H Mart City Center, Los Angeles CA

1. After grocery shopping, I saw some rice cakes next to the cash register, so I bought some glutinous rice cakes.
2. I went to the car and ate with my family.
3. But for some reason, plastic came out of the rice cake; Looks like a bag of red bean paste
(Quite large. About the size of 2 fingers. Triangular shape at the end of the bag.)
4. Less than 5 minutes after calculating. I went up straight from the parking lot with the receipt and the remaining rice cakes (2/5).
5. I showed my permanent residence card and rice cake to the employees and explained that a foreign object had come out.
6. The Hispanic male employee asked where the rest of the rice cakes were.
The unfriendly female employee with glasses asked me where the lid was and said I would only get a refund.
7. He said he would bring the lid from the car and wiped the rice cake crumbs on his hands with the paper towel that was on the counter.
8. A female employee wearing glasses made an impression in front of me.
Saying “That’s what Korean do”
9. Absurd; Ask me what I said earlier
10. Female employee: She said it was wrong and rude to use paper towels without asking.
11. A foreign object came out of the customer’s food, so the first thing he said was that he was sorry.
12. He said he was sorry for not apologizing and said it with an expression that did not make him sorry at all. Then, they say Koreans are rude, such as using a pen without asking or coming inside the desk. (But I used the paper towel that was on the counter. Do I have to ask when using the sanitizer? Do I also have to ask for toilet paper before using it?)
13. The female employee wearing glasses said she was the manager and supervisor. Then, I wrote down my name, received a refund, and the situation was over.

In conclusion, the reason I was angry wasn't because of the food.
If foreign matter comes out of the food, just refill it.
But I felt bad that the employees were suspicious of me without even a single apology. And I was angry at the rudeness, wondering how they could say something like “All Koreans are like that” to the customer’s face.
Moreover, looking at the employee's name, it seems that he is also Korean, but I don't know why he works in the Korean market if he hates Korean people so much. There is no service mind at all and they are unfriendly.

I was truly taken aback by the appalling customer service I experienced. After purchasing a rice cake near the checkout counter, my family and I went to the car to enjoy it. To our dismay, more than two inches of plastic emerged from the rice cake. Acting promptly, I headed to customer service within five minutes, armed with my receipt and an explanation of the plastic issue.

Unfortunately, the staff's response was far from satisfactory. Instead of offering an apology, they questioned why I brought only 2 out of the 5 rice cakes and a box without a lid. Their attitude insinuated that I intentionally introduced foreign substances into the food to seek a refund. I clarified that the remaining rice cakes were consumed by the rest of my family, assuring them that I would retrieve the lid from our car.

In an attempt to maintain cleanliness, I wiped my hands with a paper towel on the counter. At this point, a female manager, donning glasses, openly frowned and insulted me, making an inappropriate remark about Koreans, stating, "That's what Koreans do. "

Appalled by her statement, I sought clarification, only to be told it was my fault for using the paper towels without permission. When I questioned the necessity of permission to use hand sanitizers or wipes from the reception desk, she reluctantly apologized for not initially offering an apology but maintained that Koreans are inherently rude. This assertion, coming from a manager who I believe is also Korean, left me questioning her suitability for a customer service role in a Korean market.

Regardless of any perceived rudeness from customers, the manager's offensive remarks were uncalled for. This entire experience left me deeply dissatisfied and disheartened, marking it as the worst customer service encounter I've ever endured.

This review is purely for their service, attitude, and weird/poor sales/promo structure. I've been shopping here for years (due to proximity) and this review is long overdue. Of the countless times I've shopped here, I've only had probably 1 pleasant experience with the staff/cashier (one guy, who I don't see there anymore, actually struck up a conversation/smiled while checking my foods out). All the rest of time, from the beginning when they opened (the initial manager staff) to the now (I'm assuming promoted) staff/manager and cashiers, they have absolutely abhorrent attitude and manners. In the beginning, the 1st manager made you feel like she was working on the stock trading floor: constantly running around (even during her register shifts), rushing/scanning your items as fast as she could, responding to your questions/requests as curtly as possible or even without words if she could/without looking at you. With the new staff, they aren't as fast moving but they sure inherited the RBF and attitude like the customers owe them money. Example, I tried to ask about my reward points (the manager was chatting up a storm with the other cashier and not even coming over to hear my question: I stood their waiting for him but he just stared at me from far away like "what do you want? Speak! ", so I had to talk loudly as he still stood far away, and in response, he just waved his hand/finger nonchalantly towards the automatic rewards machine, then went back to his conversation. When asking them about promos (confusing promo signs/mismatched prices), it's literally like a battle. If the sales sign is confusing, it's always good to make it clearer (it's poor customer service to just argue the customer is wrong: if it was clear, there wouldn't be a point of discussion needed). The only kind interactions come from the food stockers/employees restocking the shelfs (they smile at the customers and thank customers when customers move out of the way for them / or they wait patiently for the aisles to clear).

