Safeway

Customer service really needs improvement. The pharmacy offers the best service on the store.

Ever since Albertsons (Lucky) merged with Safeway the quality of customer service and number of checkers has plummeted. It has never been worse. And the prices are higher than ever.

This is the worst Safeway I’ve been to and the irony is I shop at it almost weekly because of its proximity to where I live. The staff is non existent other than the few checkers they have. The Safeway brand products are frequently out of stock. I’ve complained about this to the manager several times as other friends of mine have, no change ever. The lines to check out all all hours are super long due to never having more than 3 lanes open.
For being in an affluent area it’s a joke that Safeway managers and corporate just don’t seem to care about this store.

This Safeway is like the DMV of Marin supermarkets. I know that sounds pretty harsh, but the only folks unhappier than the shoppers waiting in line are the folks who work here.
I used to think the other Mill Valley Safeway was bad, but boy was I wrong. The only positives I can find at this location are 1) there’s plenty of free parking and 2) my Safeway card gets me discounts on select items. But I’m beginning to realize that the money I save on groceries from my loyalty card isn’t worth the time I lose just waiting in line here. No matter what time of day I shop at this Safeway or the other M. Valley location, I always wind up waiting 10 – 20 minutes in line to check out (whether it’s for 2 items or 20). What makes it more painful is the giant 3’s a Crowd sign that looms overhead (wherein they falsely promise to open up another check-​stand in the event that there are more than 3 people waiting in line). This morning there were only two check-​stands open and at least 7 or 8 people waiting with full carts of groceries in each line. I saw several employees who just seemed to be walking around the store (not really doing much), and not one of them stepped up to open a new check-​stand.
I really don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer or Negative Nancy, but I’m writing this review with the hope that someone at Safeway corporate recognizes that this particular store has a 2-​star average Unilocal rating (that’s really not good). Needless to say, the customers aren’t happy here, and perhaps something should be done to improve the shopper experience.
While I’m not a huge fan of spending my whole paycheck at Whole Foods Market down the road, I’d still much rather pay a little extra money for a faster, more pleasant shopping experience.

4 ½ Stars
This Safeway has nearly all 1 and 2 star Unilocal reviews across the board.
I have been shopping at Safeway’s for five decades (including going with my parents as a child). I remember how «economical» and downscale they once were. I’ve seen their dramatic improvement over this time period.
Safeway has become a nationwide, corporate behemoth in the past 25 years. This definitely speaks to the success of the Safeway model which, like I said, had humble beginnings here in the SF Bay Area.
My last local Safeway was in the Rincon Valley area of Santa Rosa. That Safeway had better Unilocal reviews. I would give that Safeway 4 ½ stars.
I am on the border with giving this Mill Valley Safeway 5 stars or not.
The reason is I just moved to Muir Beach and have not shopped here that much yet. I definitely prefer Whole Foods Market down the street where I used to shop exclusively when I last lived in the Tennessee Valley part of Mill Valley years ago.
It makes me sad that the extravagance, abundance of luxurious displays, and clearly upscale volume and selection of items here goes unappreciated from most other reviewers. This Safeway — like many Safeway’s in affluent cities — is impressive.
I cannot speak to the numerous complaints and unpleasant customer service cited from others. That is not my experience. But, I am extremely patient and understanding of people in general.
The prices here are better than Whole Foods Market, obviously. The produce and deli are probably not as good as Whole Foods, but Safeway is truly a «super market.» You don’t really need to go a Trader Joe’s, Target, Costco, or drugstore chain store because Safeway has it all.
This Safeway, like my previous Safeway in Rincon Valley, is huge. Shopping here reminds me of Home Depot because of the endless aisles and dizzying amount of available products. But, the lighting is gentler and the carefully designed product displays are definitely nicer than a Home Depot! Wink.
Frankly, I am impressed with the appearance of this Safeway and what Safeway has become. I respect the other reviews and the negative experiences related in them. Fortunately, my experiences are noticeably more positive. .. and for that I am grateful.
Review 0161
Feel.

