Vons

I have been to this mediocre vons multiple times and have never been upset enough to post a review until today. This is because I wanted to buy a specific hummus that I always buy but every single container expired 3 days ago. I checked out another go to hummus brand to find out that one expired at the beginning of the month! It’s frustrating to spend 5 minutes looking through hummus containers to find one that’s not expired…

Found myself in Poway and needing to buy some ground beef from Vons (1.97/lb is hella cheap these days) so I dropped by here. It’s a quaint and old fashioned Vons, located in a small shopping center on the corner of Community and Poway Rd. It looks like a Vons you’d find in an old western town. The carts are still the old, beige ones and the store is smaller and appears to not have as much stock as the Vons in Rancho Bernardo. Produce section is smaller but I was able to get in and out with everything I needed. There was a fairly long line to wait in, but the RB Vons has long lines too. The young gal at the checkout was nice though. There was plenty of parking in the lot.

If you ever come across a girl named NIKOL please stay far FAR away! I am warning you now. She has 0 customer service skills and doesn’t even know how to say a simple «hi, how was your day» I have been to many different cashiers at this particular vons and have never encountered such rudeness from anyone besides Nicol. EVERY SINGLE TIME I have ever purchased beer she demands to see my ID and check everyone near me. I am a 24 year old woman. I don’t need a random man behind me to be checked as well, when IM the one who is purchasing the beer. She needs to be apart of the stocking team with that kind of an attitude. You’re a cashier at vons. Get off your high horse and say hello to the damn customers.

We come here every week (sometimes several times). We are always there around 10 am and love the staff! Always clean, never super busy and everyone is very helpful. Donna in the floral department is fantastic. I have had several conversations with her and she is the best! So nice, helpful and really cares! I’m always able to get great deals and great produce there. I wish that they had a better butcher counter and more options in deli area, but we still always find what we want. The entire staff always goes above and beyond to help when I am shopping!

Most expensive store in town. Keeps expired goods on the shelf; meat is rotten about ½ the time. Lines are insane. So cheap, they keep the lights turned off in parts of the store. The bathroom is a favorite hangout of bums who like to sprinkler shit, but try telling management! And all of this, is really nothing compared to two different experiences at the deli that you might not believe! One time, I sat waiting in front of the counter for a good five minutes with no one behind the counter. I finally went to the front and asked for deli service, and the manager called for the employee. She came huffing up, complaining to me that her break was cut short, went straight to the meat – without washing her hands. When she went to cut the meat, there was already a hunk of turkey sitting on it… It had just been left there!!! She took it off, tossed it aside, and placed my meat on the cutter, at which point, I turned, and left. Left my cart and all. I shit you not. Another time, there was a long wait, but when it was finally my turn, I greeted the girl, requested my meat, and she literally said nothing to me, but rolled her eyes multiple times while I spoke. She began to cut, and I simply asked to see the thickness of the cut, at which point she (drum roll please) tossed the slice across the counter like a frisbee, and it hit the floor in front of me. No apology, nothing. I told her I was going to go have a talk with the manager, and she mumbled something and walked away. The girl in the neighboring bakery looked at me with peeled eyes and told me she couldn’t believe what just happened. Went to manager, completely dismissed. I don’t know if they have a prison release program or what, but I’ve had so many bad experiences there it’s actually amusing in hind sight. Oh yeah, and a guy at the meat counter once told me very quietly to never buy discount meat, because they change the expiration dates on the label if they need to. I was very pregnant and about to buy some discounted meat… thank god for his honesty. I felt the need to leave this obscenely long and detailed review because that place is not only piss poor in every way, it’s actually dangerous. You could get sick. Go elsewhere.

My Dad had ordered a Thanksgiving day dinner at this Vons last week to pick up at 3pm Thanksgiving day. When we arrived we were handed a frozen dinner. The directions read the frozen Turkey had to be thawed for 2 to 3 days before you could reheat it. No where on the flyer add is it stated your Thanksgiving dinner would come frozen & would take days to thaw ! My Dad was not told it would come frozen the Day he ordered this dinner, we returned this frozen dinner & will never patronage this store again. This store has demonstrated a lack of respect & professionalism for the surrounding community during a Family Holiday.

I enjoy coming to this location, its never really busy and all of the workers are always so nice and helpful. They have great prices on all of the organic brand «Organics» they also have better quality produce than the spouts that is nearby.

Nice Vons location. The store is clean and well organized. I went early in the morning and had to wait in line at a check stand since they only had one clerk up front. Besides that, nothing amazing to report… it’s a grocery store.

This place is so over priced that I just go to across the parking lot to buy produce at sprouts. I drive all the way to Ralphs to buy everything else. This place is so bad that I once was so mad that I left everything in my cart and just walked out.

Nice if you need to grab something quick and don’t mind waiting in line for longer than it took you to grab what you needed. They do have an above average beer selection but they alway seem way way under staffed and seems to take forever just to check out. Cashiers are always friendly but the line are tough to deal with. Seems to always be the express line that’s open and rarely do back up cashiers show up in time to make a difference.

