The people who run this place are not nice people. I have seen them harass customers time and time again.
Once I watched a man grow a bit impatient with the chaos in the store so he picked up his cart and carried it down these 3 little steps so he could get to the register( there were no other available ways around) as he was placing his cart back down a very aggressive manager rushed over to him and just before he could place it on safely on the floor the manager screamed out "don't you dare take that cart down those stairs". The cart was already down, they are 3 very small steps and there was no other way around it, the store was a madhouse. The manager became very aggressive and cornered the man, began speaking down to him, basically yelling inches from the man's face. The man never lost his cool but was clearly unhappy about being spoken to this way. When the man attempted to push is cart in the opposite direction so he could check out, security moved in and trapped the man. The manager then called the police on this man because he didn't "listen to my authority, that's why you're going to jail". That's a verbatim quote. This man did nothing dangerous, put no one in danger. If they really wanted to ask him to leave and refuse his business even that would have been over the top but I could see it I guess. But they tried to have him locked up because he carried the items he was intending to purchase down 3 steps that are intended for customer use.
Today I walk into the store wearing my backpack(as when I travel on public transportation I always have it too keep a book, keys, chargers, phone, lunch) I'm browsing the polo shirts when a security guard walks up to me very aggressively and tells me I will have to leave my backpack with someone. I politely ask him if this is store policy and if they have this policy in writing. He becomes enraged, takes an aggressive almost fighting stance on me and lords over me in an attempt to intimidate me. I tell him I'll go up and check my bag. When I get to the front I ask a manager about the policy. She tells me that anyone with a bag must leave it with an employee. I ask if they have a locker, or a safe place to keep my backpack so it and the contents aren't stolen or tampered with. She informs me they do not have such a place that it will be placed in an unattended area, I ask if the area has camera, she says no.
I let her know that I'm not comfortable leaving my bag unattended. I also ask her if the policy applies to women's pocketbooks. She says it doesn't. I point out that there are a few women walking around with all kinds of bags, not just pocketbooks mind you, bags quite similar to mine. I inform her that targeting men with bags when women are not held to the same standard is gender biased. I also inform her that if they had a safe secure area they were going to keep my bag I would have no issue at all having it put away.
She then tells me that as long as I'm willing to submit to a bag check before leaving I can wear my backpack as I shop. I'm not thrilled with this but at least its somewhere in the middle so I agree. I put my head phones back in and go back to shopping.
A few minutes later I feel a very aggressive poking at my back, I take out my ear buds and turn around to find the same security guard chest to chest, in my face asking me "What the F are you doing? I F-ing told you to take the F-ing bag off!!" he then makes an aggressive move to reach for the bag.
I inform him of the conversation I just had with his store manager and he calms down but not before spending the next 20 minutes following me around the store like a creep.
When it's time to leave I present my bag for inspection to a manager, who gives me a really bad, unprofessional attitude and asks "Are you going to open the bag or just stand there like a dummy". I let her know I don't know the specifics of the stores policy and imagined she, or whomever would open and look inside: AKA a bag check. She then snaps at me, disdain, disgust and rage in her face and says "open the damn bag your damnself!" At this point I'm almost amused by how absurd this has all been.
I unzip all 3 compartments of my backpack and wait for her to check my bag. She pauses, spends 30 seconds giving me the worlds dirtiest look, she then looks inside a single section of the bag for exactly 0.03 seconds all the while rolling her eyes and half looking away. Then she says "You're fine, you can get out now".
I have a good sense of humor so I wasn't at any point angry or anything, to me their level of absurdity was comical, though I never smirked or showed my secret amusement. This is however totally unacceptable and unprofessional behavior across the board. There is something seriously and frighteningly wrong with these people who work here on a core level. The management of this place is socially inept, emotionally corrupt and lack even a shred of professionalism or human decency.
You've been warned yelp. read more
