Harris Teeter

WOW, just wow!
NOT!!! I’m not hard to please I never written a 1 star review. I’m a very nice person and never rude to anyone even if they deserve it. But tonight at 1AM I went to Harris Teeter and the girl attending self-​check out was very rude and she rolled her eyes at me three times.
ME: Hello, how are you doing tonight, I have a question for you. I do not have a VIC card can you help me sign up for one?
STORE EMPLOYEE: ROLLS EYES… no I will put a credit when your done.
ME: UM… OK that’s fine, thank you I appreciate it.
STORE EMPLOYEE: ROLLS EYES and leans on the counter to continuing texting on her phone.
I finished scanning everything then looked over her direction thinking she would be attentive and add in the store code for the discount. But I had to walk back up to her because she’s not paying attention and texting on her phone.
ME: Hi sorry to bother you again, can you please enter the code in so I can pay.
STORE EMPLOYEE: ROLLS EYES!!!
I pay, grab my stuff and as I’m walking out shes still texting and I say.
«THANK YOU FOR THE HELP! HAVE A GREAT NIGHT! I APPRECIATE IT! :)
I won’t ever set foot in this store again!

Less than optimal customer service here today. I asked the person working at the bread counter to slice some fresh bread for me and her response was, «it’s too hot». Ummm… ok…so any suggestions? No she just looked at me and went to talk to another customer. Not helpful.
Also, when I was checking out, the person working at the check out counter pointed out that my bag of peanuts had a hole in it. Instead of sending someone to get another bag she said, «So did you want a new one or what?» Are you kidding me… I then asked her if she could get someone to get me a replacement bag.
Seriously-​I live across the street and am almost forced to come here, but I’d seriously rather not. The parking lot is a total nightmare and there are cars whipping in and out everywhere. The quality of the produce, meat and fish is good-​but their prices are very high on most everything. Also, if the people working there don’t improve at pleasing their customers-​I will be heading down the street to Giant or Trader Joes…

Every time I go there, it’s rush hour. It’s not relaxing at all. A good thing is that they have a few samples. Cheese, ham, fruits,…
Selection: Wide. They have cheaper organic products. Some seafood does not look fresh.
Customer service: ok.
Parking: Free.

I’ve been to 4 or 5 Harris Teeters in Alexandria and this is by far the best one. It’s gigantic and has things none of the others have, such as a trail mix bar! I love that so much because craisins are gross, but they seem to always be in pre-​mixed trail mix. The olive bar is also extensive, much more so than at the other locations I’ve been to, including those long-​stemmed artichokes. I love those! And not even all Whole Foods have them on their salad bars. Now, as for the actual salad bar at this Teeter, it’s nothing to write home about. There’s absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.
When I was there on a Friday at 3pm, there were so many samples that I no longer regretted skipping lunch.
From going to the location in Old Town, I know Teeter sometimes has unusual ways of organizing the store, but I was simply unable to locate dry polenta. I had to ask several people for assistance and I gotta say, every one of them was so nice about it, even if they didn’t know and had to pass me along to someone else. My cashier, Daniel, was also super nice.
Part of what makes this location so much bigger than the others is they have a rather large pharmacy section, with more than just one tiny aisle of the bare necessities.

be careful when you want to take a fruit from this store because some of them fruit is mustly.

This supermarket is grand.
Probably one of the best supermarkets I have ever been too. There is a impressive wine selections, beer selection and the meat, fruits and veggies seem very fresh. Plus, they give our free samples. Coming from the worst supermarket ever (Key Food) to this, it seems like I have been a very good boy this year.
HIGHLY recommend.

Was completely impressed by the stores variety, cleanliness and ease of navigation. My husband and I shopped there for the first time last night and were VERY happy to finally have a great supermarket close by. (We used to live by a horrible one lol) Also, their wine and beer selection is amazing!

This my favorite location. This location seems to have a better selection of wild seafood and cold-​pressed juices.

Love this Harris Teeter! The staff here is one you think you would find at a 5 star restaurant! They are always SO polite, i don’t think I’ve came and and not been asked if I’m doing ok, or if i need help. The store itself is tidy and pretty easy to navigate. The parking lot can get busy but that is to be expected of a strip mall, and hey! theres a dunkin next door! :)

Harris Teeter is emphasizing on high quality food and excellent customer service, specially on Duke Street. I heard they use this location as a training site for managers. This evening 11÷29÷15 6:49 PM was a little disappointment, because the self-​service cashier was not even smiling and when I picked up my changed for cash back, she didn’t even say anything and she crossed her hands after she handed it to me.

