My wife came home from one of the Harris Teeter stores that we frequent and handed me a receipt stub that invited us to tell them about the shopping experience. It promised a chance to win $1000 worth of groceries. While this is not the sort of thing we’d readily participate in, given the times and financial conditions I figured it was worth a few minutes time. Here’s a copy of the receipt stub:
I opened up a new tab in Safari and went to HTsurvey.com. Here’s a copy of what greeted me:
Very nicely done. And the start of what would hopefully be a good user experience. Mr. Morganthall introduces himself, thanks us ahead of time for the time and effort we’re about to invest, hangs the $1000 grocery carrot out there, and tells us how they strive to have top quality products and the best in customer service. I was impressed, as I’ve always been with Harris Teeter. As background for those of you not in the North Carolina area, Harris Teeter is a regional grocery chain that has always ranked high in grocery store surveys. The stores are clean. The people are friendly and helpful. The produce is fresh. I could go on but I’m sure you et the idea. The only negative I ever hear about them is that the prices have always seemed a little bit higher than those of the competition but that’s not enough to have ever made us think seriously about shopping elsewhere to compare those prices.
So, I clicked the Start Survey button and was taken to a screen that asked for my entry code. Here’s what that screen looks like:
Again, very nicely done. Nothing too extemporaneous to what was needed. The cursor jumped to each box as I input our entry code. I was impressed. This was looking like a very good customer experience indeed. After completeing my input I clicked the Start Survey button and here’s what I got:
OUCH! That wasn’t so pretty. Could be the browser I’m using I thought, but then again, if there were browser issues with the site surely they would have sniffed that out at the beginning and told me my browser wasn’t compatible or whatever. But since there was none of that I figured I’d just try again. So, I closed Safari, restarted, cleared the cache just in case, and tried again. Got the same opening message, clicked on Start Survey, got to the page where it asked for my entry code, entered that, and I was stopped dead in my tracks. “This code has already been used” or something along those lines. What?!! How lame is that? What was looking to be a great customer experience just headed south in a hurry. Now I felt cheated at not being able to get a chance at those free groceries and I had to start asking the kind of questions about the organization that they’d probably just as soon I not ask. All because of a poor user experience and all more than likely because some web developer or content writer didn’t take the time to test the survey in a variety of browsers.
I figured I’d at least alert them to the problem and give them a chance to respond. I rooted around on their site and found some contact info (that could have been easier to find as well) and I sent an email at 3:23 PM ET on Monday, the 26th. A little tongue in cheek as far as the tone goes chiding them about the experience , but respectful I thought. I also sent along a screen capture of the redirect problem. I ended it with “Best wishes” and my name and sent it along. Now, almost two days later and I haven’t heard a thing.
Nada. And that’s just so hard to reconcile with the experiences we have had in over 15 years of shopping their stores. So, Mr. Morganthall, I have a question for you. Is this really the best in customer service? Do those people in your customer service department answer each and every email as you might assume they are doing? Are your web pages tested in all of the browsers? And for those of you running other companies, are you in tune with each and every place in your organization where customers interact with your business? Every one of those provides a customer experience and the sum total of those dictate how much or how little business a customer does with you.
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I love shopping at Harris Teeter. It has always been my favorite place to shop. The fruits, vegetables and meats are always fresh. When you pass by the Fish Department, you don’t smell the fish like you do in some stores. I visited the store today and was very satisfied with what I bought. Everyone was very friendly and helpful.
Dependable best describes HT for me. The stores are clean staff helpful, focused and the produce, meats, etc. the best quality. No surprises! Just a great shopping experience!
I do not understand why I was given a Customer Survey slip with a chance to win $1,000 in groceries when your contest rules indicates that the survey and contest ended in August 2009.
The date today is September 5, 2009
My wife and I shop almost exclusively at Harris Teeter in Hendersonville, NC and note, as did the gent above, that your prices are a bit higher than most of the competition. One striking example – Your large bottle of HT Seltzer Water in the past few years has gone from .79 to $1.29..Question: Is it the price of water, plastic, or the processing that has jumped that much in such a short time?
There are a few other examples where your price exceeds the average outside price by quite a bit. Is it a question of quantity buying Or just ???? The example I chose refers to Dove Dark Chocolate (Promises) per 9 oz. bag.
Hi Ken,
Thanks for stopping by. Sounds like your experience with the survey is indicative of the old “right hand doesn’t know what the left one is doing”. They are in a position, customer service wise, to be doing so many neat things with new media or social media and they just seem to be missing it by a beat.
