H-E-B Grocers' Computers Fail, So They Take an Opportunity to Spread Unexpected Christmas Cheer

Consider this a Feel-Good Wednesday story in honor of Christmas Eve, and a testament to a private enterprise that honors and appreciates its customers.

H-E-B is a regional grocery chain headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. In 2025, H-E-B ranked the 5th-largest private company in the U.S. with annual revenues of $49.57 billion. Not too shabby for a concern that only covers parts of Texas and Mexico. This 120-year-old grocer has obviously tapped into their market and found success with their model, but this Christmas, they also tapped into the heart of service in a big way.

On Tuesday, at an H-E-B location in Burleson, TX, the computer system went completely down; some reports say for over two hours. My husband installs, configures, and troubleshoots these types of systems, and when they tank in this way, it's game over until the issue is resolved. There is no backup plan for an alternative way for customers to check out. Make of that what you will, but suffice to say the customer has two choices: wait for the system to come back online or abandon their purchases and leave. As a testament to the difference between people in the South and, say, the West, most of the people at that Burleson H-E-B waited patiently for the computers to come back up so they could check out with their groceries and gifts. I am the food shopper in our home, so after carefully choosing my items, the last thing I want is to have to start over again somewhere else, so I would have waited too.

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But what happened next was not only a huge surprise but also changed what could have been wasted time, ruined schedules, and frayed emotions into one that sparked joy, gratitude, and appreciation.

Christmas came early for some Burleson H-E-B shoppers this week.
After a glitch shut down the store's computer system and brought check out lines to a standstill, the store's manager announced that the store would bag up everybody's groceries for free.
A video captured in the H-E-B store shows long lines of shoppers waiting for the system to come back online when the store manager makes the announcement.
"We love having you as our customers, thank you for waiting with us," the manager says in the video. "Unfortunately, the computers are not coming back up right now, so today everything that you have we are going to bag you up and we hope that every one of you has a very merry Christmas and continue to shop with us."

WATCH:

In a world of AI videos and cheapfakes, some people doubted the authenticity of this video. H-E-B posted to X confirming that it did indeed happen.

We can confirm, this happened at our Burleson H-E-B. We're so proud of the way these Partners handled this, and we appreciate you showing your support! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
— H-E-B (@HEB) December 24, 2025

One customer expressed her joy over this unexpected occurrence:

It was a "Godsend" to one customer who said she was waiting in line for two hours and got a cart full of groceries to feed her kids and grandkids for the holidays, she told WFAA.
"(It) brought tears to my eyes (and) we all gave them a round of applause," Melinda Brown wrote. "I asked the checker 'for real?' and she said 'yep! Merry Christmas. What a gift!"

H-E-B said it was all about the customers:

In a statement, H-E-B said it is committed to serving its customers year-round, especially during the holidays.
"During this busy holiday season when our registers were temporarily down at one of our stores, we gave all those with full baskets their groceries for free," the statement reads. "The customer experience is at the heart of what we do!"

Emphasis on "heart." Some mother who was about to spend her last dollars to ensure Christmas dinner is on the table received a tremendous gift and a surplus in her bank account. You can't buy this amount of goodwill, but because H-E-B chose not just to give away their products, but to give back time, peace of mind, and compassion to its customers, their customer loyalty and PR quotient will no doubt reap dividends. In 2026, they may move to the top slot of privately-owned companies, especially if they continue to prioritize their customers over their bottom line.

This made for a Happy Christmas for all!

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and bold policies, America’s economy is back on track.

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