Grocery Store Chains With The Worst Customer Service, According To Shoppers

Running a grocery store is a tough business, with razor-thin margins and rising costs leading to cutthroat competition across the category. "Grocery store profit margins are among the thinnest in all of retail — and in all of American business," reports Vanta Insights. "The average grocery store net profit margin runs between 1% and 3% of revenue, a range so narrow that a single bad quarter of shrinkage, spoilage, or supply chain disruption can push a profitable store into the red."

In recent years, some grocery stores have even had to shutter locations thanks to factors like supply chain issues, competition, and inflation. Those economic pressures can also cause a retailer to cut corners. They might reduce or overwork staff members, leading to burnout and resentment among employees. Products may linger on shelves too long, leading to expired goods being sold. And with the rise of chatbots and AI-based call centers, customers can often feel like they have little recourse when they encounter problems, leading to mounting frustration.

When such changes cause the quality of customer service to plummet, shoppers notice — and they're not afraid to be vocal about their negative experiences. This article will examine the lowest grocery-store performers in 2026, according to rankings from American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), as well as shopper reviews on Reddit, social media, and business review sites.

While these rankings reflect customers' overall experience with a brand, quality can vary greatly from location to location. Check your local grocer's reviews for more specific feedback.

Animosity for Giant Eagle runs deep in certain areas of the country. One Reddit post asking shoppers their reasons for this hatred racked up hundreds of passionate responses. Respondents cited everything from difficult parking lots and poor store layouts to long lines and empty shelves. Many other Redditors cited Giant Eagle's high prices. In comparison shops, other grocery store brands were found to be cheaper, so customers considered Giant Eagle not worth it.

In customer service, Facebook users complained of concerns such as security issues not being resolved when complaints were lodged. "You see managers walking around but never workers who can actually help you," they said. Others complained of a lack of customer service employees at the help desk. And when gaffes did happen in the store, Redditors complained of customer service not being able to resolve the issues, saying they got hung up on or received no follow-up on filed complaints.

Will Giant Eagle make a turnaround now that Kroger purchased the brand? In a press release from Kroger in July 2026, the Cincinnati-based grocery giant announced plans to acquire Giant Eagle. It lauded Giant Eagle as "a leading family-owned food and pharmacy retailer with approximately $9 billion in annual sales and 197 supermarkets and 11 standalone pharmacies across northern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana."

Of course, Kroger has faced its own customer service criticisms, and the acquisition will take a while, with the transaction expected to close in 2027.

Albertsons operates thousands of stores in numerous states, and its stores include Albertsons-branded locations, as well as 14 other brands: Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen, Carrs, Kings Food Markets, and Balducci's Food Lovers Market. Even that significant diversification couldn't keep them from a low ACSI score.

The low score may be related to the poor-quality produce and bread Reddit users report, including expired and moldy food items. Others point to high prices. And, upon complaining, customers on Reddit and Facebook found no recourse through customer service. Social media posts on Facebook from disgruntled workers citing poor treatment may be an underlying factor.

Pricing tactics have also been a well-publicized and ongoing issue for Albertsons brands. In April 2026, the Washington State Office of the Attorney General announced that the state was suing the company, charging that the "owner of Safeway, Albertsons, and Haggen grocery stores has overcharged Washington consumers in more than 3 million transactions over a five-year period through deceptive 'buy one get one free' deals."

The complaint charged that the stores were actually raising prices on goods before offering the BOGOs over a years-long period, October 2019 to May 2024, raking in as much as $19.7 million through the tactic. Albertsons had already paid $107 million to settle a 2016 class action lawsuit related to misleading BOGO promotions in Washington and Oregon. And when customer service doesn't help, customers are bound to get disgruntled.

Walmart is known for its huge selection of products, including new Walmart grocery releases, but it earned the third-lowest score in customer satisfaction from the ACSI. Shoppers on Quora complained about issues such as "missing shelf tags and signage... rotten produce and produce on the very edge of spoiling" and unhelpful clerks "that will flat out ignore you just standing there."

In fact, the complaint of unhelpful employees is a widespread issue, despite the store's "10 foot rule," which dictates that employees should greet any customer who's within 10 feet. But even employees on Reddit admit the rule hasn't gained much traction. It's no surprise that cries of incompetence from customers on Reddit targeted online customer service providers during delivery issues, while others noted a similarly poor experience when calling stores for help. The negative perceptions of Walmart are also related to its operations, goods sold, and even customers, as people online discuss.