Harris Teeter has a bad habit…
Example: sign says «Assorted. Boursin Cheese». Buy one Get one Free…
Mixed together is the classic Boursin (not on sale) and the Spreadable Boursin (on sale). I chose one of each in different flavours.
They did not ring up as advertised.
Customer Service person named Ify, told me that I should be happy with the $ 3.65 off and had me waiting to comets my self check out while she walked the products back to the cold case after I insisted they be removed from my order.
When I complained at the CS desk… I was told I should have gotten the products for free, but was not offered that after the fact.
Lesson learned… Beware Harris Teeter’s BOGO OFFERS. CHECK YOUR RECEIPTS!

This particular HT seems to be having some problems. The produce quality is highly uneven — a couple of times in the last few months I’ve taken home berries that were cleverly hiding mold a layer or two down, packaged salads that turned into a wilted mess in a just a day, and other indicators that someone’s not paying attention. Checkout has gotten sloppier, too; several times in the last couple of months I’ve noticed and had to correct pretty significant discrepancies — missing specials, ringing in ordinary produce as (much pricier) organic, multiple entries for a single item, that kind of thing.
The final kicker, though, last week, was taking home what turned out to be two pounds of (expensive) rancid crab legs. The manager on duty was polite when we returned and processed a refund immediately, but I didn’t get any sense that she was surprised nor that anything special was done to review the rest of the stock. It’s a shame, as this is otherwise the best supermarket in the area — but with the Van Dorn Safeway renovated and the nearby Giant also having recently upgraded its produce, it’s getting harder and harder to justify HT prices.

A few years ago, this Harris Teeter was great. Unfortunately, it’s gone downhill. I suspect it’s because Kroger bought the company a couple years ago. The quality of the bakery and produce are 2 star at best, with the produce often infested with fruit flies and the bakery products not being of the same quality they were in the past. I bet most of the problems are outside of the store’s control.
Furthermore, the organization and stocking of the shelves is half-​ass. I was there last night and the place looked it had been raped and ransacked like a grocery store in a zombie movie, with half-​empty shelves, scuffs all over the floor, and the slight aroma of just-​rotting fruit. Unfortunately, it looks like this most of the time now. Also, if the shelves are all jumbled and almost empty, why are there cardboard boxes from stocking all over the place? I guess people are just taking the stuff they need from the boxes cause there’s nothing on the shelves.
Regarding the organization, the product placement must be driven solely by attempts to increase impulse shopping and not reasoning. For example, if I want bottled coffee, I would expect to find it in the aisle that has a sign that says coffee. But, here it’s in the aisle with soda and energy drinks. Perhaps they placed it there because the products are all liquid? Nope, because the bottled tea products are on the coffee/​tea aisle.
The 20−30s something, female manager appears to at least be trying, and there’s a cheerful, male stocker who is always helpful and always says good morning or good afternoon. Unfortunately, he appears to be the only happy employee in the place. I don’t mean to suggest that the other employees are disrespectful or rude, but it’s clear they are less than happy about coming to work. Additionally, I suspect the female manager that appears to care won’t be there long because she’s clearly over-​worked and not getting much cooperation from the unhappy staff; or maybe she’s overstimulated from the all-​liquids-​but-​not-​bottled-​tea aisle, I don’t know. Also, the lady who handles the breakfast hot bar does a pretty good job, and only sometimes leaves the biscuits in too long. But, she makes up for the biscuits by having plenty of bacon ready, which is more difficult than you’d expect given that at least two different persons routinely come in and take all (that is, every piece) of the bacon at once without taking anything else from the hot bar.
I used to buy most of my weekly groceries here but don’t anymore. And the only reason I still go to this store is because I live right across the street. However, unless I’m getting something last minute, I’ll go to Wegman’s twenty minutes away, at least until Kroger buys them out.

This Harris Teeter had become my home for neighborhood grocery shopping, such that going to the nearby Giant or (especially) the Safeway on South Van Dorn feels like a terrible downgrade.
The first thing I look for is a good fruit and veg selection, and this HT is great in this arena. They also have a healthy-​sized organic section with produce and things like tofurkey and tofu. If they are out of something, Vernon in produce can usually tell you when it will be restocked. There is a nice selection of pre-​cut fruit at prices that aren’t extortionate, and they have a cooler of drinks like Naked Juice and Pom Juice that is very Whole Foodsesque.
In addition to having a wide general food selection, there’s also a good bakery (not quite Publix but the best in our region, probably), and they sometimes have wine and/​or cheese samples. Speaking of which, they have a commendable selection of wines and cheeses, and the wine is sorted by type AND region, which is perfect.
I have to say their hot bar is way lacking – the selection isn’t great at all, and the food doesn’t always look terribly fresh. But when I want a week of ready-​to-​go meals, I go to WF anyway. And over the past few months, the onions and garlic have gotten rough. That said, this is still far and away the best grocery option around. Once, I bought a box of blueberries and when I got home, I realized that they were half moldy. I took them right back to HT and the customer service lady immediately said, «Oh no, we can’t have that. Please go and get some more.» I got fresh blueberries with no hassle or need to fumble with receipts. That’s how customer service is supposed to work.
If you have a random sauce or marinade that you use, this HT has a ridiculously wide selection on aisle one. All kinds of stuff there.
The checkout is the one area where I usually know I’m in for a wait. There are four self checkouts, which is helpful. The cashiers are really friendly and if you come in frequently, they will probably remember you. Kenneth, who works frozen in the back, is also really nice.
I’m moving to D.C. soon, and I’m sad that this won’t be my neighborhood store anymore. But not all is lost because in my new neighborhood, there’s a huge HT a few blocks away!

