Food Lion — Local services in Clayton

My older sister thought it would be fun to give my 3 young adult kids a Food Lion 100.00 gift card for their birthdays to learn about the cost of food, how far 100 will get you. We had the reciepts to all 3 gift cards just in case there was any problems with us because the cashier said that would solve any issues. This is not the case, having the reciepts did nothing in our situation and are useless. One of the gift cards would not work, kept saying invalid. I gave the cashier the receipt but she said there was nothing she could do and I would have to call corporate to have them resolve the issue. We had 3 carts full of food already being checked out with a line behind us. I had to pay out of pocket which I had not been planning on to avoid a bigger mess. I asked why couldn't the management fix the situation and was told they had to go through the same process I do and don't have a direct line to corporate or anything they can do, that it was a corporate issue. I then proceeded to go through the very long process of trying to talk to someone about the 100.00 gift card not working. When checking the balance it said the money was there but no way to use the card. I had to go through the phone recordings telling me to press different numbers to reach the right departments for over an hour. Had to tell the situation over and over to every department they kept switching me too. They told me to go back to store get another card call them back go through another hour to find the right department and real person to talk to to give them numbers on back of card to switch balance to another card. I did all this only to have card not work again when we tried again. By this time I was really upset and frustrated and beginning to think Food Lion is trying to steal money through these cards by hoping we will give up because of all the trouble. If the amount had been small I may have called it a loss and dropped it just never go back there again. Since the management would not give me any other options I decided to stay at the store and call the corporate number in front of them to make sure it can be checked before I leave to not waste more time and hassle again. I was given the run around and told by the operator on the phone I had to wait and be contacted back later. I finally left and called again when I got home to talk to a different operator. I also filed a complaint over the phone at the store but would be surprised if it got recorded anywhere as they said it was the only way to file a complaint. I only got one nice helpful person through the several operators I had to go through. We finally were able to use the card and had just 11.00 and some change left to use from the cards. This all happened in August 2023. Not wanting to return to a Fool Lion after all that we waited till April of 2024 to go back in to use that little bit left over. I gave it to my boys to walk down to the neighborhood store on Pritchard Rd in Clayton to buy a treat, only to have the same thing happen again! Card not valid. My son used his pocket cash and came home.I told them to go back in a few days to grab another card so I could go through the whole process again like before but the management now told them they couldn't take another card without the original gift card. I had to run down to the store with the gift card so they wouldn't be looked at like they were trying to do something wrong. Last year I was told that those cards have no value and I just needed to take one from the shelf and call corporate when this happens and don't need permission. My boys had to stand around in the store with the food they were trying to buy for almost an hour, making my younger son almost late to his class. I am grateful this manager this time did the process herself instead of making me go through it but still should not take so long and this all should have never happened. I have decided I do not trust Food Lion and won't ever be back. Don't buy Food...

I will NOT COME BACK TO THIS STORE! I was grabbing a drink and not focusing on anything really. I tossed almost all my groceries onto the belt (5-6 items) and cashier was like ma’am ma’am OH MY GOD NEVER MIND. I said oh I’m sorry were you speaking to me? She yeah I was. I said oh I’m really sorry. She said I’m closed. As people were in her line. I said oh I’m so sorry I wasn’t even paying attention I was focused on a drink that I didn’t bother looking. Do I need to put all my stuff back in my cart and move somewhere else? She said yes, yes you do. I said oh okay it’s not a big problem. Then the customer was like isn’t your light off. Register lady was like yes for a good minute my manager made me turn it off. It’s been off for some time. Customer said Humm some people. So I put all my stuff into my cart and started to push it out of her aisle and I was like honestly it’s not that big of a deal. Just could have handled it a little more professionally my opinion. My bad for not looking for a light on. My mistake. Yep I will stick with my more friendly food Lion for now on. My mistake for not wanting to...

At face value this is your typical food lion. When you pull up to the building your greeting by the everyone's favorite blue lion. Subway to the left, Chinese restaurant to the right, a nail salon somewhere in between. All of which is a familiar sight when pulling up to the kitty.

However, what you don't know is when you enter the store is just how lucky you are to be there. The guy on the big thing that waxes the floor majestically streaming past you as the smell of freshly baked bagels and tightly packed sushi immediately enters your nasal cavity. The store is clean, the staff is friendly, and the sound of items being scanned at the registers is plentiful.

And lastly, you will always feel like you're at home at the store. Not only because its so well run, but because the entire riverwood neighborhood decides its time to go to food lion at 5pm on a Sunday. You are virtually guaranteed to see four of your neighbors buying a case of beer and a food lion brand pizza, just...