OT: Whole Foods Incident

[Dreamer & Wisher]

We were shopping at Trader Joe's for a few items yesterday. We had plans to head to Whole Foods afterwards. I really like the Meat at Whole Foods and they are bigger than Trader Joe's. I've shopped at Whole Foods a lot but I have to drive a while to get there.

Anyways, Trader Joe's gave my kids balloons and they were tied to their hands. We go in Whole Foods and the kids want to keep their balloons. I end up with a lot of stuff a big cart and two mini carts with food and I am headed towards the bread section. This man approaches me and he is big but he is wearing a whole foods shirt and he gets between me and the bread? I look over to check on my kids and they are still right by me.

So he says to me "are you finding everything you need?" I said yes. I am thinking this guy is creepy. Then he asks me if he can hold on to my kids balloons while I shop? Huh? My mind is racing what is this guy's deal? They have "Trader Joe's" written on them. Big deal.

So I said "umm I am about to check out after I get my bread, but you could trade the kids for some "Whole Foods" balloons" I look all over the place for my husband who has gone to scope out some chocolate chips.

Wheeew creepy guy walks away and I hurry over to the register to get out of there. Then he comes back and says their balloon machine is broken sorry? Then is gone again. My husband reappears with the chips and DD is asking what that guy wanted. I tried to explain it to her but she had no idea what the problem was. DH was astonished! Then we paid $178.00 and he went over to the Customer Service Counter to talk to the store manager. But instead of the store manager this same guy came down. He said he said he was an assistant manager. Dh said what did you say to my wife? What's the problem with the balloons? The manager claims that the balloons were against company policy much like Heelys. Huh? Small children with balloon and Heelys are similar? Dh said we spent a lot more money here at Whole Foods than we did at Trader Joe's.

He objects and argues with my husband and I take the kids out. We try to call the Whole Foods regional manager but there is no answer.

So I wonder? DO you think this guy is out of line? I only let the kids keep the balloon on because I didn't want to argue with them and it is harmless if you ask me. It's not like people don't know that Trader Joe's is 1/2 mile up the road. I didn't walk through the store shouting Trader Joe's is better!!! I had $178.00 worth of food!

Now I wish I had just taken my kids by the hand and walked out of the store leaving the grocery carts next to that Rude man. Hmmm I think I'll shop at Publix and save my money for Disney.

 

[lovetoscrap]

My initial thought would be that maybe they would have a ban on balloons because of the number of people with latex allergies. But if they have their own balloons then that is not the reason, and he was being out of line. I would call the regional manager on Monday and find out what the official policy is. If they wanted to replace your balloons they should have walked over to your kids with a boquet of at least 3 or more of their own for each of their own to give to your kids. That would be good customer service and advertising!!!

 

[jjenniboo]

I think he was WAY out of line. What would he have done if you had on a t-shirt that said Trader Joe's ?!!

 

[kathie859]

The whole incident sounds a little nutty! Did he really think the kids balloons were a advertising ploy by a competitor? If he REALLY thought that, there was a nicer, smarter way to make his point; i.e., offer another balloon or simply say "I am soooo sorry, but we have a policy against balloons in the store" or whatever.

I think the key is that you were creeped out. And I do think you should trust your gut on this and follow up on Monday with a call to the regional manager to share your story and feelings. I would expect you to get an apology but that's about all. You have no idea if or how they would address the complaint with the assistant manager.

 

[brergnat]

I agree that's out of line. I would have TOTALLY left the full carts at the checkout and just left, letting the "assistant manager" know that his approach just cost THEM almost $200.

I know where you're coming from, with kids and trying to run errands, etc, but at the very least, I would let them know in no complicated terms that I will NEVER return to that store again after that. That is just plain creepy to approach a woman with young children and become so pushy without an explanation on the spot. He could have just said, "excuse me, ma'am, my name is {whatever} and I'm an assistant manager here" and then he could have explained the policy. I can say I actually understand where they are coming from...although you were not being malicious about trying to advertise TJ's, it's just something that I feel a store has a right to have a policy about. If I owned a big store like that, I wouldn't want any form of advertising of my competitors inside my store.

But, it was mis handled, and it made you uncomfortable, and THAT is bad customer service. I wouldn't go back there if I were you. Maybe a different Whole Foods, but not that one.

