Safeway

There is a reason that EVERY Safeway location in the northern va area get such LOW reviews. They run a terrible business model among some of the very BEST grocers who run SUPERIOR stores with FAR LOWER prices such as Wegman’s. Others offer superior stores, but at average pricing such as Giant, Food Lion, and Harris Teeter.
A smart consumer shops between 3 stores, keeping a NOTEBOOK of the price, size by ounce-​weight-​portion.
Keeping such a list can save a household $ 1500 to over $ 2000 a year!
By far, Wegman’s offers the LOWEST overall prices.

I am so unbelievably angry right now. I want all Unilocaler’s to be aware of what happened to me at the pharmacy so please read…
I have been using this Safeway Pharmacy for 16 years without any problems. Actually, Michael the pharmacist is AWESOME. This time however there was a new gentleman of middle eastern background (I am sorry I didn’t catch his name) working as the pharmacist. I dropped off my script with him and told him I’d return tomorrow. He asked me to wait a second. 30 seconds later he hands me my script back and tells me I can’t fill this for 10 days! I politely tell him that today is the 25^th day of the previous prescription, this is the day my insurance will pay for it and I usually fill a little earlier than day 30 if I have a busy work schedule coming up. He then prints a sheet of paper and tells me that last month I filled 10 days early and can’t I see the dates. At this point I am stunned by his rudeness and I explain that I CANNOT fill earlier then 25 days or the insurance won’t pay (this is a $ 600 medication) and his «paper» shows that it was covered by insurance and the date range doesn’t reflect what he is saying. He just kept saying over and over come back in 10 days and I kept telling him in FOUR days I’ll be OUT of medication so what is he talking about. At this time he prints my refill history for 6 months and keeps pointing out dates. He says that I filled on August 5^th then filled again on September 1^st and that was 5 days early. I corrected him and explained that if he cared to look at the calendar that he would see that August 5^th to September 1^st is 28 days. I finally gave up trying to reason with him and left. The next day I went to a different pharmacy and surprise, surprise, they filled it without a single issue.
Here is my question… If my doctor gives me the prescription, my insurance will fill the prescription, and I am within a couple days of running out of medication, why is the pharmacist even giving anyone this level of grief? I am truly disgusted with the entire experience and I can’t believe Safeway would appreciate a customer of 16 years being driven out of their store straight into the pocket of a rival pharmacy/​grocery store chain.

Safeway is always a reliable grocery store for me and it’s not to far from home if I just need to run and pick up something. As far as item selection it tends to do quite well in that area also. I’ve been shopping here for a long time it’s clean, the staff is friendly, and I generally always find what I’m looking for when I come. So I don’t have anything negative to complain about. Other than sometimes they don’t seem to have enough people at checkout but I will be honest I always have an uncanny knack for finding the slowest line at the grocery store. This evening was no different. I’ve just learned to accept this flaw of mine and warn others who go grocery shopping with me that they should perhaps choose the check out line since I don’t have much luck.

Starbucks and Safeway: 2 Stars Starbucks/​3 Stars Safeway. I’m aware the young white guy working there is autistic and can’t help but repeat long quotes, I’m no expert but I could gather that and that’s fine, I applaud Starbucks for having him as an employee! I ordered a green tea today and saw the register tell me I ordered Starbucks Majahava or something spelled like that. I asked and she said that’s just the kind of Teavana they use. I accepted my tall tea and then noticed it tasted different, I dismissed it as I know it’s hard to find plain green tea with no infusions these days. Turns out it’s straight up mint tea. «Teavana Mint Majesty» the girl had even double cupped my tall tea and tucked the label of the tea bag into the bottom cup. Perhaps in an attempt to hide it? LOL. I know I’m being atrocious by complaining, but if I pay $ 2.40 something for a green tea, I want my dang green tea. Thank you.
Safeway: clean, nicely stocked. Checked out lunch area and salad area looked delicious and clean.

