The majority of complaints center on rude and unprofessional employee behavior, including cashiers throwing items, refusing basic courtesy, and displaying hostile attitudes. Secondary issues involve difficult return experiences with accusations toward customers, product quality problems, and serious concerns about racial profiling and discriminatory treatment at various store locations.
Common Issues
Purchased 2 Trader Joe's Butter Chicken. Was not Butter Chicken. It was Chicken Masala and it was spicy. I know my Indian food quite well. Could not eat this. Packaging does not list any ingredients that would be hot/spicy. Was at the limit of heat my husband could tolerate.
That's why I bought Butter Chicken (Makhani) and not Masala.
Took down 2 stars, specifically because of the green apples. I've frequented 3 different Trader Joe's, and for some unknown reason, the granny smith apples are always bruised. Almost every apple is bruised, and the size of the bruise almost always covers a large portion of the apple. To me it's not negligible, and causes me to spend extra time, picking and disorganizing the inventory in order to find apples that are up to my standards (i.e., doesn't have bruises that are larger than my thumbprint). It seems like Trader Joes and sometimes Whole Foods are the only grocery stores that has this problem, and I want to bring this problem to your attention, because it should be an easy fix.
It's truly a shame that a grocery store that prides itself on quality, would be so negligent about the…
I love Trader Joes and am a loyal customer. Tonight, we cooked the Chicken Parmesan Lollipops and threw them out. They were a pile of "matter" on a stick. Gooey, no chicken. What a sad excuse for the normally wonderful products we expect from Trader Joe. Please rethink this one!
The day before Thanksgiving and there is a long line at the express checkout. Everything was moving until they switched checkers and the new woman was busy chatting it up with a customer while we were all waiting. When I went to the manager to complain he was very rude.
Instead of apologizing and look into it he blamed it on the credit card chip reader. I would appreciate a personal apology from him. He needs better customer training.
I looked carefully through the selections of nut butters on a recent visit to Trader Joe's in Everett, WA. I am sensitive to peanut butter and am allergic to roasted almond butter. I usually buy Trader Joe's sunflower butter, but they did not have any.
So I saw Cashew Butter. I looked at it, no mention of any other nuts on the front at all. So I bought it, even though it was a bit pricey, since I can eat cashew butter. When I got it home, though, I saw on the back of the label, in tiny lettering, that it contained roasted almonds.
Should it not then have been called "Cashew and Almond" butter? I told the local Trader Joe's about this but they did not seem to care. Some people who are allergic to roasted almonds (a chemical change happens in the almond skin when they are roasted) can have…
Bag of chicken nuggets, there was one huge nugget amongst the bag which I was different, when I cooked it the end result was a big glob of powdery mush. I took pictures and emailed Trader Joes three days ago. They don't appear to respond to complaints!
Bought a TJ's Apple Pie. Said "no preservatives" and "no artificial colors or flavors." It looked and sounded wholesome and tasty. Wrong! The ingredients probably were OK but the pie filling had been heavily thickened with corn starch or some other thickener.
So instead of getting a natural fruit pie, which I fully expected, I ended up with a heavily-processed, gooey pie. Unless TJ revamps its recipe for this Apple Pie, which should be an American classic, there's no way I will buy another one.
In fact, given the gooey, unnatural consistency of the pie filling, I will not be buying any other TJ's pies and advise other consumers to steer clear of them. A pie that is much tastier, loaded with berries, and not heavily thickened is Claim Jumper's berry (Razzleberry or Marion berry) pie. A…
You folks no longer offer "Original Hummus", a hummus that did not have tahini as an ingredient. We both appreciate what "Trader Joe's" uniquely provides and are surprised that you folks may not be aware of a negative perception as to how you do business, not just on our part but amongst our friends.
We feel you make management decisions based on your convenience and perceptions first and our convenience second. You have many positive attributes including a very helpful and nice staff working in your stores. How about returning "Original Hummus" and make my wife happy again?
I’m reporting a very bad experience about your customer service at Montrose location in California. I was at Trader Joe’s on Friday 07/24/2015 with my four year old son. After shopping we were at register in order to pay for our groceries. My son is a very shy kid and wanted to have some stickers so I asked the cashier to hand him some stickers very politely. The cashier handed my son some stickers but seemed that my son wanted the famous flag stickers from Trader Joe’s and I said to cashier, I’m sorry can you please hand him some flag ones.