Ive enjoyed shopping at your store for almost 7 months and within this time I’ve enjoyed all the sales they’ve had and still enjoying them. My family and friends come over here just so they can shop at Harris Teeter cause they know they can save alot. We hope to be valuable customers for a very long time and I hope you all will continue to serve our community for a very long time.
I like shopping at Harris Teeter, but their E-mailing problems need considerable work………….ie…….Don’t pass out surveys if they can’t work.
I love shopping @ Harris Teeter, all of the employees @ 2268 Golden Gate Drive have always greeted me with such a warm welcome, & they strive for excellence. I am always asked if I have found everything o.k. & if I need help taking items to my car. This is truly a very nice gesture. I look forward to my at least 5 times a week visits @ Harris Teeter. Thank-you.
dont know what else to say.my wife and i have alway shopped giant food until harris teeter came into town.the prices are about the same but the organized isles and the tasting area great. thanks again.
wish i could do the survey but it won’t let you so i don’t know how to enter for a chance of free groceries
wish it was easy to get to the survey. to have a chance to win free groceries i like to shop at harris teeter but this is the first survey I can’t finish
I like shopping at this Harris Teeter.Everybody is so friendly.The merchandise are so good and reasonably inexpensive.
survey entry code is 733O 3921 8166 3121
Ienjoyshoppingat HarrisTeeter3010N.CenterSt.#0159. Thepricesthereareveryreasonable. Theyalwayshave buysomanygetsomanyfree.Thewaytheeconomyisnoweveryonelikesabargain.Thanks
LOVE my HARRIS TEETER
survey code: 7540-6150-7748-1201
I have a new Harris Teeter in my neighborhood and i love it. It is very close to my house, the staff is very friendly and helpful, the store is always clean, and they even have a map to show where items are located. I love the sales (usually items i need) and the cupon policy. Harris Teeter has become my favorite grocery store !
survey code: 7070-4389-5006-1301
This is ridiculous. It used to be easy, but this comes out like a scam. No matter what I do, it will not go to the Survey page so that I can even fill in my information.
I really don’t think coming across as a joke is conducive to Harris Teeter’s user information or profile.
Please try again. The computer programer needs a swift kick.
Hi Sue,
Thanks for stopping by. Not pretty sometimes, is it? I guess there aren’t enough of us who’ve been burned by it for them to want to change the way that it works.
I am unable to register because the Start Survey lettering is to small –it
doesn`t have any effect when clicking on it.
Keith Hager
I find no place on this site to enter a survey. There are too many sites that answer to HT survey .com. This is the second time I have attempted to find this site. I finally decided to call, only to find that I had waited past the five day limit to respond.
Other than these inconveniences, I always find my shopping experience at HT to be enjoyable. The employees are always curteous, and helpful. Your store is always very clean and devoid of foul odors. I have enjoyed your weekly flyers via e-mail, as I no longer take a newspaper. And I find that your “specials” are always something that I can use. Being on a small, limited budget, these things are invaluable to me. Thank you for coming to Morehead City, NC.
I read some of the e mails and decided to use the telephone number instead, I’m entered in the drawing!
Now, that’s quick thinking! Way to go.
I am new to Harris Teeter, and I enjoy the shopping experience. Thanks
Can not get to the survey
Hi Dave,
Have you tried to access it via http://www.HTSurvey.com?
I LIKE THE SPECIALS THAT YOU BRING YOUR CUSTOMERS EACH WEEK AND I QUITE OFTEN PLAN MY WEEKLY MENUS AROUND THEM
First of all, i love shopping at Harris Teeter because the store are clean and the staff are nice. Everything are all fresh especially their fruits, meats and vegetables.
I think it may be a very good idea to blow the whistle on this with Channel 9 news, or someone that can go and cause Mr. Morganthal to eat his words, and cease this con.
People do not have enough money – for the most part – now, and they put these customer satisfaction survey junk out? Please…….
Hi Sue,
For whatever this is worth, I don’t think there’s any con going on and I’m not sure what words Mr. Morganthal would eat. There just seems to be an issue for some folks with accessing the survey. If you read through most of these comments, he just needs to worry about keeping the shelves stocked, the stores clean, and smiling faces waiting on us all.
My first reason to enjoy shopping at Harris-Teeter, is the cleanliness of the store. I frquent the 2201 W harris Blvd. store, in Charlotte, NC. Every thing is organized and orderly. There is a price rage for every one. I buy a lot of store brand items, the quality is good, the price is in my range. The check out customer service reps. are class “A” Harris Teeter is just a wonderful place to shop.