 

[northriver]

No, this incident will cost alot more than "almost $200", I'm thinking the OP probably will never want to go back there, right? Even if she spends $200 there every month or two, that adds up really fast.

I will say that Whole Foods has gone corporate and employees probably aren't what they used to be - dedicated hard working granola heads just trying to help people eat healthier food, kwim? This guy probably isn't dedicated to the store, well trained OR well compensated. But still . . . he was so wrong on so many levels. 1) Customer is always right 2) never stand between a mamma bear and her cubs 3) never creep out a woman customer 4) don't lie to cover your tacks and 5)when a customer has a complaint about you don't try to handle it yourself instead of sending anyone else to diffuse the situation.

Anyway, contact regional AND national headquarters. Put this in writing and send it to anyone who sounds important whose address you find on google, make sure to give the date and the guys name. Hopefully someone will do the right thing and entice you to come back to their store (I vote for fire the creep!). Don't forget the part about "I looked around to see if my kids were right by me". If they don't make this right for you - don't go back. Frankly if that happened to me, I probably would have left my groceries, and I would never to back in there.

 

[bumbershoot]

But the guy makes no sense.

If balloons were not allowed at the store, they woudlnt' have a balloon machine to be broken. If they weren't allowed at the store, he, as an assistant manager, should simply say "please take the balloons to your car, they are not allowed in the store".

Not the random things he said. And if that's his usual managerial style, omg his poor employees! That's even worse than the communication of Lumberg in Office Space (um, yeah...).

The main office NEEDS to know about this. If it's their policy, he NEEDS to be told how to communicate that to customers (seems easy, doesn't it? "that's not allowed here" is very clear). If it's not, he needs to learn that. And they DO need to know he was creepy and scared you, b/c that's not really good managerial style, either.

Wish our TJs had balloons! And I wish WF weren't an hour away!

 

[jagafen]

I'm a big fan of letter writing. And CC-ing it to the Store manager, Regional Manager, and Head of Customer Service or some such office. It would probably take a little legwork on your part to fine the names/addresses, but possible! The only time I have written a letter was to the "wonderful" folks at Target. I used to do the majority of my shopping there, but have issues with their re-vamped return policy (I had many duplicate baby gifts from the registry, and was "flagged" from returning items.....I must have stolen those 2 extra baby tubs I was trying to bring back!!!!) Anyway, after describing my specific issue, I closed the letter with the "word of mouth negative advertising bit". e.g. I work with 2 other women who are expecting, and in the office next to me are 3 others. I will be sure to inform them of Target's new policies before they decide with which store to place their baby registries. You get the point.

I also believe in speaking with my wallet. I live no more and 1/2 mile from Target, but drive OUT OF MY way (a whole 2-3 miles further..LOL) to shop at Walmart. It might not seem like much, but corporate rules and customer service often don't go hand in hand. I shop where my dollar is welcome!!! So write a letter, and if you feel it's warranted, change where you shop. Whole Foods isn't as "unique" as it used to be, and many grocery stores are offering organic and natural food options. Check out Wegman's if you have one in your area....love them!!!

 

[Hannathy]

I must be missing something but in your description I don't see where HE said they couldn't have them because they said Trader Joe's, it sounds like you thought that. He said balloons were against policy. I also don't see why your DH got bent out of shape, Isn't another man allowed to talk to you? I don't think he said anything objectable to you. As far as them giving balloons they probably assume the kids will leave with them and not walk thru the store. The store is probably trying to be PC an avoid balloons.

I still don't get what you will write and complain about? What made him creepy, isn't that judging a lot awfully quick on appearances? And I don't get why your DH had to go defend you and start attacking him with what did you say to my wife, sounds kinda 50's to me. Oh well.

 

[robertsmom]

He said balloons were against policy.

This part of the story makes no sense. If balloons were really against company policy, then that store would not have had a balloon machine of their own (even if it was broken). I agree with other posters that something was off with this guy, and he tried to cover it with the old "company policy" line.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

I don't get that at all I would have walked out of the store with the full carts there. Once our Pathmark had these yellow Buy One Get One Free balloons all over the store.My 2 and 4yo picked up one each. Of course they wouldn't let them go once I was at the register. The cashier asked the front end mgr if they could keep them. She answered that she was not taking them away from a child.

