Waitrose & Partners Chichester Via Ravenna, Chichester PO19 1RD

"SERIOUS COMPLAINT. To whom it may concern, I recently visited Via Ravenna, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1RD Waitrose store on Friday 10th February with my partner and quite frankly I’ve never been so disappointed in my whole time as a customer at ANY of the Waitrose stores. Your security guards (or one in particular) needs training on how to treat human beings fairly and respectfully whilst shopping inside of the store. As aforementioned, my partner and I had popped by the Chichester branch on Friday 10th February 2023 to purchase all of our food and treats for a much needed weekend away from the city (of London where he lives and southsea where I live) in a nearby cottage. Whilst waking around the store (we were in there for over an hour I would say) we were constantly followed by one of your security guards which eventually resulted in (eventually as in we were feeling very uncomfortable) my partner asking the security guard if something was wrong. The security guard ignored his question and smiled rudely at him and then at myself. We tried to ignore it and continued our shopping until we reached the soft drinks aisle and at this point the security guard was aggressively staring at my partner again, (& myself) almost with a grin on his face. Again, my partner asked if the security guard had a problem at all because he had been following us very closely whilst around the shop. Again, the security guard smiled and proceeded to LAUGH in our faces. I sadly now have to point out the fact that my partner is black and of African / Omani descent. We then asked the security guard if he felt we were going to steal because he was black. (It certainly felt this way) and Yet AGAIN the security guard laughed at us! My partner was very distressed at this point and other people in the store had even said they could see him pin pointing us. Next, the security guard had said that he had been told via his ear piece to watch us!!! (Confirmed untrue by other members of staff later on. Please read on for explanation) In the end we had to walk away from the security guard and I left my partner to pay (as we had intended to do so the entire visit of course!) whilst I went to the front desk to explain to a member of staff what had happened and could I please speak to management to bring this to their attention. As soon as I had mentioned which security guard had done this AND the nature of his behaviour against my partner, I was told (by this very same team member) that the exact same security guard has done it before! AND complaints have been made. I was told “this isn’t the first time that this has happened” and he went to get management. He also told me that he himself (and his Asian and black friends) have been pin pointed specifically whilst he had been off duty and shopping in the store he works in again: by this one security guard I speak of. Management came and apologised profusely and advised that something would be done. I don’t know exactly what did happen but I thank the manager we spoke to {Pete} because he did calm us and was very apologetic. However, we left the store very upset and I just cannot BELIEVE that racial profiling still exists in this day and age. Secondly I cannot believe that the security staff at this particular Waitrose store were allowed (or found it acceptable) to behave in such a manner. The sheer and very obvious discrimination that we incurred during our visit has resulted in our decision to discontinue spending our hard earned wages in ANY of the Waitrose stores and I would hope that some awareness of human kindness is spread throughout the security team. We spent £139.14 @ 14.06pm that day and if it wasn’t for the fact that we had our cottage break to get to, we would have most certainly left our shopping by the door and walked away. Very disappointing. Thank you for reading and hope that training is provided. Very very unprofessional and awful shopping experience."

"Of the four Waitrose shops I have used over the years, this is the worst. Many items are often missing from the shelves repeatedly, do they have no understanding of stock control and management? I use the term “Fresh produce” loosely, is much poorer than it has been and badly displayed and controlled. The cashiers seem harassed and under staffed, whilst others seem to be roaming around aimlessly and if no help when required. It’s a poor experience compared to southsea, petersfield and the now closed Waterlooville outlet, please buck up, M&S beckons!"

"It is with enormous regret that I write this review after over 30 years of regular weekly shopping at the Chichester Waitrose store. Over the past few months empty shelves have become the norm. Quality of fresh produce is slipping Check out tills are rarely open Staff goodwill is dropping The check out staff are now wearing several levels of clothing as the stores heating appears to have been turned off The management of Waitrose should be ashamed at the level to which this once near perfect store has slipped. Either things improve or they will loose their shoppers to M&S"

"This is a lovely Waitrose. Good size. Well stocked. Not too busy and helpful staff. People say Waitrose is too expensive but they have some great offers and lovely quality."

"Very nice shop with friendly staff as you would expect from Waitrose. A lot of prices have gone up recently but there were some good offers available. The self service checkouts all seemed to be playing up, however it was a satisfactory visit overall. Well stocked so I got everything on the list, plus a couple of vouchers through the app."