Harris Teeter Grocery Stores – Where a Money Back Guarantee Really Means Something
June 2nd, 2010 Categories: Alexandria
We have been grocery shopping a lot at the Harris Teeter in Crystal City. Virginia especially likes it because it is just a block from her work, the underground parking is easy (and great in bad weather) and they have good weekly specials.
Today though we found that a Harris Teeter money back guarantee really means something.
The Harris Teeter chain came to the Northern Virginia area from North Carolina. W.T. Harris opened his first store in 1936 in Charlotte, NC. In 1949 he opened his first supermarket and was considered a pioneer in the industry because his store had air-conditioning and stayed open until 9:00pm on Friday nights!
In 1939 a Willis L. Teeter opened a grocery in Mooresville, NC and, well, you can see where this story is going. The two companies first combined efforts in 1958 and the first official “Harris Teeter” opened in 1960 in Kannapolis, NC.
Today there are almost 200 stores across the southeast with a significant incursion into Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. In store features include sushi bars, cafes, gourmet delis, large wine departments and some have pharmacies.
But back to the reason for this post – We’ve always been impressed by the service at Harris Teeter but today’s experience tops the scale.
Yesterday Virginia bought some fresh corn salsa at the deli counter to have with our dinner. Now I will eat almost anything and we both like highly seasoned foods but this item had so much onion and garlic that it was literally inedible.
Luckily Virginia still had her receipt and she decided to go back and speak with the store manager today.
There was no hesitation, no quibble, just an apology. As the manager started to count out her refund, Virginia said, “I think you are giving me too much.” “No” the manager said, “Harris Teeter stands behind its products and because this was a fresh food item, we give you double your money back!”
No wonder Harris Teeter has such a loyal following, it’s a place where customer service and a money back guarantee really mean something.
Michael
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