3 stars

My rating for your store for prices, etc., is 5 stars. BUT my rating for accommodating the handicapped inside your store is ZERO stars. You have your battery carts as far away from the front door as you can get them. This makes no sense at all. They should be by the front door as you enter the store. It is very difficult to walk all the way to the far wall to get a cart. It's even worse when you walk all that way and then get there to find that there are no carts available. We then have to walk all the way back to the front of the store to get a regular cart. UNACCEPTABLE.
Unhappy handicapped person.

Winco Foods for the most part has good value pricing. I don't care much for their customer service but then again I don't go there because I like the people. I like the pricing and value. However, Winco Foods has adopted a new house brand, Hy-Top. I have tried maybe 20 different Hy-Top products from crackers to tuna and in every instance I find the Hy-Top product to be sub-standard in quality, taste and performance. When the product purchased does not fulfill the shoppers expectations then the value is lost. I don't shop as much at Winco Foods as I used to because the value has been diminished and I can find name brand values elsewhere.

I want to share my daughters experience while attempting to return an application for employment... The Customer Service Desk had an elderly employee whom harassed my daughter regarding her application stating they were not accepting applications(however the web site stated that store location was hiring) .... my daughter asked for the phone number to do the online survey/pre-employement questionnaire and was told there is no such thing( We all know there is a pre-employement/on-line survey, another WinCo employee told us of this and said to take the survey before the interview) The woman accused my daughter of calling her a liar in front of other customers in line, then used the overhead loudspeaker to call for a manager, said she had a rude customer and that the customer is calling her a liar!! When the manager came( a woman but can't recall her name) my daughter reached out her hand to shake but the woman manager crossed her arms instead, she didn't blink an eye when my daughter explained what happened, grabbed the application and said nothing, No Apology or partial fault on employee( the help desk person obviously didn't know and felt challenged by a 18 year old child questioning her authority and lack of hiring practice proceedures/protocol) I personally felt there was a difference of opinion/personality clash between the two...the woman manager should have noticed something due to the gleam in the help desk lady's eyes/big mouthed grim...OK, so life goes on but at what cost?? How many more customers get treated like this or worse before management steps up their game?? This is why friends and family don't mix well with business, either way,
customer service professionals would never embarrass a customer by abusing her power using the overhead page in this manor...The manager might have spoken or disciplined her after we left but I seriously doubt that happened...the help desk lady's smirk on her face said it all...Why do you say I should have jumped in having witmessed this??? My daughter needs to learn from her mistakes, right or wrong, even when she's not at fault...My point being, WinCo isn't all you claim and everyone makes mistakes!! What makes a company great is correcting bad behavior and following thru with managers/employees training methods so future problems are avoided...

I love shopping at the Puyallup winco. The employees are nice and the store is clean. Of course, the prices are great, but that is a given. No store is perfect, but i think that reasonable prices make up for it. I've saved a lot of money since I started buying my meat and produce at Winco and find that the quality is comparable to other chains. I can't speak for other stores in the company, because I haven't been to any of them, but the puyallup store is great. Thanks.

I am disabled and can not walk they have motor chairs but you have walk into the store to use them or my daughter has to take my wheelchair out of the car let me go into the store to get there carts and then she has to take my wheelchair back to the car. After I am through shopping my daughter has to do the same to get me out to the car. The 99hiway store has polls on there cart so they can not leave the store. So because of this I can not shop at winco foods. Thanks for nothing.

I don't do all my shopping at WinCo, but I do go there for specific items I can't find anywhere else or that I know will be significantly cheaper at WinCo. The store nearest to me has a great selection of so-called "ethnic" foods. I go to WinCo for their pre-sliced "carne asada" meat, which is always reasonably priced, fresh, and not available anywhere else. Their pork shoulder roast "carnitas" are also a great buy. Another item I stock up on is the "Aussie Gold" aged white cheddar cheese. It is the best white cheddar I've found for the price, and puts to shame Trader Joe's similar cheeses.

I've never been too impressed with their produce, and their bulk food selection (while very large) sometimes sits out for looooong periods of time. So I just go elsewhere for those things. (Although sometimes they have some very unusual or rare produce which is very expensive at other stores, and quite reasonably priced at WinCo. For example, we recently discovered that my 3-year old loves bean sprouts. A bag of bean sprouts at WalMart runs about 2-3 bucks, if you can even find one. At WinCo, a bag of fresh bean sprouts cost me 99 cents!)

As for checking out, yes, the lines are long. Yes, it's a pain to bag your own food. But you know what? It's worth it to save the money in these hard times. And truthfully, I'd rather bag my own food than have the slowpokes at WalMart put my milk on top of my bread...again!!

Funny you can say you shopped at Winco Foods in Hemet. The store is not even open yet! It is October 2nd and the hiring process is still going on.

I have shopped at Winco for years in Northern California and Perris, CA and have never had a bad experience. Shop for yourself in Hemet when the store opens and make your own decision. I believe you will be pleased.

I have read several of the reviews, and have to agree with those who rate Winco as terrible.

More times than not I have purchased items that when opened, they are spoiled. I used to shop at Winco for the bulk items, but no longer do as I have seen young children with their arms up to their elbo's in the bulk item bins. I understand the parents are to blame here, but have complained to the store employees to no avail.

