BJ's Wholesale Club — Restaurant in Centreville

On Friday 2/28/25 I purchased four new tires at the Bjs at Fairlakes, Fairfax, VA. I needed to get them on my car as soon as possible as my car - A car I had bought used from a private owner - had no safety inspection on it and I needed both safety and emissions inspections in order to get the car license plates. So the car was not legal to drive and I had been paying for Ubers to get to work for several months and it was sapping quite a bit of my income And I was anxious to put an end to that! The person who I purchased the tires from led me to believe they probably would not be there before next Wednesday, but because of the situation I was in and needing to get them installed on my car as soon as possible I called on Tuesday hoping they were there and they were, but they said they didn’t have time to put them on for me that day. The soonest we could agree on a time for an appointment for them to put the tires on was Thursday at 4:30 PM. I worked 10 - 4 pm that day. I work with the public and can’t just answer my cell phone at anytime so it’s usually turned off. That afternoon by the time I got the chance to look at my phone they had called me at least three times and were saying things like that they had a cancellation and could I come earlier?! And then Another message said that they were closing early - at 4 PM and had to cancel my appointment. I was very annoyed that they didn’t care how much they were putting me out and inconveniencing me. The only appointments that they could offer me for the next few days didn’t work out for me because of my work schedule. So getting the tires put on my car, which I was so anxious to do - was now going to be Sometime the following week! And they were making it sound like they were doing me a favor to put the tires on!? I’m going to see if another BJ’s can install the tires in the next couple of days. But this has been an awful experience! And looking at some other reviews here I see that other people have had very similar experiences!...

Had a horrible experience when went to collect refund for Wellsley Farm Organic Mixed Vegetables and Organic Peas recall initiated by them. The Customer Service asked for the receipt. I informed them that I had discarded it & wondered aloud who keeps grocery receipts after 3 weeks. I was informed by the clerk that she personally never throws away any receipt for years. Thanks for teaching your customer about receipts!

The recall notice says that if receipt is not available, they will look it up & issue a refund. To look up they have a printout running into several pages with names of customers in random order. I flipped through the sheets & located my name but it showed only one item instead of the two recalled items purchased . I was refused refund for one item. I asked for the Store Manager, Rhonda'. She was 'busy' but as a favor appeared after 5 minutes and the attitude that was shown left me shocked. I informed her that I had got the 2 bags of produce in the car but had not carried them in since the recall instructions specifically say that the packages are not to be returned to the store. Understandably so, it's a matter of a listeria bacterium recall. I told her that I could get the bags for her to see. I was surprised at her reaction; she asked me to get the bags in! Rhonda's attitude was one of utter disdain and very condescending. Was hurt to see her behavior, insinuating that I was trying to cheat BJ's out of $10!! Instead of looking up their database, the burden of proving that I indeed had purchased the recalled item was put on me.

By the time I came back with the produce she was on her way back to her office, since I sure was such a waste of time for her. I called out to her & was informed that the clerk had been informed to give me my refund! Thank you for giving me my big bucks back.

Perhaps the staff at this location needs corporate training to be reminded that we customers are the reason for their presence...

UPDATE 10/23/24: Reduced my 5-star rating to 2 stars. Just had an interesting experience and it makes me think twice about returning after having been a legit customer for so many years. I bought a backpack for my son on 9/19/24 and the zipper already broke. I was hoping to exchange it and had my receipt through my account on the BJ's app. The return counter lady was skeptical of me (because she had just dealt with someone trying to return something from someone else's account and then go shopping in the store) and reached to take my phone out of my hand as I was looking up the backpack item number. Seriously? You just don't do that. I was pleasant up to that point, but then was irritated. She and another lady at the returns desk were calling two guys over the intercom system for 5 minutes before they decided to show up to look for the backpack. They didn't end up having any in the store even though their app said they did. After this experience, I'm rethinking my membership.

Been coming to this store for almost 10 years and like almost every northern Virginian, I have memberships at both Costco and BJs. BJs is no-nonsense, no frills, and a whole lot less stressful of a shopping experience. You won't be treated like a king or queen (which none of us is, btw), but I've always encountered genuine people there. I have never had to wait in the insane lines like at Costco, either inside the store or at the gas pump. That goes a long way for sanity...