I go in here and I don’t even know what the F is going on. Who are these people, and where are all the good sandwiches I get at other locations?
This part of Duke Street is weird too. Is this real life? You can just look around and see a lot of bad ideas.
The self-​checkout stations are nuts. The automated registers at this location are reincarnated retards from ancient Rome. DON’T EVEN ASK ME WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!
There’s a real helpful guy always stocking the dairy aisle late at night. While he’s giving you kind and encouraging answers though, your conversation is being recorded by microphones behind his eyeballs and transmitted to another solar system.
Go into the wine department. Look around, and if it doesn’t piss you off or make you sad then you deserve to live on Duke Street west of Quaker Lane.

Love how the east coast knows how to do grocery grocery stores. Loving the cheese, olive, hot food and trail mix bar. Bakery is pretty darn amazing too not Publix good but close.
Decent selections of items as well. So you will pretty much find what your looking for.
The only down side of it would be the check out process. Cramped and little sluggish. Just not the best layout and way of taking items out to scan them
Just hope when Publix does come up this way they learn to bring that level of service and offering to all their stores.

I come here to get about 90% of my groceries several times a week. The fresh fruit and veg selection is excellent and theres usually always something you want on sale.
The fresh fish selection is good especially the mahi mani and wild salmon. The cod we bought wasn’t very fresh at all.
The staff in the back restocking are really very helpful and always offer help before you even get a chance to ask. The only downside is late night shopping. It’s cruel and unusual punishment to use the self checkout for an entire cart of items when none of the cashiers are open.
There’s a lot of hot food, sushi and a salad bar. Rotisserie chicken which is good for about $ 5 on a Sunday. We’ve also tried the pizza which you can get by the slice or an entire pizza on Monday special for $ 7.99. Once we got a really burned cheese pizza which was barely edible. Took the receipt back with a photo and got full refund– no problem.

If you are looking for a grocery store chain that has one of the best deli, bakery, frozen food, and produce sections in the City of Alexandria, look no further than this Harris Teeter. Just be sure to review the weekly ad and plan your grocery shopping ship accordingly.
As noted in the many reviews posted about this Harris Teeter, parking a motor vehicle near the entrance of this store is a bit problematic. This reviewer suggests shopping in this specific grocery store during the weekdays or early evening.

We stopped by because it was on our way.
Store was well stocked and clean.
I found everything I needed with easy to follow aisle signs. And prices were reasonable. And if we have the Vic’s card, you get more savings. :)
Will i return? Yes if I’m nearby.

This particular Harris Teeter is difficult to find items in, at least compared to the other grocery stores in the area and the other location I’ve been to. Still, there aren’t many options for grocery shopping in this particular area, especially if you want nicer items, so you may find yourself stuck coming here.
I personally would not come to this location again as a result of the negative customer service experience my father and I had in the seafood department. There was a price discrepancy as a result of a mislabeled and misplaced item tag within the seafood display on the lobsters, which resulted in a miscommunication about the prices of the lobster tails. While this isn’t that important by itself, the way the workers responded to my father’s questions about the pricing were very curt and unprofessional. When a manager came by, he was more polite, though quite clueless as to what the problem was, and it required me breaking out my calculator to figure out that the weighing and pricing were correct, it was their labeling which was at fault. This would have ended in the same way regardless, though it was the poor customer service that we took away from the experience.
They do have a good selection of foods (especially luxury ones), and for that they deserve some kudos, though I plan on avoiding this place if possible. In a world of supply and not much demand, service is what sets a business apart. Sometimes this is for the better, other times not so much.
Overall: 2.0 stars
— — — — — -
Pros:
— Good selection of food, especially luxury foods.
— Plenty of parking, very convenient.
Cons:
— Atrocious customer service (on this trip). Granted, perhaps it was just this one day at this one time where this happened, though I’m not an omniscient customer: I only know what I have personally experienced, and it did not endear them to me.
— Difficult to navigate store and find what you’re looking for, especially if you’re trying to track down a sale item.
— Pricing signage on products is difficult to the point where you wonder if it’s done on purpose in order to confuse customers about what kind of deal they’re actually getting.