I have to agree with the other Unilocalers here and keep this at 2 stars.
We came in to grab some fried chicken and a side for lunch. Chicken looked o. k but all the sides looked like they had been sitting for a day or two. Not just today. Someone should at least take a utensil and move them around every two hours to keep them at least looking fresh. I swear the container of meat at the sandwich making counter looked like it had flecks of white mold growing on it. But hey, let’s say we did want to eat that… Would we get it ouselves? Is this self serve? Cuz we hung out there pointing and discussing the food for quite and while and no one ever came to us to ask if we needed anything. As a matter of fact, I didn’t see anyone back there at all. Wasn’t like we were being ignored… There was just no one there.
–On a positive note, I thought the bakery section looked delightful. Too bad I don’t indulge in many sweets.

Former Safeway Employee
There’s a reason this store has a low rating, but as a former employee at this store in Sterling, I should warn you about what you don’t see.
1. The Starbucks was almost shut down twice for leakages. There have been several problems with the cooling in their refrigerator, but they still sold their drinks. They wouldn’t have told the customers. One day I came in (after I quit) to check out at Starbucks (which you can do) I noticed a bug flying around in the container. Landing on the food. I pointed it out to the girl behind the counter. The responds I got «Yeah… He’s been in there all day.» WTF
2. That rack you see in the back near the pharmacy, don’t buy anything sitting on that shelf. When speaking to customers, managers refer to it as «the discount rack». When they spoke to us, it was «the damaged rack». Everything on that shelf is there for a reason. I always wondered who in their right minds placed half empty alcohol bottles on there
3. The frozen section. When you see yellow covers under the doors, that means there’s a leakage.
4. The produce section. I can’t stress this enough DO NOT BUY FROM THE PRODUCE SECTION. They have people working in the back that are sick and were forced to come in. I saw an employee in the back coughing and sneezing shucking corn. He was trying his best to cover his mouth and avoid contaminating the food, but you DONT make sick people work and handle the produce that people eat. I looked in the trash can to see a mixture of discarded corn and vomit.
5. The rice. One of the grossest things I’ve seen at that store. One day a customer brought back a bad of white rice for having «little brown dots» in them. There were bugs in the rice. Crawling around and pooping in the bags of rice. A manager told me to look through the rice section for bugs. I told the manager that I’d have to pull down the entire section to check so nobody would buy them before I got the chance to look. The manager wouldn’t let me because of «sales». My hands were tied. As I was looking through, an old woman walked up with what appeared to be her granddaughter. A small child. They were looking at a section that i hadn’t gotten to yet. In a panic I picked up a bag of rice and began to say to myself «anything in here? … Good enough» and put it back on the shelf with them watching. They left without rice (; who knows what else has bugs in it?
6. The managers are just unpleasant unfriendly people. They have no regard for helping customers. I’ve heard several complaints from customers about managers. They won’t help you. They aren’t concerned with helping you. They’re only concerned with smoking cigarettes and vaping outside the store while drinking their Starbucks.
7. The pharmacy. Not to mention that the pharmacists don’t know where anything is and offer little to no help. Probably the slowest workers throughout the entire store.
Just do yourself a favor. Go somewhere else.

Every time I come in this Safeway, they never have enough cashiers … It takes longer to check out than to shop. Happens every time during lunch. Manager have backup for lunch

Dirty, slow, and unfortunately very convenient. I keep coming back here because it is so close to home. As was stated before, check the dates on what you are buying. This could be the most poorly managed store in the Safeway chain. I love shopping at Safeway, but this place is the pits. Bad, bad, bad…

This place is good for just a quick pick up of one thing or two but the Starbucks store here need some real help, there seems to be something going on every time I have come in, ether new employees who do not know how to make drinks and give you an attitude when you ask them to remake them, or the manager leaving the area with no barista because he wants to go outside to smoke a cigarette, or the guy who moves so slow while talking to himself and acting like he is performing on a kind of play? This behavior is both rude and uncomfortable, and I have seen him speaking normally with other people so I know he can control it, why his managers would allow him to make everyone uncomfortable I cannot understand. Today is the last time I will ever come here, since this place is only 2 mins away from my house and I was running late I decided to just grab my coffee and go, after waiting in line for 25 mins, the guy still missed my extra shot of espresso because he was too busy performing his bizarre play and talking over me while I was putting my order in. I will just drive to other area Starbucks instead, if I’m going to be late anyways might as well get my drink correctly prepared by professionals who know how to provide good customer service.

