I have been going to Sunset Foods in Northbrook for decades. I used to go there 3 times a week so that the seafood and meats I bought would not need to be re-frozen. After we moved to the other side of the same town, and then later the pandemic hit, I don't go so often anymore. Their prices are usually higher than the other newer and bigger grocery stores, but I still go for their seafood, meats, and some other things.
Yesterday was the day that I checked in with Yelp and was ready to write Sunset Foods in Northbrook a review after so many visits, however, if I base the review on yesterday's experience, I would have given it one star (or no star if I could)! They had set up a new self-checkout area last Spring, and I love using self-checkout. Why? I prefer fewer numbers of hands touching my merchandise, especially the cashiers' hands that have constantly handled money and credit cards from customers in the pandemic. They have a "15 items limit" sign at the self-checkout, but whenever I went, the whole area was never busy, and I have never seen a line. I had gone over 15 items before, but it was never a problem until yesterday! The self-checkout was also basically empty, with only 1 out of 5 stations being used, so I thought it would not bother anyone, and went ahead to use the self-checkout even though this time I had more than 15 items. When I was all done and keying in my cell phone number to sign in their "loyalty program" (just one step before payment), an old man who had not worked at that area before came over to interrupt me. He told me in a stern manner that I would have to use a cashier next time! At that time, the whole self-checkout area was empty. (As a matter of fact, the whole store was not busy this evening). I answered him nicely, "Okay, no problems." That should have been the end to this incident. However, he said condescendingly, "It's not no problems, it's a big problem, we cannot have big orders here", then he went on to repeat himself that I would have to use a cashier next time, he repeated 5 to 6 times! He wanted me to go to his monitor to see, and then he came back to tell me that he needed to make sure that I had checked the orange juice. This was not acceptable to me, I had checked everything, they were all in bags, and the total was over $250, just the Chilean sea bass was already over $50, was I going to steal a $5 bottle of orange juice? No matter what I said, he argued back, and lied in my face that the area had five other people, was he seeing ghosts? Even though I hated to make a scene, I had to point out to him that this was not the way to treat their loyal customer, and he had been condescending to me. He said he wasn't. Phil (the name on his shirt), you are not the one to determine whether you are condescending or not, it's the person at the receiving end who feels the hurt and humiliation does the determination! And I told him that! I didn't understand why he wouldn't stop and continue to act like I have committed a crime or at least a huge mistake! (Hope that this was not because I am a petite Asian woman! It would have made it even more unacceptable!) I had to tell him to stop and not to waste my time! Before I left, I had reported briefly to Kathy at the Customer Service, she assured me that she would tell Charlie, the manager, who was not around at the time.
Why do I still give Sunset Foods 3 stars? Because they have a 5-star seafood department that I keep returning to, and there are other professional and courteous staff there. Their seafood is better than most grocery stores, and they have a good variety. Luis, the department head, is always fun, super friendly, and very helpful. I knew him for many years. I can trust him so much that I just call him ahead of time to order the seafood that I want. Each time I regularly purchase Chilean sea bass, organic salmon, sea scallops, sometimes shrimp, and yesterday also lobster tails. Luis always gives me the best cut of fish and seafood, he knows exactly what I want, and have them shrink-wrapped the day I pick them up. It saves me a lot of time. The 2 young guys Kaydon and Aydan (not sure about the spelling) of the department are very friendly too. When they spot me in the store, they would go to the fridge room to get my tray of orders immediately, and "special deliver" them to my shopping cart! Hector was also very helpful, but he had switched to part-time and might have left.
Charlie, one of the managers, is always very helpful, friendly, professional, and accommodating as well. So are Bruce, another manager, and Kathy at the CS desk. Andy of the produce department is also very friendly and says Hi to me every time he sees me. I will still shop at Sunset Foods, but will avoid Phil at all costs, so as to avoid unnecessary confrontation causing my blood pressure to drastically rise again! That episode was shocking, upsetting, and totally unnecessary! It still bothers me. read more