If, in grocery stores, the customer experience often correlates to the treatment of employees, Hy-Vee's low ACSI ranking makes sense, since the company is now the target of a class-action lawsuit from managers claiming they didn't receive overtime payment. According to a June 2026 article in the Iowa Capital Dispatch, Hy-Vee oversees more than 240 retail locations across the Midwest, including Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The lawsuit alleges that department managers were required to work a minimum of 45 hours per week without receiving extra pay, though their work was similar to hourly wage workers — allegedly to cut corners on labor costs.

Such policies can affect the customer experience, and Hy-Vee does not fare well on review sites. On Trustpilot, the grocery chain maintains a low score, including predominantly 1-star reviews. In many of those, customers complained of shoddy food quality, lack of staff, and they noted these types of issues across the supermarket, from eggs and rib-eye to prepared foods and fresh vegetables.

Many complaints centered around bad customer service. One Reddit user received backup for their lament on rude workers. One corroborated Facebook post from an Iowa shopper vented her experience in-store with a rude checkout clerk. Other Redditors claimed that Hy-Vee was hiding negative feedback on sites like X and Facebook, which is frustrating for customers seeking justice.

While BJ's Wholesale Clubs offers some good deals in smaller packages (compared to other wholesale chains like Costco), customers have registered numerous complaints about the business. Shoppers contacting the Better Business Bureau about BJ's commonly reported hassles like memberships inappropriately charged, sold-out sales items due to low stock, and unreceived refunds even after settled disputes with customer service.

In recent years, there have been multiple customer reports complaining about unauthorized charges, including being charged for other customers' memberships, inability to renew their personal memberships, and increased prices for annual memberships. In some cases, these problems were compounded by being unable to settle the disputes or by lengthy processing times to receive their money back.

Any membership program adds another potential layer of difficulty to shoppers' transactions. But BJ's has been under fire for the general un-helpfulness of employees. "Customer service is horrible, supervisors are no help either," one customer complained on Reddit, with respondents sharing their similar woes. "Never had an experience where I am told incorrect information straight from customer service."

On one Reddit post, a shopper complained that the customer service experience created an endless loop of dissatisfaction, from the in-store customer service desk, the hotline support, and the chat support, each avenue sending them to a different unhelpful avenue. Other Redditors noted that calling corporate didn't resolve anything.

It's one of the oldest grocery stores in the United States, but Wegmans has taken a considerable slide downward in customer satisfaction rankings in recent years. As Rochester First reports, its ACSI score "fell 6% to 78, one of the sharpest declines among major supermarket chains measured in the ACSI Retail and Consumer Shipping Study 2026." This slip "places the Rochester-based grocer below the supermarket industry average and marks a shift for a brand long regarded for its strong customer loyalty and in-store experience."

What's behind the deterioration of this long-established grocer? Online, frustrated shoppers paint the picture. One Reddit user said they were frequently disappointed with the food quality, including the meats, fruits, vegetables, and packaged foods. They also called out the low quality foods for being too expensive. One respondent labeled Wegmans with a gourmet Walmart, while another lamented that, compared to 20 years ago, most customers weren't aware of the business' drop in quality.

When issues did arise, many customers were dissatisfied with Wegmans' handling of them. One Facebook user complained of customer service issues when shopping Wegmans with Instacart. And PissedConsumer shows that reviews flagged with "customer service" tell of improper attention to complaints, with some specifically calling out the major decline they've noticed over the years when shopping with this longtime brand.

Yelp reviews aren't encouraging for Save A Lot. Several shoppers complained of unsatisfactory levels of cleanliness and organization, as well as missing items — regarding both a lack of foods on the shelf as well as shopping carts being unavailable.

Sadly, this poor Yelp performance is actually an improvement over its low rating on Trustpilot, where customers register issues like expired foods and employees who have an unprofessional appearance and are also rude and disrespectful, offering poor customer service.

Many voiced concerns over expired and rotten foods — and noted a lack of professionalism when trying to receive a refund. One shopper on Trustpilot bought biscuits that tasted bad, which were expired by more than two weeks. When they tried to return or exchange them, they encountered an aggressive staff member who refused to perform the transaction. Another on Facebook also complained of not being able to make an exchange on expired food. While a few rogue employees don't represent an entire chain, the problem appears widespread: Another reviewer opined that the employees need to be trained in basic customer service skills.

Even more disturbing, Save A Lot stores have fallen victim to skimmer scams in multiple states, including New York and New Jersey, leading Facebook users to warn their credit cards or even EBT accounts could be at risk. Customers on Facebook shared concerns that the ensuing complaints were not being handled well by customer service.

Former employees who have shared their experiences on Reddit point to many behind-the-scenes operational changes at Meijer that can all have an impact on the customer experience. These include the elimination of service coordinators, reduced hours for staff members, and fewer baggers on hand to help customers checking out. Others complained of toxic workplace environments and called the situation a "workers' rights nightmare."

