H-E-B plus! — Local services in Leander

I debated on writing this heavily. As women, we are taught to just get out of the situation quickly for our safety and most of us shy away from reporting unsafe/uncomfortable situations. I almost did not report and let this slide. But something came over me and I had to. On 1/26… around 11:20 I decided to stop by this HEB to grab a lint rollers and a few other travel essentials. So I entered and immediately noticed an employee wearing a bright yellow hoodie, bald with glasses and a white beard, scout me out and follow me around. But I have been in his place and to be honest I looked like a bum so, definitely fit the profile. But I kept shopping for what I needed whilst he followed me around. I made my way into the cosmetic section and picked up a blush. At this point I had 3 items in my hand when I realized I needed a lint roller, so I made my way over to the detergent isle, with this gentleman of course, still following me. As I am entering, the intercom came on and it was announced that their system was down and they were only accepting cash. I had no cash so I placed the items on a shelf and made my way to the exit. As I am about to exit the building, this man stops me and with an accusing tone asked “where are the cosmetics you had in your hand?” To which I replied “I put them in a shelf” him: “okay but which one” I replied “the detergent isle , I can show you” him “no no, I just needed to know where, my job is to put everything back” (no it isn’t, loss prevention) to which I reply “this is offensive” he replied with a smirk “why?” … me “you targeted me” him “no I didn’t, have a nice day”. I’m Latina and he was a middle aged white male and again… wearing sweatpants and an oversized sweater, of course he targeted me. I’ve dealt with ignorance like this my entire life.I left so distraught and as im searching for my car I noticed him in the next parking line, he followed me out. I made my way to my car and sat there watching him as he got into his car and made his way towards me and circled around the parking isle I was parked in. He ended up entering another isle and I couldn’t see him anymore and I felt relief. I sat there debating if I should go home or report this to his supervisor. I was afraid this unhinged employee would follow me home so I went inside and had a pleasant chat with the supervisor, Chris I believe. Whom was very apologetic and respectful. Thank you. I have no need to steal, I have been a paying customer for years. I understand the procedures but this was borderline unsafe and unhinged of this employee. However, the actions of one employee does not define the establishment, this particular employee needs psychological intervention,...

I will admit the prices at H‑E‑B are much cheaper than competitors, on most products. The problem is the people that work at HEB. The people that pick out groceries for curbside service are rude and cut right in front of you if you’re looking for something and they need it. Literally stop their shelving cart right in front of you so they can get their items. There are hardly any baggers. The ones they have stay around the customers that have 25 or less items. That’s not what they’re trained to do. I made a complaint with Vanessa (or Nessa, couldn’t understand) about me bagging all $300 of my groceries. I had baggers on both sides of me and those customers had about $30-$50 worth of groceries. So I was talking to the upfront “manager” and she made every excuse in the book, but finally said she’d bring it up at the next meeting. Then she asked who checker was and I said he was doing an excellent job. He had the longest line and all of the customers in line were over 65. I bragged on that young man (Jordan) but then she turned it around on him and said she was going to talk to him because he should have called for someone. What?? He was BUSY scanning all the groceries. Besides there were about 5 people just standing around cutting up. Was he supposed to disturb their social hour? That’s the other thing, they have a lot of employees “working” but more times than not they are in clusters chatting and not willing to help. I’ve had to say excuse me so many times because they are blocking the aisles. They. Do. Not. Care. If this happened just a couple times I wouldn’t say anything but we’ve been shopping there for years (since they opened) and it’s getting worse. So prices are good, but customer service is terrible. For me, I’m going to start going to Randall’s. Pay a little more (on some items) but they are much more helpful and I don’t have to always bag my groceries or fight through a crowd of their employees to get where...

First, it's very impressive that someone at H‑E‑B reads the online reviews and cares about how the business is running and their customers’ experiences. I have frequently shopped at the H‑E‑B in Leander for many years, sometimes daily, and used to love going there. However this is no longer the case.

Two weeks ago I was in the 15 item lane. I believed I had 15 items, not counting individually the fruits (ie three apples in a bag would count as one item). At any rate, I was in the 15 item lane and there were not a lot of people in the store. No one was in line behind me. Without actually counting my items the cashier rudely sent me to another lane. Then she started talking about me to the cashier gentleman in the other lane. She was very unprofessional. I hadn’t done or said anything wrong to her. After she harassed me I muttered a comment to myself under my breath about her behavior.

When I complained about the situation to a manager the manager did not listen to me and did not take responsibility for the rude employee. No apology, no accountability, no corrective action… nothing. The manager was just as rude and dismissive as the cashier.

What happened to good customer service? Smiling and greeting customers? Aren’t stores supposed to be customer-oriented? Do some cashiers think that just because there are self-checkout lanes that they shouldn’t work to assist customers in the other lanes? What happened that day was unacceptable.

For this reason I’m giving H‑E‑B the lowest rating possible. Of course it would be great to have a chance to talk to a TRUE manager, someone who can fairly listen to my experience of what happened and work to improve the shopping experiences for customers, providing help and support to our community. Given my recent experiences at H‑E‑B I doubt this can happen, though.

If anyone at H‑E‑B reads this complaint and would like to discuss I am happy to. Thanks in advance for your time...