Wholefood Merchants — Restaurant in Melbourne

I have thought long and hard about whether I should post this or not. I am very disappointed at the lack of customer service and deceitful behaviour I received on 3/2/19 by your staff member ‘Jackie’. I called in the afternoon after we received a Kilner fermentation set for Xmas from my mother in law and upon opening it, discovered the base was completely smashed. When I rang and explained my predicament, Jackie asked how it was purchased, I explained that my mother in law purchased it for us for Xmas with her loyalty card. When Jackie looked up her account, she claimed that there were no purchases on there relating to a fermenter and that she required an actual proof of purchase. When my mother in law finally found the receipt half an hour later, I raced down to wholefood merchants just before 5pm as they were closing. Upon approaching the register, I explained to the polite young cashier that I was here to exchange the fermenter and that I spoke to Jackie. She went off to get a very frustrated-looking Jackie who approached the counter looking unimpressed to say the least, that I had found the receipt. After umming and aring about if the product I was returning was exactly like the one they had on the shelf (it was) she began huffing and puffing and started nit picking details on both boxes around details and packaging . I felt that she was doing everything possible to avoid exchanging my faulty product.What I find even more hilarious is that after ten minutes of this back and forth (Jackie pointing out the differences on the picking and me reassuring her that they were the same product but that I should have had to do that), Jackie finally realised that the manufacturer had obviously slightly changed the packaging. Jackie then instructed her colleague to do a straight swap of the products, without having even requested to see the receipt after all that, and then proceeded to walk off without saying anything else. No apology, nothing. If this is how she thinks customers should be treated then that is absolutely appalling. She obviously felt defeated and I just felt mortified and embarrassed that I had to plead my case over a faulty product, even with a proof of purchase, in front of other customers. May I also add that the receipt also has my mother in laws name and account number on it which shows that the sale was processed under her account. I am happy to produce this also, at your request. This proves that Jackie blatantly lied to my face. What ever happened to basic customer service? Overall, an extremely negative and disappointing experience. After having been a loyal and local customer for years now, sadly I will not be returning due to this...

Before writing this, I read through the other 1* reviews to see if others had also received poor service and noticed that in most of those 1* reviews, WM management had replied most sincerely that their comments had been "taken on board" and would be discussed at length by the "committed and talented team". I was sad to discover yesterday (my first visit) that this improvement in customer service has obviously not occurred. On entering I sought out a member of staff to ask where I could find nutritional yeast. The staff don't seem to wear any kind of identifiable uniform so I asked this young woman if she worked there. She replied "Sometimes" which I still don't understand. I was hoping for a yes or no answer. Anyhow I pressed on. She looked very uncertain about where to find the nutritional yeast. Another more experienced member of staff then joined us, and proceeded to use my request for information as an opportunity for some quick staff training. She asked the first woman "Where do you think it might be?" without engaging me at all. The first woman gave her best guess, to which the more experienced woman replied "You're getting warmer". Meanwhile I'm standing there like a third wheel, wondering when either of them might answer my freaking question. It was baffling and humiliating. When I was finally shown to the spot by the less experienced young woman, I thanked her very much and attempted to read the price tags on the bottom shelf (as mentioned by another reviewer here, almost impossible to distinguish in the dim light). It was necessary to almost lie on the floor in order to see how much the bottom row of produce cost. Right at that moment, the more experienced young woman walked up very close to where I was and flung a box of shelf items down onto the floor, landing inches from my head. It was dumb, thoughtless and inconsiderate and only reinforced my earlier assessment of her. I couldn't wait to get out of there. Oh yeah ..... and your nooch is stupidly expensive. A little bit of advice: never waste an opportunity to impress a customer. As a vegan I'm always on the lookout for a One-Stop-Shop and hoped this might be it. I'll...

CHECK YOUR RECEIPT BEFORE LEAVING THIS STORE!

I have been a customer for well over 3 years, spending hundreds of dollars weekly and this store has continued to rip me off – from monthly to weekly visits. They will charge the original price and not the discounted price, double scan items, and even forget to pack items altogether. There has been much wasted time spent calling, emailing and driving back to this store to be either refunded or to pick up an item that somehow did not make it into the bag.

And while this store continues to rip off their customers, they will never miss an opportunity to check your bag when you leave or watch you eagerly as you shop. Even if you are a returning loyal customer..

I will also add that this store claims that they are ethical however, love to stock toxic clothing that is made from polyester and their café does not use organic produce. Their cafe also only offers takeaway (even if you choose to eat in) therefore, unnecessary adding to landfill.

Since shopping elsewhere, I have noticed that Wholefoods has the space and capacity to offer more food in bulk and less packaging. 90% of the store offers food in packaging and mostly plastic. Also, just something I have noticed – their organic vegetables very rarely have any bugs in them which raises the question if they are being sprayed.

For those who are looking for other like stores, consider ‘Seedtime & Harvest’ for bulk foods in Boronia, ‘Kallista Organic Market’ in Kallista, or even ‘The Good Food Emporium’ which offers crystals, plants and jewellery, organic produce and an organic café. You also won’t be attentively watched there either.

Sorry Wholefoods to do this to you. I have been putting this off for over a year now, but nothing has changed, and you have not compensated me for my wasted time and money. People deserve to know you are ripping the average person off every day. In this climate, you should be...