In fact, the brand found itself at the center of a media firestorm and viral social media attention (and not the good kind) when a video surfaced in 2025 that showed an employee, later identified as autistic, being arrested for stealing. NBC Chicago reports that the incident led to widespread Meijer boycott calls and an apology statement issued by the brand.

Behind-the-scenes problems can certainly factor into low customer satisfaction scores, such as the chain's low rating on Better Business Bureau (BBB). Customers overwhelmingly complained about the lack of customer service in the grocery store, with a litany of complaints — from employees chatting on personal phone calls to not receiving the correct discounts, incorrect prices, and an inability to solve issues with customer service or store representatives.

As one reviewer noted on BBB, "Meijer also has terrible customer service, both by phone AND in person at their Service Desk." On Reddit, customers complained of having to be "interrogated" when they reached out for help with customer service. On Facebook, shoppers bemoaned a lack of apology for inconveniences and no recourse for the incompetence of staff members.

Even while acquiring brands like Giant Eagle, Kroger has had its share of financial struggles, including closing 60 stores across the U.S. in 2025. The chain expressed intentions for reinvesting the money saved by these closures, which equated to 2% of the company's locations, into "boosting [the] customer experience," according to USA Today.

That might be a good move, as some of the chain's customer service gaffes and controversies have been elevated to mainstream media coverage and exposés. In 2025, The Sun reported on an X user expressing frustration over pricing on the shelves not matching the amount charged at the register. The customer called out this problem as a repeat offense, saying, that they had just been overcharged on sale items that rang up full-price, for the 10th time when shopping Kroger.

And this complaint is far from a one-off mistake, according to a bombshell September 2026 report from the Center for Responsible Food Business (CRFB). The organization announced that "government inspectors found overcharging at more than one in three Kroger stores examined across nine Ohio jurisdictions... Pricing errors favored Kroger nearly three times as often as they favored shoppers."

Unsurprisingly, Reddit users have noted a decline in customer service at the chain. Shoppers citing customer service issues on PissedConsumer noted a lack of help in-store and rude employees. Some even called trying to get customer service a waste of time. This was echoed on Facebook posts, where shoppers noted lengthy resolutions for errors they reported.

The parent company of Stop & Shop and Food Lion, plus more than a dozen other brands, Ahold Delhaize touts itself as one of the world's largest food retail groups. But that doesn't prevent it from  drumming up unsatisfied customers.

For example, Trustpilot has recorded numerous complaints about issues such as Food Lion's poor-quality food items, a lack of human cashiers as self-service checkouts take over, and even too few organic and gluten-free options. "I hate shopping my local Food Lion," said one complaint that echoed others' gripes. "It is always out of stock on key produce... and they are very slow — both in re-supply and in check out. They are always understaffed and half the checkout lines are closed." The grocer has an abysmal score across all reviews on that site. In-store, Facebook posts complained of being ignored by staff, while others claimed they were disrespected and even asked Avvo if they could sue for being threatened by an employee.

Meanwhile, at sister brand Stop & Shop, cited as one of the worst-value grocery stores, customers lodged complaints on Reddit of issues such as the poor design of everything from its website to its parking lots. But perhaps the highest-ranking hated aspect of the brand was its self checkout stations, which decimate the customer experience. One generously upvoted comment claimed, "The self checkouts are going to cause a riot someday, I swear." Unfortunately, home deliveries were also the source of customer service complaints, according to Reddit users.

Many factors impact the grocery store customer experience, from employee friendliness to cleanliness to operational processes. According to "Grocery Store Customer Experience: A Brief Insight," a report by Intouch Insight (a customer experience solutions provider), numerous factors have been shown to affect shoppers' impressions of customer service within the grocery store setting.

Key factors include staff interactions (being greeted, helped in-store, and thanked for their business), as well as operations (cleanliness, damaged and expired products, and safety hazards). Today's shoppers also expect the seamless integration of modern perks designed to make their life easier and save money in tough economic times. These considerations can include ease of online shopping, curbside pickup, mobile apps, and loyalty programs.

Intouch Insight notes in its report that many factors go into the customer service experience: warm interactions, helpful staff, fresh products, and great services, for example. But these are just some pieces of the overall customer service puzzle. Things like operational improvements, optimized processes and engaged employees all help contribute to creating better experiences for customers, which then translates into customer loyalty and higher rankings on review sites.

The above list of grocery store chains with the worst customer service includes the bottom 10 performers in customer satisfaction, according to rankings from the 2026 American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Reviews online were also consulted to determine the specific issues that cropped up repeatedly in customer reviews.