The fresh fruits and vegetables department is anything but...no flavor or too ripe. Lettuce is dirty...who does not see mud and dirt sealed into a head of lettuce? Nothing fresh about it!

The breads and muffins will mold within a day, and bakery items are not baked fresh...but pulled out of a freezer. I personally don't like the taste of freezer burn.

I would rather pay more, don't care how much either, to have fresh food. It seems that buying good and fresh food is actually cheaper at certain stores; i.e. Costco. I can buy 6 heads of romaine lettuce for $2.99. Not only is it fresh, but it also has flavor!

My husband and I have found that shopping at Costco, with the Executive card saves us more than Winco and at the end of the year we receive a check for 2% back on our entire year's purchase. Well worth the price.

You do have to purchase larger packets, but we can pull what we want and either freeze the rest or give it to our kids. Either way we still save over stores like Winco and Safeway.

So long Winco, you lost me about 2 years ago...

I shop at the Winco in Hemet, California and prices are good, but I keep finding products that are produced in China and other countries like Malaysia that makes me check labels like crazy.
A while back I went to buy ready made potatoe salad and when I noticed the "buy by" date, it was weeks out of date. When I told a manager, he told the deli manager and later I saw him 3 times carry arm loads of product from the shelf to the back.
Recently I purchased a large American sub and some of the meat in it tasted terrible. Threw it out.
In the same purchase I purchased Rojos Spinach dip and when I got home read the date on it, it was 07-18-09 and the day I purchased it was 09-02-09.

I am sending a complaint to the head office. It will include an attachment with a copy of my receipt and the dip lid with the out of date date.

WinCo is ok. The prices are good. What I wish you would carry is V8 Fusion Peach Mango Light. We have to go to other stores to get this product. WE would shop at winco more often if they would carry the V8 Fusion light products. Light style products, good wine at great prices those are things that would keep us from shopping at any store but WinCo.

Customer service SUCKS !! YOu cant even get or find a link on the Winco home page to send in a e-mail about the POOR POOR SERVICE and the LONG LONG LONG SLOW lines at the checkout and this is at 1-2 AM when I get off work !! Good prices? YES!! worth it HELL NO!!! I'll go a couple miles more to the 24hr Super WallMart instead !! So Long WinCo and your poor ass customer service and your hiden corp. e-mail or the lack of being able to voice my concerns to Headquarters !!!

they are rude and they walk away when you are asking a question and when you bring it up to the lady store manager she says I believe my employee that he wasnt being rude or hearing you and so sorry Im all most 50 not in a habbit of being rude. I had a friend with me and she was so surprised of this person and the management. So we don't shop there sorry prices arent worth being treated like you don't matter.
I was a shopper over 26yrs. NO LONGER

I moved from the California Bay area to the Valley. In the bay area there is a nice grocery store at least amile in every direction. I loved being able to have my choice of Safeway's to go to. If I had a problem with one, I would go to another. It was great. Then I moved to Modesto. Modesto has Savemart. Savemart is expensive, the only Safeway I've been to seems more like a luxury store than anything else. More like a Nob Hill, and it's not conveinent to go there. Winco however, there's one right next to my house. I have a choice of either going to Winco or Savemart. Savemart seems to think that everyone is ignorant of the fact that some of their items are much higher than everyone else. But I go there instead. I love the customer service, their store is always clean, and I would rather pay $20 more for the same items than to go to Winco.
Winco... I guess the fact that flies were surrounding their tomatoes and other produce, should have disgusted me, or perhaps their ill customer service. I had a friend ask about getting a job there and the "Girl" in "Customer Service" area, blatantly told her, "We're not hiring can't you read?" There was supposedly a sign somewhere in the area. I asked for a role of quarters in "Customer Service" and was told they could only give me ONE. Wow I was pretty sure that I was going to pay for them anyway. About 10pm is the busiest time for Winco. This is when the store fills up with people using thier EBT card. I don't really care how people pay for thier stuff, but you'd think that the store would be aware of this and get more people to play cashier. But no, I've been in lines there that have about 8 people with grocery carts about to purge thier contents many times.
I've been so frustrated at the level of non customer service that I've gone shopping, waited for 20 minutes in a line that doesn't move, and LEFT my cart to go shop at Savemart. My least favorite part is leaving the store. You'd think it'd be my favorite. But WINCO cares so much about their customers that they don't provide any type of security for thier customers. Every single time I go there. EVERY single time I've gone I get begged for money by some methed out freak. It's always a different story but I always get some sad story about how they have no money for gas, or food, or whatever. If you complain they'll tell you they can't do anything about it.
My family works for their money, and I am insulted that someone who is getting an itch for Meth, heroine, or alchohol thinks they can just walk up to someone and take it from them. And Winco sees this and can't do anything about it.
Their customer service sucks, their philosophy sucks, I won't buy thier meat based on the quality. Every time I buy anything in their meat department something is defective one way or another. I thought abou addressing this problem with the Company itself. Well WincoFoods.com has no area on their website to address customer service issues.
It only goes to show that it's another corperation that thinks it's winning because it doesn't have to offer a clean store, or valuable employess, to gain a profit. It's using the community and treating people badly becaues people keep shopping there. I refuse to go there even if it's going to save our family $20 in the end.
Ironically "Grocery Outlet" has better employees, a cleaner store, and better values... but again I won't buy thier meat either.

