And the Award for Worst Customer Service Goes To…

Yesterday I needed to go to the mall to find a dress for a friend’s wedding later this month. On my way, I realized that I had forgotten to buy a spool of thread at JoAnn Fabrics in Brookfield earlier this week for a sewing project I’m working on. So, I decided to stop at a fabric store near my house which is on the way to the mall, rather than driving all the way to Brookfield and back to buy one spool of thread.

Well, suffice it to say that I have now encountered the least pleasant store employees ever. I was appalled at the behavior of the sales clerk that waited on me, and being someone who has infinite patience for strangers, I was even more taken aback. Here is an account of what went down at this store (to which I will obviously never go again). We’ll call the clerk Mean Lady 1 (or ML1 for short), and there is also Mean Lady 2 (ML2, the other clerk working in the store). Here goes:

I am standing at the counter with my one spool of thread.
ML1: Is that all?
Me (making polite conversation): Yes…I didn’t want to drive all the way to JoAnn’s in Brookfield to buy one spool of thread!
ML1: That will be $2.50.
I take out my debit card and go to hand it to ML1.
ML1 (with an enormous sigh): Don’t you have any cash?
Me (looking through my wallet): No, I’m sorry, I don’t unfortunately.
ML1: You know the credit card companies charge us for these.
Me: I’m really sorry, I don’t have any cash.
ML1: Then I guess you should go to JoAnn’s.
Me: I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware you had a minimum purchase for cards.
ML1: I can hold this here while you go to an ATM. Or you can buy something else.
(Note the nearest ATM is IN THE MALL)
Me: Well, that’s really all I needed…
ML1: You know, I’m a mother…didn’t yours ever tell you not to travel without cash?
ML2 (helping another customer): What’s the problem? Does she only have a twenty?
ML1 (like this is the worst thing that has ever happened to her): No, she’s got a card.
ML2: Well, just let her use it so we can get out of here.
(ML1 grumbles while she rings me up and hands me the receipt)
Me: I’m really sorry about this, I feel really bad.
ML1: Well, just don’t let it happen again.

“Don’t let it happen again”?!?!?! WTF? Who the hell says that to a paying customer? I left the store with my spool of thread (which, I might add, is crappy quality – I SHOULD have just gone to JoAnn’s, I was trying to sew last night and it’s the kind of thread that doesn’t unravel easily so it puts undue tension on the needle on my machine while I’m sewing, which I hate, my sewing machine was expensive & I don’t want it to break!)

Once I’m in the car, I call Shawn at the store. Being the wife of someone who owns a retail establishment, and whose family has been part of the retail world for 4 generations, I wanted to ask him if he thought I was off base being pissed off at the way this lady treated me. Maybe I was the one in the wrong, for not having some cash on me? Shawn proceeds to tell me that the whole “minimum purchase” thing is bullshit, because while it’s not illegal for a store to say they have a minimum purchase for a customer to use a credit or debit card, it is usually against the credit card company’s contract with the merchant to do that. Furthermore:

1. There are like 6 fabric and sewing stores in Danbury. This one is the closest one to me. I specifically TOLD the woman, hey, I was going to go to one of the “craft big-box stores” (aka JoAnn’s) to buy my one spool of thread, but I CHOSE to come to your small mom-and-pop store instead. And you are rewarding me by lecturing me and treating me like an idiot. Wouldn’t you rather suck it up, deal with the small charge by the credit card company, and possibly gain yourself another loyal customer?

2. I was beyond pissed that this woman suggested I buy something else, when I specifically said I didn’t need anything else, in order to justify using my debit card. If it were a deli and they had a minimum purchase, that’s one thing – I’ll get a cookie or a drink or something. But not in any other kind of store, and not when I specifically told them I didn’t want anything else.

3. ML2 was helping another customer when she chimed in about “letting her use her card so we can get out of here”. So not only did she embarrass me in front of someone else, but she pretty much said, “We don’t really care about our customers, or our business, we just want to get through the work day and get the hell out of here.” That’s a great image to project to clients.

4. NOWHERE on the front counter by the cash register or anywhere did I see a sign posted about “Minimum purchase for credit cards: Such-and-such amount”. If that had been there, I WOULD have bought something else. But how dare you bust out with that obnoxious lecture and make me feel guilty about using a debit card when you don’t even have a sign up?

5. I was nothing but pleasant to this woman…very apologetic, very calm, I never once raised my voice. Hey, I know retail is hard. But guess what? If you’re going to be that much of a douche to your customers…YOU MIGHT NEED A NEW JOB.

So after that, I barely even felt like going to the mall anymore, but when I went into Express I encountered a very nice young man (oh my God, I sound old saying that) working at the register who made me feel a whole lot better about the whole thing. He is NC1 (Nice Clerk 1) and the other cashier is NC2 (Nice Clerk 2):

There were a couple of people in front of me online that were having trouble with a credit card & their transaction was taking a long time as a result.
NC1 (once I’m at the counter & the other customers are gone): I’m really sorry about the wait.
Me: Not a problem.
NC1: I swear, some days the credit card machine just isn’t working well and I feel like I spend all day apologizing to the other people in the line!
Me: Well, it’s a nice change of pace for someone like me who just experienced the worst customer service ever.
NC1: Why, what happened?
There was no one else on line and they weren’t busy so I briefly told the story.
NC1: Oh my God, that’s ridiculous, I can’t believe someone would treat a customer that way.
NC2: Yeah, seriously, what was her problem…a debit card is legal tender, she had no business giving you such a hard time about that!

NC1 proceeded to use his employee discount to give me almost $30 off my purchases. I was astonished that he did that and told him I didn’t want him to because I didn’t want him to get into trouble, but he insisted & wouldn’t take no for an answer. It was above and beyond the call of duty. And I left the store feeling like by and large, most people in the retail industry DO know how to treat customers…it is just a select few who are complete assholes.

BTW, I purposely left out the name of the fabric store, just in case. However, if you want to know which one it was, in case you want to boycott it as well (HEHEHEHE), send me a message & I will tell you.