so it was pretty clear they knew what they were doing. When I checked the date on the wine it was obvious I that all the other bottles would be equally bad.The staff appear to work in fear of this guy and his wife. The shop should be reported to trading standards as the behaviours make we wonder if what we are buying is actually what it is claimed to be. I thought I might have been a one off untill I read the reviews herre. I wish I’d seen them earlier. Avoid, there are many other good organic shops in London (Planet Organic, Whole Foods, Borough Market, As Nature Intended, etc). This shop gives the sector a bad name snd...