I just had THE WORST experience I have ever had shopping at a store. It happened at Winco and I have to share it. Unfortunately, it looks like it's more common than not to have a bad experience there after reading the different reviews listed on here.

Here's the scoop.

I was in the same shopping plaza as the Winco Foods here in Marysville, WA to get my daughter her hair cut. I needed to get a few things and thought that, because it was conveniently located next to the salon, I would go there to Winco. Big mistake!

I had purchased the things I was in there for, and then some. I loaded my groceries onto the belt and waited for my turn. Since the lines in Winco are always long no matter what time of day I've been in there I read one of the magazines to help pass the time.

So, it's my turn and this bitch of a woman named Wendy was the cashier. She continued to hold a conversation with the customer who was in front of me, who was bagging her groceries. No acknowledgement of me, no greeting, nothing. So, then two "people in charge" (that's what their nametags said) came up to her and were having a conversation with her. Wendy literally stopped scanning my items and held a conversation with them!! I interrupted and asked if she could please finish scanning my items and that I was in a hurry. Her response? "AND YOU CAME TO WINCO??" in the most sarcastic of tones. I couldn't believe what I she had said! I said excuse me to her. Her reply? "AND YOU CAME HERE WHEN YOU'RE IN A HURRY?"

WOW.

I proceeded to tell her that she was rude and what she had said to me not once, but twice, was unacceptable to me. She had this look on her face like she was suprised. I told her that if she was clueless as to not know what was wrong with what she said, she had some serious problems. At this point, all bets were off and I told her sarcastically that she should consider it to be job security. She told me not really and smiled a really sickly sweet smile. I told her I didn't wish to say anything else to her and would she finish my order. At no point did she apologize. She was going on and on that it was her manager that she was talking to and that they were trying to find someone to work late. I told her that the people at Albertson's could scan AND hold a conversation at the same time. I told her that I didn't want to hear any more of her excuses and that I wanted to get out of her line.

I decided after I packed up my order that I didn't want to give a single penny to that store. I went up to the customer service desk and asked for the manager or the person in charge. Ironically enough, I was lead to the same two people that this checker was talking with before. I calmly explained what had happened and that I wanted to return my entire order. (I ended up spending $53.65) The one manager took my items out of my recycled bags and the other fumbled around to try and do the return. The manager who was handling the money said that the two of them shouldn't have interrupted her. I told her that the checker had no customer service skills and to talk to me like that should cost her job. I got my money refunded and took my happy ass across the street to the Albertson's where I usually go.

I told the gal at Albertson's what happened. She actually APOLOGIZED for what I went through! I told her that I would sit down and write a letter to their manager @ Albertson's to thank him or her for having great checkers with personalities and kindness. Winco could stand to learn something from their competitors.

This is not the first time I was treated rudely by a Winco employee. Their website has a bunch of b.s. on it about how Winco stands for Winning Company. Winning company of what??? This was the last time I was going to subject myself to such unacceptable behavior. I earn my money just like everyone else and I am going to choose who I give it to. Winco is not on my list.

I will never shop there again and will encourage family and friends who go there to consider giving their hard earned money to another store who actually treats their customers decent.

Not a store for health nuts...

Okay, I do shop at Winco, sometimes. But I am less likely to have a good experience there than at other stores. I first started shopping at Winco in Moscow, ID. I thought, great, I was a dirt poor college student trying to stretch my money as far as possible. But there prices are deceptive, if you ask me. They pull you in with cheap boxed/canned foods on display, but not everything's actually cheaper. I just moved to Richland, WA, and the story is exactly the same. One big problem that I have with Winco is that I like to cook a variety of foods don't fit with what I like. So I end up having to make a pit stop at another store. It annoys me that their meat section only offers huge portions (not great for two people). The last straw was when I looked around my Winco one day and realized that a great deal of the people shopping there were overweight. And, since I'd moved to Moscow, so was I. I needed a healthier alternative. Now I shop at Fred Meyer. I spend the same amount of money (which is contrary to what other people say) and it seems to help me choose healthier foods. I need to stay away from the temptations of cheap boxed foods. I like to do my own cooking.
Also, the lines at both Winco's are always really long, and the employees have been extremely rude to me. That makes me wonder if they're treated well enough, but that's just speculation.
Bottom line, if you don't like to cook or care much about healthy diet, and can stand the chaos, it's for you. Like I said, I sometimes shop there (there bulk's fairly good and they do have some good, healthy options). Just beware that if you're on a budget, their prices may deceive you. My fiance and I spend the same amount wherever we go.

I love to shop at Winco, i have never had a problem with their customer or broken cart incident. I mean there are time where you are like like, "are you kidding me, you dont know whwere it is?" but give 'em a break, shit move around all the time, and people do get fired and hired.

I personally shop at the one in Elk Grove, on Sheldon. Their pizza is hellllllllla better than Round Tables, or Pizza Huts. I just got 2 large multiple topping pizzas for under 25. You can't beat it. The floors are the best, but im not there to buy floors, i am there for food, and the food is fresh and constantly stocked & rotated. How hard is it to get another cart if the wheels on the first one you picked aren't quite working. It aint!!!!!!!!!!!

Give them a break, when you see a roach, complain. Until then they are great.