Apparently a Venti Starbucks Doubleshot is simply 2 shots of espresso in a venti cup…
How stupid do you have to be? Even after I Google and found the Starbucks recipe book and explained how to make it the language barrier made it impossible.

I don’t even want to check in here… Store is dirty and unorganized, produce isn’t stocked properly, managers don’t care for cleanliness or employees refusing to work.
Starbucks in store is never staffed, expect to wait 10 minutes for service by someone who doesn’t know how to make any of the drinks.
Horrible place to shop, how does corporate not step in?

I had only been to this store once before this trip (closer to a year ago), and the last time it was one star. Today, I was wowed. The store is big, bright and beautiful. The produce selection and meat sections were very impressive. The staff was friendly and helpful. It is now a grocery store that home cooks can get great, fresh, high quality ingredients from. I was especially impressed by the butcher case. The meat cutter knows his craft well. For people looking for wick and easy there is plenty of pre-​made stuff too for non cooks as well. Nice beer and wine selection as well. I will be back.

I don’t understand why people are complaining about this place. Been here more than a dozen times altho I didn’t check in all the time. Staff are all friendly helpful and fast service. Place is clean. Some prices are higher than the other markets, but they have everything I need and always fresh.

If I could give this place a 0 star, I would. The service is pathetic. They might as well not have people to «help» you. The store is very dark and their prices never match. I would NOT recommend this place. Good luck if you go there.

I work just up the street from this location, so I thought it would be a convenient healthier option for lunch. Several visits have been rewarded with expired food and bad customer service. Expired hummus, salad mix, dry carrots, and old fruit is a norm at this place.
Guess I’ll try the Food Lion in the same shopping center.

This review is for the Safeway in Countryside, I didn’t find a Unilocal site for that store. I tried to do no stars, but it wouldn’t let me. Anyway, I used to order birthday cakes from here bc they were always good and fresh. You could also order small bday cakes decorated from the wedding cake book pics, much more tasteful than the tacky typical bday cakes. I stopped ordering for a couple years bc it became impossible to communicate with the bakery employees bc they spoke very little English (I had to find a cake in the case to physically show the woman what color bright pink was bc she didn’t understand). Well, I thought I’d give it another try and what a disappointment! The girl who took my order (English was her first language) asked what flavor I wanted the «bread» part. I asked if she meant the cake flavor and she said no, the bread part of the cake. I should’ve ran then. I made some simple changes from the picture in the book, white background as opposed to pink and ordered it double layer (was a ¼ sheet cake). My husband brought home a pink cake w the sloppiest icing and decorating I have ever seen. Some areas you could see the choc cake through, and there were crumbs iced over on top. The scroll work was a mess and was white instead of brown. It was so thin I doubted it was double layer, but it was, though it appeared to be a single layer cut into two. And it was basically frozen. So much for a fresh custom cake. I was too angry to take it back, not wanting to be the lady throwing a fit, so called customer service. A manager wasn’t there, of course. The guy mumbled an apology, said he’d tell management. No offer of a refund, no offer to switch it out for a ready made cake. He didn’t even take my name/​number to pass on to the manager until I told him to.
The store used to be a great little store, but along w the now sad bakery, the store in general has gone to crap. As other reviewers have said, I’ve found very expired items and the seafood section is the first strong, nasty smell you’re hit with upon entering. Time to go back to giant and wegmans for groceries and Harris Teeter for cakes. Always fresh, beautiful and orders taken by people who don’t call the cake the «bread part».

This store is the worst supermarket in northern Virginia.
I don’t understand why they feel they can just leave rotting produce out proudly displayed for sale? Why is it they have products on their shelves *years* past their expiration dates.
Every single time I come here, which is only when I am in a hurry — desperate to save a 20 minute drive to Wegman’s and back — I leave without what I came for. On the rare occasion I manage to make it into the too-​long line at the single open register, I get some time bonding with my fellow man, as we together goggle at the complete and utter incompetence of the management of this store.
I’m amazed they did just spend a bunch of money remodeling this store — changing the regular white tiles to faux-​wood tiles. Why? The seafood department is contemptable for their complete lack of knowledge of anything having to do with food. The meat department doesn’t even label the meat with its USDA grade. (This is because the consumer is, largely, too stupid to notice) so they get away with selling «select» grade meat where most stores still offer the next grade up, «choice.» There’s no legal requirement to display the grade.) Of course when I mentioned this to the «butcher» on premises, she had no idea and was fascinated by the idea.
I could go on but life is too short. Your store is really, really awful. Every experience there is a painful one. I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate this store. How are you able to generate such avarice with simple incompetence? I’ll tell you — because you’re taking up space where a competent grocer could be, helping my family by being there with quality products for reasonable prices. Please go away and let someone else take that spot. You can’t possibly be profitable there. Go away and let a good grocer move in.
By the way I just dropped a note to the health department about the sheer number of expired goods you sell. They said you fall under the regulations of the Loudoun Department of Agriculture, not Health — but that they would forward my note to the appropriate people. I hope they give you a good thorough inspection.