The management of this store is absolutely abominable, though the people who work there are friendly and hardworking. The main problem is at the check out counters. There are simply not enough of them open at any given time. Safeway must lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in frustrated customers in order to save a few cents on hiring enough staff to solve this problem.
Bob O

Nice people here who don’t usually make or eat sandwiches, at least that’s my guess. Just awful product. I guess they are used to serving the high school kids which leaves the rest of us to go elsewhere…

I came to this Safeway simply because I didn’t believe there could be any worse Safeway than the one located at Strawberry Village. I was wrong.
I should have listened to the many reviews on Unilocal warning me to stay away from this place. But, alas, I was young and naïve, and I thought I knew better. If only I had listened, I could have saved so much precious time.
This Safeway is every bit as slow as the Strawberry Village location. However, this location has far less traffic than Strawberry Village, so how they manage to be equally slow is a great mystery. The biggest difference between the two locations is the size. This is a very small grocery store with a very minimal selection. I had to leave and go to another store to purchase about a third of my grocery list, because they either didn’t have what I needed or it was of terribly poor quality.
Do yourself a favor. Listen to the collective voice of Unilocalers and go to a different store. This is a 2 star location at best.

Worst Safeway ever!
This is the closest Safeway to my home, yet I avoid shopping here like the plague. Why, you ask? Because this Safeway provides the worst customer experience possible. They never staff their check stands. Even though they have several check stands, most of the time only one or two are open at a time — even when the store is crowded. I’ve never seen them open check stands even when there are lines stretching down the aisles — customers just have to wait. Other stores call for more staff when this happens.
I don’t shop at Safeway often, but when I do, I drive to Strawberry since the manager there understands customer service.

About bakery: so I called them to order a cake and when I picked up the cake I was disappointed. I spoke to the baker over the phone, I specified I round cake, told him the name on it (boy) and asked for a dinosaur design which of course he said no. I felt like they don’t even care. Like he was brushing me off and like he wasn’t listening. I should of went with my feeling because when I got there the cake was a SQUARE sheet. And it had PINK BALLOONS. He said he would fix but u could still see the pink frosting. I didn’t even mention the shape and to top it off he was like u never said a name. Which shouldn’t even matter he should’ve asked or not put anything on the cake until I got there. Anyway the cake itself tasted good. I was really sad that HE didn’t listen to the customer nor care. I would say be really clear about what u want and if possible go in person and make sure u repeat what u want to them to be sure ur getting what u asked for.

Walking into this Safeway is like time travel back to 1980. It is the worst large/​national chain store I have ever been in… hands down. There is no direct competition in the market (I don’t consider Whole Foods a direct competitor) and it shows. When I first moved to MV… I kept thinking… there has to be a nice full-​service grocer around here… I just haven’t found it… nope. I NEVER complete my entire order when shopping there as they are always out of something. It’s unbelievable to me that a town like Mill Valley doesn’t have 2 or 3 main-​line grocers beating each other up over price, quality, service, and selection… aka 4 things this Safeway does not offer. 2 stars because… although understaffed… the employees are always friendly.

Employees somewhat friendly, everything else very mediocre. Not a good value, very few organic options, parking lot full of trash. The wait at the checkout can be forever at any time of day. Do yourself a favor and go to Whole Foods or Mill Valley Market instead.

I shop for most things at Whole Foods and tend to only visit Safeway for cleaning supplies and wine during their wine sales as 40% off with a Safeway card is pretty hard to beat. But don’t go there looking for wine advice as the staff are pretty clueless.
They have a small but decent selection of organic fruit at much lower prices than Whole Foods.
The lines are always horribly long, and as someone else pointed out, the place can be mobbed with Tam students if you happen to go around lunch time. Despite the slow service, the checkout staff are all very nice and thank you by name.

