Wegmans — Local services in Franconia

I used to love shopping here but I have started doing my shopping elsewhere some weeks. I love the curbside pickup option, but time slots are very limited. It is usually pretty busy, but that is to be expected for the variety of options they offer. My last two experiences were kind of annoying, however. First world problems, but my groceries for my last curbside order had a bag of spoiled clementines that I have been meaning to take back, but just kept forgetting about it. I went there New Year’s Eve to grab one thing and when I arrived and saw they had signs out that they were closing at 8pm. Ok, fair enough, it was almost 8 but not quite and I wasn’t going to be long so i proceeded to the entrance to find it was blocked by a line of shopping carts. I thought that was weird, so I went to the other entrance/exit to check things out since I saw people walking out and as I approached, I was told they were closed by an employee. When I looked at my watch it was 7:50 so I mentioned it wasn’t 8 yet and she told me they were at capacity. The parking lot was not even a third full and I have seen it way busier when I have come to pick up my curbside order, so I have a hard time believing they were at capacity. She then asked if I just needed one thing, thinking maybe she would let me run in real quick as people walked out, I said yes and asked if I could go in but she said no. Then why did you ask me that? I get that they were closing early, but why tell me you are closed 10 mins before closing and why the lie that you were at capacity? I guess I should have just accepted the “we’re closed” the first time but I was just confused. Maybe they shouldn’t have advertised the 8pm closing time when they were going to block the entrance more than 10 mins before closing. We have all gone to the store cutting it close to closing time and although it is annoying I am sure, they are still opened. Anyway, it’s a grocery store with decent options and not overly priced. Probably will go back, but is no longer my first choice (which I am sure they will not miss...

Wegmans Hilltop in Kingstowne, Alexandria (Edit: All Wegmans. Not just my local Wegmans) In the last few years, since COVID, they have been overt in their corporate greed and putting their bottom line over customers.

Specifically there is rarely just 1 or 2 in -person check-out lanes open, if any, on any given day to include Saturdays. Instead they make you do their job while 2 folks watch you like a hawk and then admonish you when you mis-scan items.

I can't imagine having people come to my job expecting a service from me and turning to them and saying, now you're going to do it and I'm going to watch you. And I'm going to charge you double for it. Essentially this is the Wegmans model. Their food prices are outrageous. And ever since COVID they have never opened up the full spread hot bar. And yet we pay so much money for all that food and they're still working like COVID exists. They are terrible on customer service because they don't serve us anymore. We serve ourselves as they watch over us to make sure we don't steal anything. It's disgusting to get treated this way. And to charge us for paper bags I think is illegal. The rules were for plastic bags and charges for that like a tax because they are not good for the environment. But Wegmans has gone above and beyond and squeezing every dime out of us. So my reward for doing their job and scanning my food out is to pay for the paper bags, that have no handles by the way.

I highly recommend going to Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's has no automated lines and very happy customer service folks. They are so fast and don't charge for their paper bags which have lovely and sturdy handles. And they have reasonably priced food! Go figure.

Wegmans Corporate should be ashamed of themselves charging us so much money while we do the jobs of the employees and they treat us like children at the cash registers. I really hate...

UPDATE: I had my wallet and keys (they were attached together) stolen from here after accidentally leaving them in the bathroom, which makes me not want to come back to this store anymore. I thought this store was located in a good area, but apparently not... The ironic part is that I had no cash in there, only a few debit cards that I immedietly locked (obviously) and our key fob to the car. Good thing I was there with my husband, and he had another key, otherwise I would have been stuck there!!! The audacity of people...!!! I already filed a police report online, and I will be calling the police department to come investigate the security camera footage because this is outrages.

PREVIOUSLY: You'd think they were going out of business - they are CONSTANTLY out of stock on items!

I debated whether to give them 3 or 4 stars...

As far as grocery stores go, they're ok, I guess, but this location in particular is CONSTANTLY out of items I came for!! Super frustrating.

They also play annoying music all the time. I wish they just didn't play anything at all. It's the same songs on repeat, too. Everytime I come I hear the same exact songs, and it drives me crazy.

And they do this really annoying thing that's completely arbitray, and close the doors to the cafe area at 8pm, eventhough the store and cafe seating remain open until 12am. My husband and I hate this, it is so annoying, pointless, and inconvenient. Hoping they'll start to see that and stop locking the doors, finally. That's just not a customer-first approach, in my view.

Staff have always been nice to me, though. Except the one's who refuse to open the doors even when they are literally standing right there, and I'm parked right...