Decent pricing and overall good selection of products throughout the store. Great selection of organic or minimally processed items as well and they are reasonably priced. Not the best produce selection. Honestly Sprouts has a better price range and variety of produce. I usually have issues with how they bag my groceries but today I didn’t have to re-​bag once I got to my car. I bring my own bags and more often than not I have to re-​bag so that soft items don’t get crushed and cold items are in the insulated bag. For some reason they don’t teach how to bag very well. But overall friendly service and the employees are helpful when needed.

I went to the deli for lunch and asked for a combo meal. Was told that I couldn’t have chicken wings as the main protein, as they were priced differently. However I pointed out they were the same price as everything else on display as a main course.
After checking with the deli boss, was told I could in fact have 4 small wings as my entrée. 4 tiny, dried out, barely seasoned blah wings. Or I could have 3 giant pieces of fried chicken. Say what? How is it Vons can be fine with selling massive fired chicken combos while at the same time, penalizing those who want to eat less fat, fewer carbs.
It just doesnt make sense.

Huge parking lot shared with lots of other stores.
I typically stop by in the afternoon during the week and its never busy.
Friendly staff.
Sometimes I’ll grab that huge sandwich that only $ 7 but I do say sometimes because sometimes the bread is as hard as a rock. Maybe that’s one downside of this location being slow?
Another downside is when more than a handful of people get in line to check out and there’s only one cashier. Longest I’ve waited in line was about 10 minutes.

Don’t know why I ever come here. It seems so convenient. Until you go to check put. They Never have enough checkers ever so u have to wait in line. Its insane. Go across the street

Great location not a great as the scripps Poway parkway Vons but it’s still a nice location with friendly employees.

BEST PLACE TO POOP IN POWAY!!!
Seriously, this place is so vacant it’s circling the drain. Speaking of circling drains, they have one single unisex bathroom (with a lock on the handle!) that is never in use. While this place has a furious list of issues with its store, that bathroom is clean, stocked, and maintained on the hour, daily! Its tucked away so nobody really knows about it. Has a fart fan, seat covers, it even has a non-​coin operated diaper station! With the egregious number of illegitamite children coming into SoCal, diaper stations are realizing they can charge parents to clean their childrens’ bottoms; a terrible exploitation! This store is so behind the times, I doubt they will ever have this revelation. The paper towels are thick, and post-​consumer, so Vons is being ecofriendly. Very little graffiti. OK, some graffiti. Whoever «Scrap-​Mutha-​Killa» is, you’re a tool.
My only beef with this public restroom is that they clearly have an air freshner dispenser, and they don’t refill it. Apparently, the fart fan is enough to get the smell out that the truck driver before you left behind to assault your nostrils with. That, and their TP is single ply… You’ll probably want to wash your hands a couple of times.
Highly recommended for bathroom use! ³⁄₅ would poop again! Oh, you want to know about their service, efficiency, quality of product, and cost? Yeah, go to Stater Bros. It’s across the street. Read the other Unilocal reviews if you don’t beleive me.
UPDATE: Yeah, nothing’s changed. Place is still a desert, one check stand open, and the prices are insane, even for American groceries. But that restroom… God Bless America!

I try to not go to this Vons location too often It never fails that there are only two lanes open all the day. It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is. The employees aren’t very friendly. I also noticed that there are less items on the shelf than at other locations. I love the Scripps Ranch Vons– they have such a great organic produce section and all the check out lanes are open. The day I was there about 10 people were in line to check out and many were voiced concerns about not going back there. Can’t blame them. I don’t think management cares or maybe they know it’s a low volume store.

I love this store and shop here all the time but I’m giving it one star.
Why?
I bought a package of seven eclairs here. Brought them home. My son is deathly allergic to peanuts. I’ve had eclairs many times and NEVER was peanuts in one.
The ingredients on the label doesn’t list peanuts. BUT the last line says: CONTAINS MILK, WHEAT, SOY AND PEANUTS.
What?!
So does this mislabeled item mean I cannot trust any of your bakery items? Perhaps they Do not list peanuts when there are some?
You get one star for not taking the peanut thing seriously. And it is a life or death thing

Generally my experiences here have been ok but the way they handle their $ 5 Fridays is what I take issue with.
I’ve tried multiple times to get there a few hours after open on Friday to grab what I needed and they were sold out. There were a few other customers there at the same time that also went home disappointed and probably many others after us.
It’s been implied (by a clerk) that I need to get there at 6am to make sure I get what I want with some customers hoarding ten items at a time. No rainchecks are given and I’ve gone home without the goods I required, which is a waste of my time.
VONS/​Safeway corporate clearly is a fan of this «Black Friday» mentality that it seems I would have to adopt in order to buy what I need. I can’t and am just not able to go to VONS at 6am and sprint with other customers just to save a few bucks on some peanut butter and bread. I asked to speak with the manager about considering limits on these items (which are on sale for the whole weekend) but was told he/​she was in a meeting and that I couldn’t leave them a note.
My experience may not be one that is typical of most shoppers here, but for me I will now take all my business across the street to Stater Brothers.

On the plus: fresh produce.
On the negative: at 6:30pm, one check out line open, no Von’s cards at the store (and of course without it the prices are outrageous), staff members on their cell phones instead of opening up a second checkout lane when the line was 7 deep? Come on management…