Seriously, everyone who complains about trash being in carts, .. don't leave trash in the carts, ... viola, problem fixed. Carts not rolling properly? Don't leave them on curbs around the parking lot, or slam them into curbs for that matter, .. put them in the racks where they belong.

Bad customer service? Approach them nicely, and you'll get the same in return.

NO CONTACT INFORMATION?!! LOOK ON YOUR RECEIPT RETARD.

Stop finding shit to complain about, ... makes you sound ignorant, and ontop of that, you can shop else where if you hate shopping there.

SLOW CHECKOUT LINES?! Well, when you find another store who does 1.5 to 2 million dollars of transactions a week, and still can keep lines down, .. you just let me know.

JUST STOP COMPLAINING. Bunch of whiny assholes!

I love shopping at Winco. Our local store has almost everything I want or need to buy. I'm constantly amazed by all the stuff like Nancy's Organic Nonfat yogurt. I used to buy this at the Sprouts down the street, but they suddenly stopped carrying that particular Nancy's product.

Also I like to bag my own stuff, don't seem to spend as much because I have to pay cash or debit, and I like to buy from the bins. Going for products with less packaging is good for the environment.

I've heard it is hard to get a job there, and once you do, you are expected to work your ass off. Can't comment on that, but I like the staff at our store. There are a few checkers who are usually working every time I shop and I like to go through their lines.

If you are looking for the absolute cheapest food to put on your table then this is the place. The problem is we always end up having to stop at Safeway or Walmart because Winco did not have something. In their meat section, they have tons of beef but want turkey products they have almost nothing.

The last time we got 2 salads from there deli, then next day when we went to have them one had a dressing packet over a month expired and the other had no dressing packet.

I'm sorry all those people who have been treated unfairly. However, majority of whiners just need an outlet to cry a river.

Based on my experience, if you are a decent worker a company is not going to try to get rid of you. There may be exceptions. I do know there are a bunch of young people running around thinking they are entitled to more than what they are getting.

For all those shoppers who are crying a river, nobody makes you go there. Just go to walmart (sure, maybe they'll have a better 'quality' food) or perhaps albertsons or hagen or whatever. You still have a choice. Sure, you may pay through the nose at other places, but you still have a choice. If you want to save money, I think you can put up with a longer line (I don't find safeway any better, but their price is still higher). Perhaps you can put up with people not smiling at you and having a bit of mess around. If you want to be treated like king/queen, then go somewhere where you can pay for that.

Just to put things into perspective, there are many people who don't even come close to having "winco experience" or whatever you want to label it. They are simply happy enough they have ANY kind of food, even if it has some bugs in it. Sheesh, people! No wonder we get a "whiny americans" label...

I was fired from Winco after 8 years. They are saying that I have to wait at least five years to cash in my retirement?
Anybody know why or any way around it? I am jobless I need the money now.

I think winco lets some of the employees spend to much time with customers especially the female customers if you know what i mean..(IE) the gresham store produce manager who uses his job to meet and flirt with married woman and i have also seen him flirt with other employees, so have alot of other people who shop there. He's a real piece of work... it will catch up with him eventually, if you know him let him know people are watching his conduct with customer!!

I have read so much negativity from former/current employees here that I just had to respond. First, Winco is the BEST place to shop. We as employees work so hard to do the best for our customers. Yep, they are the top of our pyramid. Without loyal, happy customers were are nothing. All of the depts work hard to make each store work, we are a team. Now, I realize that Winco has policies and procedures that alot of jobs don't have. Being responsible and having good work habits are essential working at Winco. That is where some get into trouble and blame others. I see it everyday. I can't imagine working for another company. I recently needed to use our insurance, and thank the Good Lord for that. My job/benefits/points were protected by FMLA, and I was happy to get back to work. I make sure that I get to work on time and that I am ready to work when I punch in. Just common sense stuff. So when you are complaining on this open forum, please take a minute and see whether or not you there was something that YOU could of done to make YOUR job better. I certainly am grateful for mine.

WinCo "use" to be a good company to work for when it was Cub Foods...I'm not sure exactly what happened after that! I know we are suppose to be rating the actual grocery experience, which I still shop there occasionally, but I can compare working there to my worst nightmare!! It would take pages to tell you all the Hell I, and several others at one particular store went through. I'm writing up a nice long article about them that I may just have to see if any newspapers are interested in printing.

WinCo is a great store to shop at, I love their Bulk section, the store in Indio is always clean, I can't get myself to shop at other stores cause when I do I have to wait along time just to check out, at WinCo if there is a long line even the managers get a till and start cashiering. now the only problem I have with WinCo is being an employee there, I have been with this company for a little bit over a year, I transferred from another store so I can get out of being a cashier, little did I know that going to another store wich is fairly new, that the managers did not want other workers from another store, therefore we get some bad treatment, when I started there I was given the store scan cordinator by the corporate, and since the manager did not give me the time of day to hear what I had to say, things got worse cause the new workers were doing their job wrong, they gave me an attitude so I gave one back, well I got kicked out of pricing and back to cashier, well now I was given an opportunity to do dated items, I got in trouble for helping a customer who was upset cause there was hardly any meat the night he went shopping, this customer spends $2000.00 a month due to he has 12 kids, well I convinced him to stay, though it took awhile to convince, well I got kicked out of dated items and back to cashier, I was told I have to much time on my hands for dated items all because I was talking to long to a customer and one employee was upset with me cause I did not do the paper work like she wanted me to, I had my own way of doing it to keep track of my out dated items, she told the manager I was not doing my job right, never had a customer come back to our store to return an expired item so therefore I was sure I was doing my job right, well again I got the boot. I don't leave this company cause we are employee owned and I am now invested in the company. all employees should be treated equal and at WinCo they don't know the meaning. WinCo has it's good and bad