I have to comment on the poster who wrote maybe the mgr was concerened about latex allergies. HUH? Is every store/ public place responsible for every allergy now? I'm allergic to some perfumes. I suppose pefume wearing should be banned in public? Sorry to start a debate but as someone who has allergies in the family, I don't expect to be accomodated everywhere I go and I can't imagine a store banning balloons for that reason either.

 

[Hannathy]

I
I have to comment on the poster who wrote maybe the mgr was concerened about latex allergies. HUH? Is every store/ public place responsible for every allergy now? I'm allergic to some perfumes. I suppose pefume wearing should be banned in public? Sorry to start a debate but as someone who has allergies in the family, I don't expect to be accomodated everywhere I go and I can't imagine a store banning balloons for that reason either.

I happen to agree! that is why I called it jumping on the PC bandwagon. But there are many on this board that DO think it is the businesses responsibility to prevent their exposure. A while ago there was a heated discussion over Disney selling balloons and they thought Disney shouldn't.

 

[lovetoscrap]

I have to comment on the poster who wrote maybe the mgr was concerened about latex allergies. HUH? Is every store/ public place responsible for every allergy now? I'm allergic to some perfumes. I suppose pefume wearing should be banned in public? Sorry to start a debate but as someone who has allergies in the family, I don't expect to be accomodated everywhere I go and I can't imagine a store banning balloons for that reason either.

I was just trying to propose some sort of explaination for why they might have a blanket policy against all balloons. Since it is WHOLE FOODS--which has an emphasis on the "granola"/healthy lifestlye I can see them having a no latex balloon policy BUT since they obviously have a balloon machine that is obviously not the reason for a statement that they don't allow balloons so I can't see any reason they could say they have a "no ballooon" policy. I was just kind of throwing that out there.

Thus the only objection must have been to the TJ logo on them. And as I said in my post good customer service skills would have been to walk up to the OP and her kids with a big bunch of WF balloons and offer to trade with a huge smile! The kids would have be thrilled and I bet the OP and her DH would have gotten a good laugh out of it.

Since their balloon machine didn't work this guy needed to find something better so do than follow 2 kids with TJ balloons. I would hope that there is much more for the WF asst. manager to be doing in the store than that.

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

Hello, Original Poster here!

It wasn't the latex he was concerned about it was the fact that they had Trader Joe's written on them. Whole Foods has given us some nice big balloons in the past but their machine was broken. My children were being polite and not bothering anyone in the store. I make sure they watch out for other people. If they were to misbehave then one of us would have taken them out to the van to wait until the other was finished shopping.

He said "can I hold the balloons until you are done shopping, they have Trader Joe's written on them."

Sorry I wasn't more clear on that.

No, I don't think my husband cares about other men talking to me but he does care about other men (or women) being rude to me or his children.
He told my husband having balloons from a competitor in Whole Foods was against policy. We don't know what policy that would be.

No that isn't 1950's! It's called manners my husband wanted to give the man a chance to explain himself and understand the situation since he wasn't standing there when the manager approached me.

If you need an analogy, think of it this way. If you put on a Gap T-shirt that has Gap written across the front of it, do you think it would be all right to go to the mall and shop at American Eagle?

Or if your favorite t-shirt said Universal Studios across the front do you think anyone at the Magic Kingdom would ask you to change it? Or ask your child to take his Mickey Shirt off at Sea World?

Thanks to all of you who offered support. We will be writing the Store Manager and the Company headquarters.

 

[NU2WDW]

CREE-PEE!!!

If the other store's balloons were "forbidden", then the Mr. ASSistant MaNAGer should have come up to you directly and politely asked you to remove the balloons, take them outside, whatever. What he did instead of attempt to intimiate and physically harrass you while you "guessed" why he was doing it. Standing between you and the bread, indeed!

I'd be working to get him canned, myself. That's just unacceptable behavior from anyone, much less someone who is supposedly helping to run a grocery store. Ewwww!

 

[cccm]

Always go with your gut. He was creepy to your gut and he was creepy to you.
I shop the same way, go to one and then the other.

Wonder if they would have cared if you brought your tote that said Trader Joes in to pack Whole Food items in? I have a feeling that TJs wouldn't have cared. They are just the most easy going folks.