Goodness Me! — Restaurant in Barrie

I have been repeatedly disappointed by this store since it opened. When it first opened I was excited thinking we were getting a store like Natures Emporium in Newmarket. Unfortunately the quality of the food and the customer service don’t even come close.

It is a hassle for me to get out grocery shopping. I am a single mom of young son with Down syndrome. It is difficult to find the time to go shopping and when I can get out it is a challenge because of my son’s behavioural issues.

My son has a lot of food allergies and I spend a fortune on food and supplements for him. I am so tired of getting my shopping home from Goodness me and finding half the fruit inside the bag rotten and finding that I have been overcharged for something. It happens EVERY time I shop there. I dont have a lot of money and it ticks me off that I spend good money on bad food and that I get overcharged all the time.

This time, I happened to notice two rotten apples as the apples rolled around in the bag. I had to buy a more expensive bag of apples, just to get a bag without rotten apples in it.

I checked my bill before driving away this time and sure enough, I was over charged for the bag of apples I bought. I never go back in to get my refund because it is WAY too much hassle with my son. But today I was shopping on my lunch break. So i went back in to get the price corrected. It took 30 minutes for them to attempt to fix the problem. I had to wait for the cashier to repeatedly call the grocery department, then eventually call the manager. I was upset that it was taking so long, while I waited, all I could think about was the amount of money this store has overcharged me and the amount of rotten food I have thrown out from this store.

For the first time in my life, I actually asked the store to honour the retail code where a store gives you $10 off an item or gives you the item for free if they have overcharged you for the item. The manager said it was a voluntary retail code and they didn’t honour it. I pushed back and he went into the back and brought out a print off from the government of Canada website showing me the program was voluntary and they didn’t have to honour it. That speaks volumes for their integrity and for their customer appreciation. The fact that they had a print off shows that their habit of overcharging customers is a common practice.

I told them to keep the money they overcharged me for the apples. That is the last of my money they will ever see. I have been ripped off far more than the cost of a bag of apples from this store. Terrible customer service. They have made it very clear that they don’t value their customers. I will NEVER shop here again. I will spend my money at Nutrition plus on Maple st. That is a store that truly appreciates their customers and they certainly get customer service right.

And Dale, please don’t write an insincere response on here asking me to call in so you can make this right. You had your opportunity to make this right while I was speaking to you about it in the store today and you had no interest in making this right...

I shop at Goodness Me (GM) because of their fresh organic produce (saves me from driving to Nature's Emporium in Newmarket, thank you) and their baked goods & bread section. I like that they're offering great Manchego sheep cheese now, and there was a fabulous deal on Oka cheese for awhile there, if I have it right. Also the Omega 3 eggs with DHA listed are great to have access to. So I have my items I apprecuate buying. I find the store is generally a good addition to Barrie. I do buy my supplements at Nature's Best downtown because that's their specialty and I have a long-time 10% customer discount. Goodness Me is a little higher in price for certain items as well. I have also found the GM cashiers very friendly people. This makes such a difference to have a smile and friendly chatter from someone there. Finally, a big thank you for keeping your public washrooms open!

The only issue I have - aside from the maskless people I see occasionally and there's just no excuse for that, sorry folks, a failing grade on that one particularly with the more infectious variants around now - is the very strange policy of not helping people pack their own bags, even when it's a big order and there's a long line up. It makes no logical sense whatsoever re germs. If you're going to handle ALL the food items off the shelves when ringing them in that everyone else handles, minimal handling of the bag itself while packing it won't make any difference at that point. Plus this makes the customer stand at the very end of the counter, around the corner of the plexiglass shield, in order to pack the bags - they're fairly close to the staff at the cash! I feel for people. Some cashiers look apologetic and uncomfortable as you pack your bags while they stand there oing nothing, waiting - some of them definitely would prefer to help. If you have a fair size order it really holds up the line.

Food stores encourage people to bring their own bags for a good ecological reason but at GM we're penalized for doing so. Don't create this bizarre policy around helping to pack only your own store bags. It's just plain silly and poor customer service. Requesting that you please look at reviewing this policy. It's a hot topic with customers.

Just some tweaking needed from this person's perspective, to go from a generally good store to a great one.

Finally, it's better not to answer posts rather than repeatedly use a form letter...

My daughter recently decided to start eating more ethically. We knew about Goodness Me but had never been. She went on her own (because it's safer) and although we loved the products that she purchased, we have sworn to never return. Our safety is extremely important to us. We both work with vulnerable populations and have strived to use good sense for an entire year with regard to keeping ourselves safe. How is it that in this store, staff are not forced to wear proper PPE? Yours is a store that promotes healthier eating for "Goodness" sake! Your standard mechanical answer addresses that you offer curbside pickup for those that cannot wear a mask but what about your employees? If people cannot wear a mask, they have the option of wearing a shield. If they cannot even wear a shield then many businesses provide other options to assist such as delivery, curbside service, etc. If it's a staff member who cannot wear a mask or shield, then a transfer of duties is necessary - you cannot put your customers at risk. Do you not care about your client's health? So disappointing! So irresponsible!

UPDATE: In response to your recent reply below, how is allowing staff to work in your store without masks keeping anyone safe? Those staff are in the store for hours each day handling doorknobs, baskets, and every product you carry, When your customers and other staff arrive, they are then exposed and vulnerable to any viruses that may have been spread. This issue is not about those who choose not to wear a mask. It's about those who are exposed due to other's carelessness. And you have had 14 months to work this out. Implementing safety protocol should be...