I used to love this store. For years, I would come to this store for supplies, in part because they…read morewere fun to poke around and they had no competition ten years ago. I won't likely be coming back, after a recent incident.
I was shopping with my best friend. We were dressed down, particularly for a weekday, because we were off from work. She had shown some interest in some Opal jewelry and asked a sales woman if she could open the case.
'It's really expensive," the sales woman warned.
"That's okay," my friend responded, "I'm actually a huge fan of opals, so I am well aware of their market price, plus artistry mark-ups."
That should have been the end of it: the sales woman warned the customer, and the customer acknowledged it - in this case, by pointing out that she had prior experience with the high price of opals and opal jewelry. The sales woman wouldn't let it go. She kept ragging on her that the price was incredibly high, even after handing her the piece and showing her the price...
... To which my friend told her the price might be high for some people, but for an opal piece that size and especially with the labour and artistry in the setting, the price was only two-thirds what she was expecting. Nope, even after that comment, she continued on about whether my friend could afford it.
It's because we're not skinny and dressed down, which we did since we'd be walking and shopping in the summer heat. She just kept insinuating that she couldn't afford it, presumably based on her appearance. Well, appearances are deceiving because my friend is actually a diplomat who makes multiple times that of a sales woman (I assume she's not a manager because a manager would never be that rude), even more if she goes somewhere with hazard pay and watched friends/colleagues get hurt in Afghanistan while she, by mere luck, remained unscathed. She not only could afford it, but she has earned respect for noble reasons; respect clearly was not what she was getting.
However, she is a diplomat and, with only a look, got me to keep my mouth shut. She did not tear down that sales girl like I was about to do. She made her purchase as no snob is going to stop her and we left. Of course, she then pointed out that Tribal Voices now has competition: the only way the remain deserving of our money is if they remain a cut above, which they clearly are not.
Their rudeness and judgment has lost them at minimum two customers. They may have lost more as we certainly told our friends of the incident.