H Mart has a nice aspect of late evening, the cooked foods is 1+1 buy one get one free deal. This is the ONLY place that seems to have it's own "1+1" ideal/structure, where it's not the usually understood 1+1 (buy 1 get another of the same or equal/less value, but still similar product free). Here, it's if you buy: e.g. 2 expensive entrees (2 rice platters for $8 each) then 2 smaller appetizers (e.g. Dumplings 2 @ $3 each), they insist that the 1+1 is all together the higher items, so you should be charged $16 for the total instead of typically 1+1 is buy 1 get another of the same item free, so $11. I've never seen this logic anywhere.

All in all, their attitude towards customers is unacceptable and atrocious. It's the rare store I actually feel stressed afterwards, or even feel hesitant/anxious to ask the cashiers/staff anything. So I guess if there are any Karens out there, this is definitely your store.

UPDATE 1/21/2024

The cashiers and Latino staff sitting at customer service, their attitudes have gotten better (perhaps newer, younger hires for cashiers who are naturally nicer), but it seems the Korean girl (glasses short hair) is still a manager there. Her attitude is still condescending, rude, and unfriendly, completely not customer industry oriented. She often doesnt wear staff vest, just normal street clothes, and always RBF, unsmiling when talking to customers and reprimands them like we are unwanted guests/owe her.

Awesome was my first time there and I was amazed. Will definitely be going this week again

Staff unfriendly
Does the Markat exclusive parking lot have a limit written at the entrance?
Please correct the unkindness of many people, wasted time, and wasted time.

Don’t get me wrong. Great store, but we went in a few times just to get some things since we are tourists and to pay for parking just to be there a short time is ridiculous. We went to the store 5 times in the 7 days we stayed here in California and all 5 times we had to pay for parking. We could have bought groceries for the week with the amount of parking I had to pay. Most places even the airport in the city I live in. If you are there for less than 30 min parking is free. Great store, but prepare to pay for parking

I like to go to supermarkets abroad because I like to see Taiwanese products packaged in foreign languages ​​ (eh) and I often see interesting flavors (laughs)

Great variety of fresh and packaged specialty items from Korea, Japan and Taiwan. My kids love it!

The items in this store are not cheap. Especially the parking fee is ridiculously expensiveI walked around the store for 10 minutes and then drove out. The parking fee was $6, which was a rip off!

I visited because I liked American food during my trip. It was nice to see Korean industrial products, but the kimbap they made and sold didn't taste very good. The rice cake was cold, but it was spicy, so I'm glad. Kimbap seems to be made by adding seasoning to bare rice. Kimbap is really bad. Industrial products are okay.

Be careful! They seems to be cheating a customer with the price tags. An item was overcharged without saying anything about that during the check out. Also the customer service was awful!

The management of the H mart parking lot is at the level of a complete idiot. A few days ago, I came out after buying a box of soju and the gate did not open even after putting in my ticket. I was able to get out after charging $32 with my card. $32 charged without any contact after several days.

H-Mart City Center has a wide selection of products and very competitive weekly specials.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, they were able to procure the much needed toilet papers at the time and sold them at a significant discount.

In my opinion, H-Mart City Center is the best all around supermarket to shop at in Los Angeles.

Best drinks from school days. Watch out your butt if the carts are better than your cooking style. Love price of my favorite coffee and tea jazz store.

I must complain how impolite cashiers are at H market on 6 street.
Maneger should train them right manner.

Avoid this location at all costs. If I could give this place 0 stars, I absolutely would. The service and staff are horrendous! The cashiers are so rude and miserable. My mother went in for less than 5 minutes to quickly shop for a few select items. When she handed over her parking ticket for validation, the cashier said "you have to spend $30 to be validated". To be fair- there are signs posted in the parking lot noting that you must spend $30 for 1 hour parking. However, for less than 10 mins this is absolutely wild. My mother didn't understand what he was saying (because shocker.she speaks Korean) and requested to speak to a Korean manager / employee. The cashier just stared blankly at her and said "we don't have any Korean workers right now". Brother- I know you are not this thick in the skull! Are you really saying there isn't a single Korean person at a Korean market in Koreatown? Even if that was the case, you really couldn't've redirect her to the customer service desk for further help? The cashier just couldn't be bothered and THAT was the most sickening part of this whole experience. Of course, my mom walks to the Customer Support desk (which was literally right next to this cashiers lane) and was greeted by a KOREAN SPEAKING EMPLOYEE. That employee wasn't any better and had such an attitude. But she did validate the ticket since it was clear that we were only there for less than 5 mins. She even noted that 10 mins was free and should have been validated.

After reading some of the other reviews on here- it is clear this location needs some serious help with training employee and having a better management team. There are so many other HMARTs in the area that don't have this issue. In fact- there are so many other Korean markets that will not treat you like garbage. I am really shocked and disappointed that this is the level of service being provided by HMART. PS.don't bother calling the location to voice your concerns (we tried this route). They will just argue with you and make you feel like YOU are the problem. The lady who picked up the phone had an excuse for everything. The lack of customer service is incredibly disappointing.

Great prices and quality in the produce, meat and fish sections. Clean venue and tidy lines make for quick in n out scenarios when needed.

One of my favorite supermarkets to buy produce for Korean recipes like galbijjim. They have a great selection of produce and Asian sauce/spices that aren't available in other markets. I also like coming here to grab a coffee and pastries from Concerto Coffee.