Waitrose & Partners Harpenden

This is a moderately-sized but tired-looking Waitrose store, with items randomly located and pushed into small areas. It could do with a renovation befitting the pretty town in which it's located.

Parking was an issue but the store itself is fine. Not the biggest of stores but has a good selection and staff are helpful.

Medium sized Waitrose with free parking. Delicatessen, meat, fish and sushi counters. Small alcohol and bakery section.

Lovely products, lovely staff (most of them) and I love the sushi bar especially but beware of the quick check!

I have had issues with it two weeks in a row now both times it called up for a ‘random check’ which did not feel very random to me two Saturdays in a row. I had to rescan 14 items each time (!) holding everyone up behind me plus it was busy then one of the items it seemed didn’t scan properly so have to go to a till, empty everything out of my bags and put it all through again. Taking more time away from everyone. The customer service staff were very kind and gave me some flowers for the bother which was sweet of them. The lady at the quick check isle was not particularly nice this week and the one last week was really dreadful making you feel like a criminal!

It seems the scanner doesn’t work on every single bar code but it still beeps so you might not realise it didn’t go through and you move on to the next item. I’ve been using it for the years without any issues then I’ve had major problems with it in the last two weeks.

I spend a lot in the store and I’m there every week at least once but the quick check is really stressful and time consuming when it goes wrong. The staff at the quick check really need to be spoken to about how they talk to people as it leaves a bad taste after you leave the store. But the ladies in the customer service desk today were really nice and helpful and I did appreciate the time they took to help me. I hope the manager reads google reviews as I think this one might help them to prevent it happening to others in future.

The car park arrangements are a shambles. The entry barrier has been broken for months and head office are dragging their feet with repair. The exit barrier is never manned because they do not have a wireless card machine. Therefore many none Waitrose customers are parking for hours blocking up the car park at busy times. The branch management are in despair over these problems, which have been awaiting head office approval for months.

Ever more limited range of products, often out of stock. But super busy so they must be doing something right.

As usual waitrose is big name but not always get what you search for. If I compare M&S food vs Waitrose my vote goes to M&S. Also a customer lady is little rude and unprofessional.

Bad customer service. The staff are Rude and unwelcoming.