Harris Teeter

I have shopped this store on occasion. I stopped in on my way into work at 6:45 am and learned that I couldn't make the return because I was told that no one was available to take returns until 7 am. The store is open 24 hours a day. What is happening to "Customer Service"? I thought the grocery stores were generated on consumer purchases? Guess, we as consumers are not what generates its business after all. Since, this company has decided that the consumer isn't what it needs, I am taking my business elsewhere.

I bought from Harris Teeter in Wilmington Nc a product called "demarest medicated lotion for ecezma". This product has been used before. I applied this new bottle on my grandson for his eczema after his bath and throughout the day to moisture his skin. Next day I realized the product expiration date was 1/08.

Ive been shopping at Harris Teeter for 9 years now. Their in store staff is great, selection is good and they keep their stores clean. I do however feel they are dishonest about their own products; like labeling frozen poultry as fresh.

Most of the Harris Teeter's I've visited have the same issue withpoultryitems, i.e. Turkey & Chicken being stored at temperatures below USDA standards which is below 26 degrees fahrenheit. Ive mentioned this to them many times and I keep finding frozen solid poultry that is suppose to be fresh. I was informed that the chicken comes off the truck that way.

Here are excerpts from the USDA's website stating what thedefinitionof the label "fresh" means:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Poultry_Label_Says_Fresh/index.asp

Why is 26 F the lowest temperature at which poultry remains fresh?

Below 26 F, raw poultry products become firm to the touch because much of the free water is changing to ice. At 26 F, the product surface is still pliable and yields to the thumb when pressed. Most consumers consider a product to be fresh, as opposed to frozen, when it is pliable or when it is not hard to the touch.

What does the "fresh" rule mean to consumers?

For consumers, "fresh" means whole poultry and cuts have never been below 26 F. This is consistent with consumer expectations of "fresh" poultry, i.e., not hard to the touch or frozen solid. Fresh poultry should always bear a "keep refrigerated" statement.

Any good cook knows that frozen chicken is much tougher and less flavorful. It's a basicscientificfact that when you freeze cells it damages them and they loose their moisture, thus you get tougher, much less juicy,inferiorchicken.

So, not only does Harris Teeterlabeling their poultry"fresh" NOT meet USDA label standards, but also it's an inferior product to truly "fresh" poultry. I love the truly fresh chicken at Fresh Mart, It's much more tender and juicy with great flavor! When I bake Fresh Mart's fresh chicken breasts I'm not left with shrunken chicken breasts in a watery soup from the juice that leached out like at Harris Teeter. I understand it's more economical for Harris Teeter to freeze fresh chicken. It lasts longer, there's less waist; but most important Harris Teeter loosescredibility! Frozensolid does notequalfresh! If a consumer doesn't trust Harris Teeter, they are less likely to buy their products. That's not economical, but most of all it's not morally right!

Harris Teeter owns one half of a small shopping mall and uses a large portion of it for their store. They propose to demolish the rest of the stores and a pleasant park area where they would construct a new facility while keeping their current store open.

This will put a dozen or more local thriving businesses out of their space permanently, make a construction site out of most of the parking lot and cut off the adjoining strip of restaurants, shops and multi-theatre movie house. In the long run this may give Harris-Teeter a store that conforms with their model but not give them more space. It disrupts the continuity of the whole shopping strip, putting some thriving stores out of business and turning the outdoor plaza into their new building. I have been a loyal shopper there for 15 years, but will change to Publix across the street if they go through with this needless project.

I have purchased ground beef only twice at this store. I bought from the meat counter....not already packaged. Both times I found it to be beautiful and fresh on the outside and brown beef hidden inside. I smelled the brown stale beef and it smelled awful. Two times is enough. I won't be buying ground beef there again. Buyer beware.

I used to shop at Harris Teeter, but found that the items advertised in the weekly sale paper often sold out long before the end of the week. I have been on the afternoon of the first day of the weekly sales and items were already gone. These were not isolated incidents, but perpetual problems at several stores. They should not advertise items that they can't supply- bait and switch is illegal. Since a Lowe's Foods has opened in my town, I have stopped shopping at Harris Teeter.

I live about 40 minutes from this Harris Teeter. One morning I called the meat manager and asked if he had the boneless skinless chicken breasts that were on sale. He replied that he had all I needed. I asked if there was a limit because for some reason this store limits quanties even when there is no limit listed in the ad. He asked me how many packages I wanted and I told him 8. He said no problem.

I drove over there and picked up the 8 packages along with some other groceries and the meat manager came out and said, What Are you Doing? You can'y get but one package of chicked breasts. I reminded him that I had called him less than an hour ago and he said there was no limit. He said he had changed his mind. So I left and went with my one package, paid for my groceries and then asked for a rain check. The clerk would give me a raincheck for only one package saying the store manager had decided to always limit rainchecks to one item even if there was no limit listed in the ad.

If I had been told the truth that I could buy only one package I wouldn't have driven so far. It cost me way more in gas than I saved on that single package. This is a continual problem at this Harris Teeter because it has happened to me to my wife and several other people have spoken about it to my wife.

I have shopped at most of the Harris Teeters in Raleigh and Cary and the problem is not present there.

I worked at Harris Teeter for about 2.5 years while I was in high school. One summer (1995 or so), while I was working in the Produce Dept., I found a dead mouse in a box lettuce that I was getting ready to prep. I called the store manager (Ron) and the produce manager (Marvin) to see my discovery. My friend Brian, who was a manager trainee at the time, was also there. The two managers tried to tell me to just wash the lettuce in cold water and that would kill any germs so that we could sell the lettuce. I told them I wouldn't and my buddy Brian agreed.

After a brief conversation, we got them to agree to just pitch the whole box of lettuce in the garbage. A day or so later, Marvin Jones told me that if Brian had not been there, they would've sold the lettuce anyway. He also said that they didn't want Brian to learn any bad tricks while he was trainee, but the fact of the matter was that if they would've sold the lettuce, no one would have ever known about the dead mouse that was once in it.