At that point the cashier told me, is this the way your son speaks and he said, you need to teach him how to say “please” and “thank you”. At first I didn’t even understand what he meant but in less than 5 seconds I got it and I was very embarrassed…
Went to Trader Joes to get a chicken salad and drink...waited in line for a customer to be processed, a second cart was behind hers and no one there, customer had left to get something else...instead of ringing my two items the cashier started with the cart even though the person was not there. I took my two items to customer service desk and they said I could only get processed at the cashier stations, I left my stuff and won't be back.
Since we live in the San Francisco bay area, we visit 4 stores regularly: Millbrae, South San Francisco, Daly City and Stonestown (SF). A month ago the managers told us this product that the one L balsamic vinegar of Modena, was to be restocked, as we could find it in none of the stores.
Lately they are saying we have to buy the smaller bottle, and this product is watery and of not the same quality. We are thinking of taking our business back to Safeway, as the prices have just gone way up, like with wild salmon and Cambozola cheese (spikes of several dollars in a matter of days) and quality of all the TJ's we go to are in the wrong direction.
I was shopping in one of the Irvine,ca stores when I saw one of the asst mgrs. racial profiling P. Hernandez is his name. Now I've been shopping at all of the trader joe stores since they have been around and this SHOULD NOT BE. I've lived in the area for 34yrs and why should anyone living in the area that shops weekly be troubled with that sort of low life thinking. It brings down the store atmosphere and lowers its appeal. I came to Irvine when that behavior was hidden and acceptable but Irvine has changed and in case you haven't notice its much more diverse.
Anyone living in that area are either well educated and financially able to afford a trader joes grocer. The fact that this person chooses to bring down the quality of the store says a lot about those hired and the mentality of its…
We travel a lot and shop trader Joe's. Why is the chicken Marsallas not the same quality in oregon as those in California? Do you have a different supplier in each state?
Your product called Taos Joe's Southwest Chicken Quesadillas with season vegetables is horrible- Please take this out of your store as you are selling something that has no taste. Plus being made in Mexico. Do yourself a favor and quit stocking your store with it.
The spicy beef and broccoli I purchase had maybe 6 ounces of beef and the rest was broccoli. Very misleading and frustrating for when you are trying to cook a dinner for two and the portion is barely for one.
I purchased Trader Joes "Organic Heavy Whipping Cream" and froze it for use when I am unable to go to the store. When I defrosted it, it was mostly a glob that looked as though i had already whipped it.
In fact, that does not happen to pure cream, only when it has carageean added, an additive that has a deleterious effect on mammalian health. I wanted it to put in my coffee! I will no longer purchase any product with carageean in it, which means that I will not purchase any TJ brand dairy products without reading the label.
No customer can continue to shop at a store where they get up to the line, and they have to worry if the clerk going to let them buy the groceries. This is exactly what happened to me at Trader Joe's the other day.
The clerk rang up half my order before stepping away to assist another customer. When she came back to continue MY transaction, she rang up about three items before stepping aside to ring up ANOTHER customer's items. I had to wait there until the person BEHIND me finished their transaction before the clerk focused on my own.
If you don't want to sell groceries, if you really don't want to let people buy groceries, then why do you have a grocery store or a manager like the one described above!?!?!? Cause, yes, the lady checking me out, the clerk that ignored me, that was the…
I got a plastic piece in chocolate pistachio toffee. I am not sure where to make complaint about this, i am very disappointed as i love those toffees .
False advertising - The pictures of food on your frozen foods do not accurately reflect what you get.
For example, the Paneer Tikka Masala shows approximately 15 pieces of paneer in the picture, when in fact there are only 6-7 pieces. Advertising laws ensure the consumer is given the undeniable and innate right to know what product or service they are purchasing.
Although the package indicates 9 oz,, if a consumer doesn't open the package, it could be construed by the picture that 15 pieces + rice weigh 9 oz.. This negates ‘truth in labeling,’ which is the accurate and fair delivery of necessary information to a prospective consumer. Be careful with this.