I love shopping at Harris Teeter. I am submitting my Survey Entry Code.
How do I tell if I have one.
Thank you …
Hi Pamela,
I deleted the survey code and your phone number from your comment. You will want to enter that code at the Harris Teeter web site, http://www.HTSurvey.com.
I just recently discovered Trader Joe’s in my neighborhood in Charlotte and find the prices at TJ’s to beat most of Harris Teeter’s prices…especially with eggs, bread and milk…everyday staples. TJ’s has a much more comfortable store to navigate and is a lot more fun to shop. I used to love HT but I gotta say…I’m about to jump ship and shop TJ’s exclusively.
I visited HT store #0327 in Selbyville, DE and it was a most enjoyable shopping experience, I found everything on my list, the store was well stocked, and very clean in apperance. At check-out, your representative, Susan, was very friendly and helpful, a good representative for your store. Thank you.
The survey worked fine for me.
Our Harris Teeter store here in Morganton is always clean and I dont have difficulty in finding what I need.
HT has a lot of competition in Pinehurst-Southern Pines-Aberdeen area but it is always clean , orderly and well staffed. The produce is atractively displayed and prices are reasonable. I enjoy the experience of shopping at HT.
I started shopping at HT when the store I frequented closed. I love shopping at HT. The store is clean and workers are constantly cleaning and trying to make the store a friendly place to shop. I really like the fish (salmon) I had stopped buying fish at the other store because it was not always fresh.
I liked the fact that the checker always asked – if you found everything you needed and if not, you can note it for future reference when you shop the next time.
So HT keep up the good work and you will have me as a happy, satisfied customer.
Hi Louise,
I approved your comment after editing out your entry code. You will want to enter that at http://www.HTSurvey.com.
shopping at harris teeter is always such a pleasure. Everything is so well displaid. The produce is so fresh and such a good variety.
Tried to enter a survey I get this site.soooo
BERT
Hi Bert,
You want to go to http://www.HTSurvey.com to enter your survey code and participate.
Attempting to get into Harris Teeter’s survey site was a complete disaster for me! Yes, I shop there several times each week (Gainesville , VA store) , but I am now reconsidering my choice because —if the access to the survey is any indication of the management’s overall competence–I am convinced that there is no organization at the admin level at all.. Isn’t this task supposed to be simple? Management–if you are out there –please help!!
Hi Barbara,
Jennifer Thompson, from HT’s management, has graciously left her email address. It’s jthompson@harristeeter.com. I’m sure she’ll be happy to get you in touch with someone who can help.
Gregg
Cannot pull up the survey. Website said survey ended in 2009
Hi Robert,
Wish I could explain it. I just went to the site and it came up fine with the “Start Survey” button beckoning me to proceed. Did you at least get that far? And if so, and you entered your code, maybe it’s an expired code pair?
For someone who really dislikes marketing, you make the “chore” so much easier for me! Seriously, I started shopping at a HT back in 1991 at your new Wrightsville Beach store and was hooked. The cleanliness of the Chapel Hill store is excellent, the staff is friendly, extremely competent, and goes out of their way to help when help is needed. The products are nicely displayed, produce fresh, seafood dept excellent – I come out of the store with a smile!! Now only if there was some magic wand to reduce the cost of eating!!
For someone who doesn’t really enjoy shopping, you do make my “job” easier. I was introduced to Harris Teeter back in 1991 at a new store at Wrightsville Beach and was hooked. And when Imoved to my current address I was hoping a HT would open here – and one did! – here in Chapel Hill. Oh, there are alot of positives – number one is the manager and staff make it a great store – - always very clean, products nicely displayed, up-to-date on new items, etc – and the staff is very hospitable – will always find time to help a customer when needed. And the staff is extremely efficient.
Harris Teeter goes the extra mile when it comes to savings, value and quality! Customer Service is outstanding! Harris Tetter is my neighbor food market – they get it right week after week!
I want to comment on my experience recently at Harris Teeter. I purchased my groceries and I was on my way to catch the bus. I took my keys out of my pouch to make a phone call, and did not realize that I left my keys on the table outside of the Potomac ave. store. When I realized what I had done, I went back to the store. I found out that my keys were turned in and the clerk was Whitney that turned them in. It was a blessing and relief that she turned in my keys. It’s rare that keys are found in that content. Thank you Harris Teeter for a worker who went above and beyond to assist a customer.
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