things you should know i have been with winco foods for 16yrs , 9and a 1/2 were on freight.perishable products sit out a very long time frozen most of it sits out until defrosted
problem is we do such big volume and try to hire the least amount of people to stock that loads can often times overwelm people and frustrate, there for they don't realy care if your frozen juice sux or if your icecream taste funny becuase it defrost .
We have 1 yes only 1 person to rotate are intier stock,we are not given the hours to hire enuf people to rotate are stock.so if you shop late your chances of getting bad or old food is way up and yes this includes packaged deli and frozen 1 person could never go threw all that.

but we are the cheapest in town you got to cut some corners:)


by the way i refuse to shop at any winco hahaha

First off i would like to say to grannycar sorry you have to hear dat. I also know what it feels like to hear racial crap. Anyway working @ winco sucks the big weenie, but its a job and partying and having a car cost alot of duckets. Hey yodudeshutupandpull, I feel you bro. It has happened to me this NO RETAILIATION CRAP. Dat is so much BS. Dis company keeps you down and worried if you are going to have a job. NO RETAILIATION YEAH RIGHT!, what we should do is find out our rights R. Talk wit union people see how they R treated. I even heard u can try and git a union to come in. Man I have friends who work union stores and dey git better scratch than we do by far. At dis store dey give positions out to people who they feel they can mold into there image and if day kiss arse enough there in. Grannycar I agree wit you 100 percent dey need to put sum one else in those positions. yodudeshutupandpull I agree wit you about fighting back. peace be wit you all.

I shop at the Winco in Nampa Idaho. This store is clean, well stocked, and the parking lot is kept clean and clear of carts. The low prices are what keep me coming back to the store and second to that most of the employees are very nice. Many of the employees have been there for as long as I can remember. I've never had a problem with expired or rotten food purchase from them. I've witnessed other customers returning items they werent happy with and noticed the service clerk was professional and gave a refund with no problems. I have seen expired packaged items for sale but expiration dates are cleary marked and I just stay away from them. This chain is a bare bones outfit and you are required to bag your own groceries (you get better at this each time) and take them to your car yourself. I'm ok with that. I also like that no matter where I park there is a cart corral very near by. I also like that the parking in the lot is angled making it all one way--I think this is the safest way to design the lots. The Winco in Meridian is a nightmare to park at and I avoid that location. This store is a warehouse design and can be intimidating to first time shoppers--I suggest going a few times to get familiar with where things are located. I recommend this grocery store and especially this location if you have a lot to buy. If you only have a few items plan on waiting in line for a while as there are no express lanes--however if customer service doesnt have a line of people they allow you to check out a few items (one or two--not twenty).

Winco is a great store. Yes the costumer service isn't the best, but the price is low. If you want good customer service then go to safeway and pay 2x as much as you would at Winco. I wok at Winco and have for the last 2 yrs. It's complete hell. But Winco makes it worth our while. Pretty decent pay and They work around my schedule, But it is very hard work. Their are many improvements that can be made though.

We Like to shop at WinCo Foods, because everything looks so fresh and inviting. We are use to shopping on base, but I found so many things not to my liking, the looks of produce and fruit for one.
The employees are very helpful. I like that. I worked in a store and we were told the costumer is always king, no matter how you feel. I thing that should still hold some weight today.
Thank you WinCo for being who you are.

Now I have also a concern. We live in Southern California, as you know this is earthquake country. It is the taalk that the "Big one" is coming.So what my concern is,you have rows of these big packages of goods piled up to the seeling. They are secured on one side with a iron fence around, however on the other side the have no security. In a big earthquake that is expected in the future these things would come tumbling down and could kill a lot of people. You may want to consider to put a chane up front, where the opening is and tighten the cradles down.

I hope that you may consider some security. The store is open all night and all day. I asume that there could be people under the cradles at all times.

I am with the local emergency team here in Moreno Valley and have some trainig in situations like earthquake and other disaster.My concern is around town, when I see something that couild turn into heartship, I try to let someone know.

So please look at the matter. May I hear from you again.

Sincerily

Ingrid P.

My wife and I live in a nice, upscale town, Danville, California. I love bargain hunting, and WalMart Superstores used to be my favorite, but unfortunately, there were none nearby. An employee told my wife about a new Winco store in Pittsburg (California), so we stopped by there for the first time about three weeks ago, and again yesterday. I LOVE THAT STORE!!! Compared to Winco, WalMart superstores don't have anywhere near the selection that Winco offers. Winco has better sale prices than WalMart Superstores, and to top that off, I have found Winco employees to be very polite, very helpful, very customer oriented. For example, they had Swanson's chicken broth for 48c per can, and I wanted 72 cans (three 24 packs); the shelf was cleaned out, and my wife and I found that among the pallets of goods that had been put out for stocking, one pallet had four cases of Swanson's chicken broth. Unfortunately, they pallets are wrapped tight with plastic wrap (I assume to prevent pillferage), so we went looking for a store employee to help us. We asked the first employee we could find, and he went to find someone else, I guess who worked in that area. The two guys unstacked several cases of other goods that were on top of the chicken broth, and got us our three cases. They were incredibly polite, and very helpful. As a matter of fact, the kid told me that they're trained to give customers whatever they need. I've NEVER had this experience in WalMart Superstores, ever. I love Winco, and I just wished they had a store a little closer to Danville. Also, I've found their produce to be acceptable; not as nice as safeway, but reasonably fresh. I'm trying their meat for the first time this week, and I'll withhold judgement on that until we've had some, which will be on Saturday.

