Horrible experience with one of the employees. Every detail here is about the same employee…read more
I listened to her berate a family with small kids for a full 15-20 minutes immediately when I arrived. She was coercing one of the family members to translate her rant from English into Spanish, and lecturing the adults present on not letting their children look around the store away from them.
The store's patrons then had to hear her gossip about it for an additional 30 minutes, complaining to other customers and saying she wasn't racist. During the discussion with the family, she said the kids might break something, and the mother tried to assure her that if they did, she'd pay for it, not to justify them breaking something, but just as a way to try to reclaim some accountability the employee was insinuating she refused to maintain. The employee also gossiped about this to customers, insinuating the woman brought this up as a way to be flippant and "do it her way."
I dared to put my clothes in a dressing room *without her permission* and was also lectured, and as a result got understanding looks from the other customers and accidentally snorted. After I changed, I again heard her gossiping, this time about me, and heard her remark that she "knew what [I] was trying to do" and that I "should be wrapping up soon so all of the negative energy should be out of the store."
Whenever I went to check out, I asked if they had a student discount- they do- and she specifically cited needing a valid ID "since people try to get away with this stuff" (a 10% discount). I showed her my university ID, issued in August of 2021, which she then refused to take, citing a lack of date on the ID (my university does not issue new IDs every year). I asked if I could show her my enrollment in the past or upcoming semester, or my university email, and she refused. When I questioned this, she stormed off to the back without responding and a manager came to the front to complete my transaction.
As I left, the back door was open, and I, for the second time in under 20 minutes, heard her gossiping about me, complaining about my insistence that I was a current student and an earlier attempt to buy a shirt whose tag had gotten caught in my hair and subsequently torn slightly.
Store's prices are fine, slightly high. Better discounts and customer service can be found at the other location in Chattanooga and the Soddy Daisy location.
