Yesterday I took my family into Wholefoods for lunch.
We'd had a lovely (rare) sunny day in Seattle & went for a walk in our local city park & botanical gardens.
Then went to Wholefoods (as often we'd done, but will never do again)

I was verbally accosted by a 300 pound woman with a huge pile of fire engine red dread locks piled on top of her head.
The only reason I make mention of her appearance is because she appeared to be extremely scary to myself & my family as she stood there behind her scanner & cash register, frothing at her mouth, with her large nostrils flaring in anger & disgust for myself & my family...

She'd been set off my son's 6 year old son having a cookie, as is the usual 'treat' they've given him since he was a baby... she was angry because I didn't know their story protocol in so far as to how I should report it to her.
I'd said it was a cookie from the bakery, (as I always have) which they'd given to my youngest child.

She flew into a rage and was so angry and alarming towards me, that i was in fear that she would reach across the counter and attempt to slap me.
(Luckily she'd has trouble doing so as she appeared slothy and lethargic...)

In any case, after having spent $70.00 on salad bar food. As my family ate quietly, & still in shock about this horrible experience.
I went up to the "Guest Service" desk and requested the name of the Manager, only to find the person there had a complete lack of affectation for what my family & I'd experienced & gave me this benign answer, then slithered away eluding that she was disinterested in my problem with the customer service or complete lack there of...

What a bunch of gross mean people there!
One would think that if they are able to get away with charging nearly $100.00 for salad, they would at least 'pretend to be nice' in public...

BOYCOTT WHOLEFOODS!!!

Purchased fresh wild shrimp at the Brighton, MA location of Whole Foods/Bread and Circus. Slightly suspicious regarding freshness of 2 or 3 of the shrimp purchased. Telephoned store and spoke with manager. Potential problem immediateley explained by manager as a difference in coloring when dealing with wild shrimp versus farm raised shrimp. I have been a satisfied customer of this store for over 10 years, very few problems - until now. The shrimp in question were bad. Store manager, Donna, refused to take any action. In this instance, she dismissed a basic health issue.

CC:

We were in your store today, July 5, 2009, at approximately 2pm. We did some shopping through the produce area and then proceeded to the bulk foods aisle. Julie got some bulk sesame sticks and as she stood there an entire container full to the brim of rice fell out of nowhere on to the top of her head. I am appalled at the way this situation was handled. She clearly was out of it and was stunned at what just happened..in pain and crying. A team leader named Cherish went and got her a bag of ice and 2 bottles of water, wrote some stuff down on a blank sheet of copy paper, gave her a business card and said to call her if anything more comes of it. No incident report was made, a medic was not called to make sure there was no further damage...just a "Have a nice day".

So now, the rest of our day is ruined. My girlfriend is laying in bed in pain with a terrible headache...I'm sitting here worried and watching her to make sure she doesn't have a concussion. We had plans today, which included shopping at Whole Foods, and fifteen minutes into being in your store, our plans are gone because you have failed to keep your store safe for shoppers.

Cherish mentioned that it's not the first time you've had issues with these bulk canisters falling off the wall...even mentioning she had trouble with the pumpkin seeds canister just last week. She also mentioned that sometimes the brackets break and that's why they fall off but that there was no reason this specific canister fell off the wall saying the brackets were not broken or anything.

Within 5 minutes of the incident, there were already employees cleaning up the mess and taking photos of the wall the canister had just fallen off of...quick action for a store that cannot even muster the concern for a shopper to even have a store manager come out to fill out an incident report or contact a medic specifically because this is a head injury.

I am quite surprised that a retailer of your stature could not handle this type of situation properly, likely because a low level employee was sent to handle an incident that she is clearly not trained to handle properly.

I am care copying this message to your regional and corporate offices because your team leader was fully aware there is an issue with the bulk food canisters being a safety concern to shoppers. I will never shop in a Whole Foods market again and I do plan on warning your shoppers of this danger since you have not done so yourselves...allowing shoppers to be clubbed over the head while standing unknowingly in danger.

Julie is an electrician construction worker, must wear a hard hat for work and works strenuously throughout the day. If she is unable to attend work in the coming days due to this incident you will definitely be hearing from me again. Needless to say, the both of us are extremely dissatisfied with our experience at your store this afternoon.

I worked for whole foods market for many years and have charged people premium dollars for "fresh" bread that litterally sits in a warehouse "par-baked" for weeks. It is then baked and sold as freshly baked bread. There is nothing fresh about this bread, many times I have to scrape the mold off the top before I can bake it, I NEVER wear gloves when I bake this bread--Whole foods market is an illusion and it is ripping you people off--next time I will tell you about the rotten meat they sell.