What a wonderful store! Huge variety of items, superb produce, and employees constantly come up to you and ask if they can help you find something. And the checkout situation is fantastic! What more can I say?

flowerbug

Have you tried using MapQuest? Just read the narrative if you don't like using maps. Hope this helps. :)

The longview store does not have driveing directions on here thats very annoying meaning we would like to shop there been there once with a couple of friends that knew there way down but we dont so put driveing directions up... thanks and not the map

this store has the most reasonable prices i have ever seen. i thought the days of low prices were over until i walked into this store..wish we had one in my town!!

By the way, I did not delete any of my post, why would I do that?  Seems like your one of those blame game players.  I said in a earlier post who has the time to watch a fly eat a bell pepper then watch it die?  Did she then leave it there?? 

Ohh looks like my post got deleted again, thats ok I can remember what I posted.

Sooo, lets get this straight, someone had a seizure after going without water in the check stand. Don't you get a break every 2 hrs? If she was dehydrated it wasn't because of that, is it 120 degrees in the sun? Can't you tell a PIC that you don't feel good? Your talking out of both ends..1st you say that you get decent pay, wonderful benefits, ESOP and they work around your college schedule. Then the next breath is I HATE IT!! How many people go to work everyday and say "OMG I can't wait to go to work and wait on rude customers....and run out the door. Not very many lol Try this, go to a walmart or albertsons employees and tell them how much you hate WinCo and their pay, benefits and retirement plan and see how much they pat you on the back. You contribute nothing to your retirement plan, it's FREE money after the end of 5 years. You don't think they have a right to record you while your on sick leave? If you are true to the system then why worry about it? They are protecting their investments. I am sure they have been screwed over a few times, why would they believe everyone with a claim? And about those points, either leave earlier and get a reliable babysitter. Yes, everyone has crap days. People can't blame it on this and that. What gives WinCo the right to expect their employees to get to work on time?!! When you need paperwork, be on their asses and go to other people till it's in your hand. When you have a 9 hr break between days, that 1st hr is over time, if you don't like it use your voice. There's a reason for split days off, ask why.. I am so sorry that WinCo is paying your bills and working with you so you can LEAVE when your done with college. Oh yeah and don’t forget those $100 gift cards they give out and the bonuses you also get. Poo poo WinCo Icky Icky! Bad BAD And if the managers are rude then tell someone, if they don’t listen tell someone else.

Oh yeah AND WinCo is the lowest price leader beats Wal-Mart 98% of the time. How can they do that and beat their wage and benefits??? hmmmmmmm

They are getting bigger and spreading yearly, they are not on a decline, far from it.

(skipping away and giggling) I love it there, im sorry you don't. Next time they give you gifts cards and bonuses, just through them right back......pppfffffftttt Ask about your esop I think they changed some things. Hope this one doesn't get deleted lol

hppymom - How were you able to delete your earlier post excoriating RazeArein for taking the time to notice bugs in the produce? Is that how it works? You just zap those messages that you learn don't suit your purpose? Why is Rate it all! permitting you to do this?Pretty manipulative--even for Winco!

There needs to be improvement in the customer relations department.

I have no idea why people stand up for companies like this.  This management of this store is obviously extremely poor.  If they had this check ID policy, they should have enforced it the FIRST time, not allow it several times then change their tune.  That inconsistency illustrates how poor their management must be.  Finally, ANY manager or employee that gets rude or demeaning to a customer is out the door and on the street, if it is my store.  There are many ways to handle that situation and this is the wrong way.  With the Internet retailers simply can't get away with that crap.  This company is obviously on the decline, I bet they are gone in a few more years.

The argument that employees who are unhappy with their jobs at WinCo must be horrible employees just doesn't hold true.  There is no merit to it, whatsoever.  I have been an employee at WinCo for over 7 years, and have an impeccable record.  And I HATE it there. 

There is also the argument that if we don't like it there, we could/should quit.  It's not that cut and dry.  The truth is, though WinCo is not the ideal employer, they do offer competitive pay and an excellent benefits package with a stock ownership plan after 5 years of employment.  Therefore, by the time you are there long enough to realize that the job SUCKS, you are trapped.  You feel you must stay long enough to own your stock money, and especially with a failing economy, you know there is nowhere else to go that will offer you health insurance and a decent pay rate.  This is especially true of those of us who are still in school and don't have a college degree, thus, no skills to get a better job.  When you have kids that you need to insure with medical and dental, it's not that easy to "just quit." 

That being said, let me tell you what it's like to work for WinCo.  They do not want to let us drink water while we're working.  The only reason we can have water at our checkstands now is because I made a suggestion to the Safety Committee and included a copy of an OSHA regulation requiring us to have access to water.  Before that, they wanted me to fill out ADA paperwork to have water!!!  This was only after a fellow employee had a seisure from dehydration, and they STILL wouldn't let us have it.

