I'm making the best effort to write reviews going forward, as I myself often rely on Yelp reviews…read morewhen visiting an establishment. With that said, I wish I can give this store 1/2 of a star on customer service experience alone. But please note, this is the customer service experience from someone who is black, and in my experience today, my race mattered. It's not from an angle of paranoia, but from straight facts of what occurred.
My husband and I visited this location TJMaxx store, as we have in the past, and enjoy the selection here. While shopping, my husband found what was a good deal: a 24" checkered Ben Sherman suitcase on clearance for $56. I informed him to check the wheels and open the bag to make sure they're no issues. While opening the bag, the price ticket was attached to the zipper and fell off. Jokingly, I said to my husband, "hope they don't give you any issues when you go to pay." Boy was my foreshadowing correct!
Since we were still shopping, he brought he suitcase to the front and asked that they hold it until we were ready to pay. He gave the associate the price tag & informed her that it fell off while trying to open the bag. She said okay.
When back to pay, we informed the associate that the suitcase standing behind the cashier was ours. Immediately, the store manager Pam (wish I got her last name) interjected and told the associate "that can't be the right ticket because it's Ben Sherman and that's a more expensive brand." My husband and I told her that was the correct ticket and it fell off when trying to open the suitcase. Unfortunately, Pam looked at us and decided she did not want to hear it. She insisted to us that the bag should be more expensive and our ticket was incorrect. My husband told her we found the bag in the clearance section and it was the last one or else we would have brought another one, but she wanted to go "look" for herself. I asked my husband to go with Pam since I had my kids with us, and also because I decided to keep my blood pressure low for the Lent season.
While browsing the clearance luggage section, Pam showed my husband an Anne Klein suitcase with a higher price tag and told him, "Ben Sherman is more expensive than Anne Klein and this bag is $69, so there's no way your bag is $56." My husband started getting angry and told her, "Miss I didn't just pick up a random ticket, it fell off when I tried to open the bag." As a customer, this had already gone too far. But Pam insisted that my husband's tag story was not making sense. Disclaimer: my husband is way more patient than me because I would have left Pam and her bags in the back and left the store, but he really liked this checkered Ben Sherman suitcase and knew he had the correct ticket. Right as they were about to leave the section, Pam saw a red Ben Sherman suitcase on clearance. Aha! She was ready to prove us wrong! The price on the red BS suitcase: $56-same price as the checkered one we had, proving that my husband was never lying all along. Really Pam!
Instead of apologizing, Pam said okay and just started walking to the associate's only room. My husband being angry and embarrassed, asked for her name and told her that he wanted an apology. She only replied that her name was Pam, a manager, no apologies-no remorse for putting a customer (a TJX cardholder at that) through the Spanish Inquisition. Instead she sent out a male associate to tell the associates in the front that our price was correct. He did offer a further discount on the bag, but that was not the point. Pam never came out to apologize for her accusations, her denial of our truth, and dare I say it her treatment of customers who look like me, black. Yes I said it because it is true.
I am thrilled that in 2017, we are no longer afraid to call out things just for what it is. Like many other people of color, my husband and I are not not race baiters, we are paying customers just like everyone else. However, our shopping experiences are different as a result of internalized racism and implicit biases from people like Pam. TJ MAXX is a great store, but I have experienced similar issues at other locations in the past and need to start calling them out. Perhaps they can work on their diversity trainings a little more because whatever is being taught, or lack thereof, needs to be worked on.
As a customer, we should have never had to spend 15 minutes trying to "prove" to Pam that we were not lying about the ticket falling off. She and the store may say otherwise, but there were other customers behind us, yes white people, who saw what occurred, and felt bad for us.
So I'd like to call out Pam, TJ MAXX Manager, for her awful behavior and let her know that people like her are why we still have racial issues in 2017. Shame on you Pam!
P.S.- I plan to call corporate on Monday morning!