Saying goodbye to my old chum Safeway…
I have a push pull relationship with the Safeway. As my debt rises with my Whole Foods grocery bill, so too does my forgiveness of Safeway’s chronic understaffing. Back again at the Safeway, I remember… long, long lines and serious cart-​jams during the evening rush hour… last night there were two checkers and one was an assistant manager (this is an improvement, usually they are in the office while the workers take the venom of the Marin entitlement crowd, self included). After what seemed to be 30 minutes in line, the gentleman behind me mentioned politely to the asst manager that he appreciated her hard work but it seemed there was a staffing issue. The assistant manager, who was not at all snarly about it, disagreed that there was a staffing problem and told us that her staffing coordinator was excellent and that they had no problem it was just that it was the change of shift and someone went on break. Ok, said I, if you are a patient and I am a nurse, perhaps you will accept the same explanation when you are in pain and there is a shortage of staff. She was a lovely woman but honestly if this is the kind of explanation I get from management staff when I am monumentally inconvenienced and the lines are halfway to the meat department then I see that this store is hopelessly doomed. What would it have taken for her to demonstrate empathy much less respond like a manager? When I suggested that management consider adjusting its shift change so that it does not coincide with the influx of rush hour shoppers she was dismissive (albeit kindly so) and reiterated it is not a problem.
Hello. It’s not like Safeway is a struggling small business we need to support through the rough spots…
Where then, to shop? Get a second job so I can afford groceries at Whole Foods? Paradise Market? OMG NO. Safeway Strawberry? Same problem. Me thinks Rainbow Co-​Op in the Mission on my way home from SF after work is the best idea, resurrected from habits of old…
So long, old chum.
PS I will surely miss the WONDERFUL deli staff… when i can get their attention for service (a feat unlike no other… they are made to do impossible multitasking in that department) I generally have a wonderful experience for there is a woman who puts her Southern stamp of approval on many a deli item for me and she is always right.

Our community would be better served if this location closes, to put in a Trader Joes. Otherwise it might help to upgrade the checkers and put in some self scanning check out stations. The checkers are few and bad currently, an unattractive combination, to be sure. The lines and service are horrible. I routinely drive the extra 5 – 10 minutes each way to go to the Strawberry Safeway location instead. DMV lines are far more pleasant and efficient than the Camino Alto Safeway store check out process.

Bait and Switch Alert… Bait and Switch Alert.
According to the Sunday Supplement (Sunday November 2014) you could a 24 pound turkey with the purchase of $ 25.00 in groceries.
You get to the and NO 24 Pound Turkeys. Over 24 Pound Turkey… yes. but no 24 Pound Turkeys for sale at all
Bait and Switch Alert… Bait and Switch Alert

Just walked out of the store empty handed after asking for 20 mins for someone to get us a cake out of the bakery. I’m not even sure why they couldn’t help us considering there was nobody in the store. The workers seemed frazzled and overwhelmed even though it was empty. We actually spoke to four different employees including the manager who were incapable of completing this simple task. As we were walking out the manager mumbled that she’d help us after she closed her register but she was the first person called to help us 20 mins earlier. So if you feel like you’re going to need to interact with any of the employees please avoid the Safeway as they’re all incapable of answering basic questions. There was one frazzled lady with dark long frizzy hair whose job was apparently to fold grocery bags and when we went to her she just turned her back to us and kept folding the bags and mumbling under her breath. What a surreal experience.

This might be the slowest Safeway in the world. If not, it would certainly qualify for the final round.
That said, the staff are almost always incredibly nice and the services is excellent. It’s smaller than the one in Strawberry.
Beware if you’re going around lunch time during the school year: hordes of students from Tam Valley High across the street descend and mob the deli counter and (the ironically named) express check-​out. (They also swarm the nearby Starbucks.) Luckily, most of the kids are polite!

Why would anyone shop here? Expensive. Bad produce. Bad meat dept. Just yuk.
I picked up many items in the produce department and would never buy them. I picked up two items that were soft and rotten and got disgusting goo on my hands.
I bought a pork roast that was in a plastic wrapper and it smelled when i opened it.
You can tell by looking around in the produce department that they just don’t care.

Crazy during lunch time.
I ate their fried chicken by accident — seriously
It was in an un-​labled bucket at school and well
I ate it
a piece
asked
and from Safeway
not bad
won’t do it again though
chicken snob
I like it
free
range
don’t hate