Stopped by Safeway to stock up on local Virginia beer. Their selection was quite poor compared to other local supermarkets I have been to around the country. Ended up getting a 6 pack of Devils Backbone Brewing Company 8 Point IPA.

I went here to get some balloons filled, there was no one working in the section so I asked the customer service desk if they could send someone to help me. She told me yes and I went back and waited, no one came over. After about 5 minutes I went back and she said she was calling someone. No one ever came, when I went back to ask the manager was there and said he didn’t know where they are and I would have to come back later. WTF? I will not go back for anything, I was a bit taken back that it was even the manager that told me that.

I don’t — and never have — used Safeway as my main supermarket. This is for many reasons — which I will get to in this review.
I would only stop into the old Safeway location (where Big Lots is now) from time to time to pick up some last minute items, since I used to work nearby. When they moved to this current location, I began to go in more frequently because I was able to do my banking there. So… I figured when I was there, I could always pick up a few things.
The pros and cons:
The deli offers up a good selection of made to order sandwiches. However, depending on who is making your sandwich, you could end up with the wrong sandwich or a poorly made one. Since the sandwich is made right in front of you, you can speak up if it is being made incorrectly.
Their house brands seem to be poor quality. I’m referring to canned goods and pastas, mostly. Yes, house brands are cheaper but, IMO, it’s not worth buying them if the quality is sub par.
The place is often understaffed. This was the case when the economy was doing great, as well as now. Many times the manager has to start ringing up customers meaning that no one is attending the customer service desk.
At one time, this Safeway had lots of cashiers that were long-​time employees. It was nice to shop and see familiar faces who got to know you and took the time to chat with you. Many of these people have now retired. While the vast majority of the newer staff is friendly, there isn’t much effort to make a personal connection. Also, it seems that the best of the bunch seem to move on. For example, there once was a lady who worked in the bakery that was friendly and would go the extra mile for you. I miss seeing her there. Once I even told the then manager about how good a worker she was.
Speaking of managers — recently this store seems to have a high turnover of managers, which has me wondering why…
Safeway, in general, is sleazy when it comes to offering items on sale. Many times I will pick up something to buy because it is supposedly on sale. For example, a sign by the Pepsi will say $ 1.99 for a 12-​pack. You pick it up, take it to the register and are charged full price. When you question the cashier, it turns out that it is only $ 1.99 if you buy 5! This is only mentioned in the weekly flyer — not on the sign in the store — or if it is on the sign, it is in small print. I once picked up some produce that had a sign saying «buy one get one free». I checked — the sign said it was for that particular item. However, when it rang up — it seemed it wasn’t but for something similar. Thus, I don’t trust their so-​called «sales». Other supermarket chains are much more honest and straightforward when it comes to sale items.
On the positive side, Safeway has received kudos for carrying a good number of «healthy» food items. This is true — they often have a better frozen selection of Amy’s products than other stores.
Another thing I like — they have a great selection of gift cards. This was very helpful to me at Christmas time, as I was able to do much of my gift shopping there LOL!
Lastly (and to be fair, this sometimes happens in other chains), you really have to read the expiration labels on items. This week I popped in to buy some soy milk for a recipe. When I got one and was ready to use it — I discovered it had expired 2 months ago! I took it back to the store and got a refund. I asked the manager if anyone ever checked these things. He said that an outside company sends in people who are supposed to do this. Obviously, they weren’t doing their job and no one at Safeway was checking this.