Grocery Outlet — Local services in San Francisco

I've shopped at this store since the opening day and really enjoyed the selection of products it offers as well as the friendly service from owners/operators Travis and Rose. Today was an eye opening experience though and not in a good way! Few months ago I had purchased a box of Ferrero candies. They were manufactured in Italy many years ago and then under Ferrero license in Canada. Both Italian and Canadian candy was excellent. Tasted great and was fresh. But this time the candy had nothing in common with the regular Ferrero taste I had come to enjoy. It tasted nothing like the original product! It was really bad and I actually didn't feel well after eating it. The box of this Ferrero candy was made in Poland. It didn't not have the same ingredients and wasn't produced up to the standard. It was so bad that I wouldn't be surprised if it was a counterfeit altogether! But regardless, I had a tea party and several people had tasted the candy and were really disappointed. They complained of headaches and elevated blood pressure after eating it, which would indicate a high presence of Mercury in chocolate. In any case, I had meant to return them sooner than later, but was so busy that I just didn't have the time to drop them off at the store right away. Nevertheless, since the candy had a date of 2024 and technically wasn't a perishable product I didn't think there was going to be a problem returning them in exchange for a different item today. Boy, was I wrong! It turns out that the store had hired a new manager, Betty. Betty is an unpleasant, aggressive lady, bent on having a confrontation with a long time customer, instead of taking responsibility for a sub-par product that was sold at the store and the negative effects it had on those who had the misfortune to try it. Right off the bat she lashed out at me as to why several candies were eaten instead of 1. I really didn't feel like going into a lengthy explanation at the store, nor did I feel that I had to. Instead of focusing on the fact that the candy was of poor quality, didn't taste at all like Ferrero, and had negative effects on the customer, she proceeded to tell me that they should have been returned within 30 days. Why should that matter especially since the candy is dated 2024? Why should the customer be turned away even if the store is responsible for the bad products it sells??? Mind you I didn't ask for a refund, I tried exchanging them for a similar set of products and would have paid at least twice as much as the candy cost. Why should a customer be stuck with a poor quality, possibly counterfeit product because the manager has a lousy attitude and completely lacks understanding on what customer service really means??? Where does she get off lecturing me or any other customer on why more than one candy has been eaten??? Is that the issue at hand here??? According to Betty, it is! She said that I should have brought back the box after eating the first candy, which according to her would have meant that I should have told my guests not to eat them, and instead of enjoying my time with friends, get up and go to the store to return them. Really?! I don't think so! Hiring this individual was a poor decision on the part of the owners and will cost them much more than the $10 spent on this terrible candy. Today I felt like I didn't want to shop at this store anymore after being a loyal customer for nearly two decades....

I LOVE this store!

Even though it is part of a franchise, this store is family owned, and the employees are the BEST- highly polite, courteous, helpful, friendly, and they actually all remember their regulars' names, and what their preferences are, and even make suggestions on such.

I go in there multiple times a week, and, sadly, anything I can articulate in words falls far short of the wonderful staff this store has, and the personal interest the owners clearly display for, not just their customers, but for their employees.

Wonderful amazing staff all around. I tried to start naming them one by one, but there are too many and I will forget someone.

I can't say enough good things about this local business.

Today, I went in there in tears because I have to have open heart surgery, and I am positively terrified.

Elijah and Emma took my hands and said a prayer for me.

All the other employees who know me expressed their concern every time as well.

Wow! It is hard to believe that one shops at a grocery outlet where people actually treat you as they would in a small business and care so much about you.

This is a really special place, with really special people...

Grocery outlet is one of my favorite places to grocery shop and find limited time values. I found plenty of stuff that was going to expire soon for deep discounts like 10 cans of organic lentils for $1 that normally go for $4 at whole foods or 15 packs of trail mix for $1 that go for at least $5 elsewhere.

Each grocery outlet gets a unique shipment, so sometimes you find items exclusive to that store that other stores don't have. If something looks seasonal or you don't see it often at grocery outlet, it might be a one time or limited time product so you might want to buy higher quantities of it because it might not come back.

Another tip for grocery outlet, they are not a traditional grocery store in the sense that they might not have the exact items or brands that other traditional grocery stores have. They always have milk, but they might not have organic milk or the type of soymilk you typically buy.

It's always fun to shop at grocery outlet because you don't know what deals you might find each time you're there. Sometimes you luck out and...