They also do videotape surveillance of us when we're on sick leave.  I have proof of this.  It's on a court record on BOLI's website.  Being an employee owned company, who do you think is paying for this?  That's right... US.

They give us points for being late, even if it's because of a clock in the breakroom that's slower than the one on the computer, or a child is sick.  On two occasions I got points for being late because no one was at my daycare to watch my kids when I showed up.  We could be in cardiac arrest and get fired for being late, because THEY DON'T CARE.

They also wait until the last minute to send out the FMLA paperwork in hopes that you'll miss the deadline... which I did, when I had to have my gallbladder removed because I didn't even receive my paperwork until well past the deadline.

Breaks are usually late, lunches are almost always late, and I was chewed out for not staying late on Thanksgiving, even though NO ONE ASKED ME TO STAY, which it states explicitly in our contract that they must ask, and even then, it is on a VOLUNTARY basis.  That's breech of contract, in my book.

Then there's the scheduling.  Eight days in a row, nine, ten, sometimes even twelve in the case of the holidays.  Split days off, back-to-back night and day shifts... they'll schedule shifts only nine hours apart!  They don't care, they think we're robots that don't have lives and don't need sleep, food or water.

But like I said... quitting?  Easier said than done when you have kids to support and need the insurance but aren't qualified to do anything else.  I'm in school right now studying for a degree, and I feel like I can't go anywhere else, because nowhere else will hire me, especially with benefits and at the pay rate I get.  Not to mention working me around my school schedule. 

It's a no-win situation.

At 1:00pm IN MODESTO CA @ STORE #0021 I WAS AT THE END OF MY SHOPPING IN WINCO STORE #0021 WHEN I WENT TO PAY FOR THIS HUGE CART OVER FLOWING WITH GROCERIES TO WHICH I DO EVERY MONTH. CASHIER ARABELLA ASKED IS THIS CASH,CHECK, OR DEBIT? I SAID DEBIT I WENT TO USE MY CARD AND THE MACHINE LOT ARABELLA OUT FROM DOING ANYTHING. SHE CALLED FOR HELP. HELP ARRIVED AND THE MAN WITH A AUSTRAILIN, OR EUROPEN ACCENT UNLOCKED THE MACHINE I THEN WENT TO TRY TO US MY CARD AGAIN AN IT LOCK HER OUT OF THE REGISTER I THEN INFORMED ARABELLA THAT I'LL TRY THE MACHINE AT THE FRONT DOOR THE MACHINE PRINTED OUT A RECIPT STATING SYSTEM UNAVAILABLE. I THEN ASKED THE MAN WHO WAS ASSISTING ARABELLA IF I COULD WRITE A CHECK HE YELLS OUT " NO!!! I CAN'T LET YOU WRITE A CHECK BECAUSE YOUR BROKE AND DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY SO WAY I'M I GOING TO ALLOW YOU TO WRITE A CHECK." I LOOKED AT HIM AN EXPLAINED THAT I HAVE THE FUNDS THE MACHINE NOT WORKING HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MY CHECKING ACCOUNT. SO HE SAID "THEN CALL THE BANK AND WILL VERIFY IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY." I SAID FINE THEN GO CALL THEM PLEASE SO I CAN PAY AND LEAVE "HE SAID NO!!" SO I SAID I WILL CALL THE BANK VERIFY FUNDS FOR YOU AND THEN GET MY ITEMS AND LEAVE. "HE SAID I STILL CAN ALLOW YOU TO WRITE A CHECK." I'M SO EMBARRASED AND REALLY FEEL BELITTELED AND UPSET. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HUMILATED(SP) IN MY LIFE. I WILL NEVER SHOP AT WINCO STORES AGAIN I CAN'T BELIVE HE DID THIS IN FRONT OF ALL THESE CUSTOMERS PEOPLE WERE LAUGHING AND I FAULT LIKE CRAP AND STILL DO I WALKED AWAY WITH MY ITEMS AFTER TRYING THE ATM FOR THE FOURTH TIME. I THEN CALLED THE STORE MANAGER PATTY AN SHE SAID I'M SORRY "I TOLD HIM TO TELL YOU THAT YOU COULD WRITE A CHECK AND THAT IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR ACCOUNT ITS THE MACHINE." I TOLD HER HE NEVER CAME UP TO ME AND SAID A WORD. SHE PATTY SAID I'LL TALK TO HIM. I'M SORRY I DON'T FEEL THATS ENOUGH ESPECIAL AFTER I PAID HE DIDN'T EVEN SAY I'M SORRY I WAS OUT OF LINE OR ANYTHING. BUT I DIDN'T ALLOW HIM TO GET ME TO GO DOWN TO HIS LEVEL NOT WORTH ANY MORE EMBARRASEMENT

The last time I shopped at Winco(my grocery store then) was in 2005 in the Oakley area of California and I miss it!!!   I moved to Florida (in 2005), where I shop at the WALMART Super Centers(full grocery). The day I moved here, I noticed how the prices were A LOT more expensive on all items than Winco was just the week before (milk was over $4 and Winco was about $2). The Walmart quality is absolutely intolerable.......examples: meat often stinks, slimy and tastes rancid,the bakery items always dried out, expired items on shelf, and many items are out in late day. Customer service is horrible as they act like you are BOTHERING them and NEVER smile. They bag your groceries (in a turning thing) and they often end up leaving a bag behind, so you end up having to go back to get it...... Then, they tell you they have no record of it. I plan to move back to the west coast this spring and I plan to make Winco my grocery store with a new appreciation next to Walmart's crap. Don't use the self-check-out at Walmart... if you check out something incorrectly they will make you out to be a criminal and humiliate you!!!(Well at least here in Florida) Don't move to Florida..No decent jobs for the blue collar(non-industrial/non-progressive), and many prudent, paranoid, greedy and rude old and retired folks everywhere running the place. Many unhappy families here.

