I would leave 0 stars if I could!!!!!!!!…read more
My family and I walked in to the Marquee probably around 4:20PM on a rainy day. The power was flickering but we were happy to be out of the rain. We perused the aisles, carefully examining items both antique and handmade.
We enjoyed many of the items, but found many of them to be on the pricey side. This is understandable as many are handmade so I didn't think much of it. That is until I stumbled upon this cow skull marked $16. I was so excited as that is a nice fair price and it's been on my thrift list for a while.
I walked up to the counter and the employees were checking folks out but there were two, so I asked the one that was not visibly busy, "Excuse me! Do you mind if I just leave this here?" Knowing she was busy, I was just expecting a quick response. But as I stood there I thought I heard her say "yep" without even looking up. I had to ask to confirm I heard her right. I thought it was a bit odd but again I totally understood that she was busy so really thought nothing of it.
We perused for a bit longer until the owners announced the store was closing shortly and to come up if you'd like to make any purchases. I did, explaining how excited I was and how happy I was with the price. The two women behind the counter immediately took notice and one of them said, "that must be a mistake." Again, I thought this was a bit odd, but not a big deal. I stood and waited while the owner called one seller, then another, then another. They assured me that the price "HAD to be a mistake," and I continued to wait, hearing her audibly huffing and sighing while others were also waiting to pay until eventually I just said, "I'll happily pay $20 for it!!" But was quickly refused.
At this point, I really felt like the employees were not only being curt/direct, but directly disrespectful. I was appalled when after standing there for what had to be another 5 minutes or so, I finally said, in effect, "I don't understand why if the price is marked you wouldn't be able to honor it. It is the skull of an animal, a waste product, after all. There are many ranchers that regularly discard them..." to which one of the women behind the counter genuinely said "Let me ask you something. If you were me, and you were selling these items, would you not want me to do my due diligence and check?" I responded that in all honesty, if I was a business owner and made a pricing mistake... (which again, was never actually confirmed by the seller or even implied, it was a completely baseless accusation from the front desk employees) ... a mistake that was pointed out by a customer, I would almost certainly honor that price. She seemed disgusted. It felt like the employees were accusing me of trying to steal or switch the tag or something, which would've been literally impossible as the tag was marked "cow skull."
Finally at this point I walked out. On the way out the door, I was talking to my folks about how shocked I felt by what had just happened (they saw the whole thing and felt the same way) and a very kind employee named Alex noticed what I was saying and that I was almost crying and held the door open for us before taking us aside and apologizing on behalf of the store and asking us several times to please come back and see them. I said we would not, but that I really appreciated his kindness.
That gesture from Alex is the only redeeming factor from my visit to the store, and both myself and my parents were absolutely shocked and appalled. If they wanted to confirm prices or even refuse to sell for that price, that would be totally understandable. But the implication of wrongdoing I felt along with just general disdain made me genuinely feel as though I had done something wrong just for trying to purchase an item. I really am dumbfounded.
Regardless, thank you once again to Alex for being the saving grace of this trip. I have anxiety and your kindness genuinely helped me to not cry as I was leaving and help enjoy the rest of my day. That being said, if you value kindness and human decency and you don't have a several hundred dollar budget, don't ever go here.
Thank you for taking the time to read this review and please know I typed it myself with no AI. I am an artist myself and really feel passionately about being kind to others and treating them as you would like to be treated. Go support a fun local business that loves its customers instead!!!!!!!!!!! Peace and love