This problem deals with frozen orange juice purchased at Winco. On several occasions, the batches of foj we purchased there have been contaminated with bacteria, which is usually caused by premature defrosting followed by refreezing. This has involved Winco's house brand as well as other brands, and all have had expiration dates at least a year and a half out.

Normally, defrosted foj should be safe and bacteria-free, but in several instances, after only a couple of days of storage in our fridge, the orange juice would pick up the taste of bacteria in the product and, when cleaning the pitcher, specks of blue mold were found on the plastic container.

Where there's smoke there's fire, so my question is, how prevalent is the problem of contaminated frozen food at Winco--not just foj, but all frozen food products--caused by defrosting and then refreezing these products?

A number of years ago, proposals were floated to the FDA to include markers on frozen food products (along the lines of indicators on cans and bottles that warn when the seal has been broken), which would alert consumers that an item has been prematurely defrosted and then refrozen. Here is the URL for the patent for such a marker http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6679070/descripti on.html It has never been adopted.

Ask your Member of Congress why we don't already have these markers protecting our frozen food products against poor food handling practices by grocers like Winco, along with the rest of the food industry. Meanwhile, save all your receipts for frozen foods purchased at Winco.

Let us say my name is also RenoSue and I am not an honest person. I steal your checks and I drive to Carson City. I use my ID because our names match. People take those checks because I tell them I just moved. I go crazy and write a $1000 worth of checks on your dime. I bet you would be singing a different tune about the manager that didn't accept your check because the addresses didn't match. And I agree, if you have time to get checks you have time to get an ID!

RenoSue - Use your ATM card if you're out-of-state license isn't accepted as ID for writing checks. If the store is dirty, let the county health department know.

I shopped no more after today!) at Winco foods in Reno, Nevada. I had moved to the area recently and went to write a check today (I've done so many times before) and was told they wouldn't accept it because my driver's license had not yet changed. I explained that I had written checks several times in the last month there with no problems. The manager said (in front of all the customers) "if you are here long enough to get a checking account then you should have gotten a license!" This is NONE of his business. I was very embarrassed. I walked out. They've just lost a customer ---

Additionally the store is often dirty and customer service is virtually nonexistent. I don't mind the bagging groceries yourself but there should be SOME customer service!

Ive been with Winco for over 10 years now, and in all my time there I have filled almost every position possible. In those years I have come to one conclusion about people who say WINCO SUCKS or do excessive complaining. Anyone who says Winco sucks is most likely an x employee who got fired for stealing or excessive missed days. Or for just plain being a worthless bag of poo. Customers who complain about this or that at store level seem to always come back. So we must be doing something right. We dont take credit cards because they cost money. The cost would in turn be passed onto the customer by raising prices. We dont have baggers for the same reason. Besides, I would rather not have an underpaid bag boy putting my heavy cans on top of my eggs. Winco isn't perfect. NO. But they try their best to be. A lesson some other way more expensive companies should learn from. There is a reason we do more in a week than Save Mart, Food Max and Food 4 Less do all month combined. Repeat business and word of mouth. SO ALL YOU HATERS, KEEP HATING! You only make us richer. Thanks.

Redding, CA (Store #58):

Unbelievably expensive

Poor food quality

Floor plan needs update

Needs in-store background music

Needs baggers!!!!

Customer service????????????

More locations (maybe Red Bluff?)

Just a Holiday Market with another name only Holiday has baggers, background music, more locations, and is way smaller!

I have had so many disappointing experiences at Winco that it's hard to pick just one. We tried to get customer service to announce that a customer had their car lights on - providing them with the make, model, and plate number - just to have them to flatly refuse. The straw that broke the camels back for me was when they informed me that my well behaved, happy, and obedient 2-year-old could not walk, but must be in the cart and then they proceeded to follow me around the store, making rude comments, because I decided to carry him. I left there - went to Safeway - and there let my child walk around with me... They were polite, even offering him a banana! We will not be shopping at any Winco again. Other stores step up in the customer service area but also offer food and FUEL discounts! Why suffer through their incredibly bad company policies and impolite staff when you don't have to? I certainly won't.

Sonaive - Has Winco reached a new low? If you are certain that your receipt shows cash back and you didn't receive any cash, send a certified letter to the store manager, and cc Winco corporate hq, demanding the cash, and demanding that the videotape that includes the 30 minutes before and after your transaction be preserved. Do this right away, and report the theft to your county district attorney's office. The videotape should have a running time stamp that includes the date/time on your receipt. You can also file in Small Claims Court, but we're only talking about $40 here (Winco's cash back limit). Hope this helps.