I have shopped at the Epping Michaels for years and always considered it a good store. As someone…read morewho loves crocheting and crafting, I've spent a significant amount of money there over time. However, the treatment I experienced tonight makes me hesitant to shop there again.
Tonight, a friend and I went in to purchase balloons. We knew it was close to closing time around 8:30 PM, so before purchasing, we specifically asked the cashier if it would still be okay to have the balloons filled that late. She kindly assured us it was fine, answered our questions, checked us out, and began inflating the balloons. The cashier, who was super sweet and incredibly helpful overall.
A few minutes later, the manager came out visibly upset and immediately began complaining that the store was closing soon and that it was unreasonable for us to come in so close to closing. She first suggested we buy a $50 helium tank instead, which we declined. We apologized and explained that we had asked first and had been told it was okay.
The manager continued complaining, saying she needed to clean the store and close the tills, and that we were going to force the store to stay open late. At that point, there were still about ten minutes before closing, we had twelve balloons total, and the cashier had already finished filling three of them.
Then she yelled, "I am the manager, and I know better. She is new, and this should not have happened," and claimed the store would be "stuck open until 9:20 because of all the balloons." We had already apologized, and the manager said, "We should have known better before coming so late and asking for balloons to be filled". She proceeded to scold the cashier in front of us before storming away.
We felt terrible for the cashier and apologized to her because if we had known this would cause an issue, we never would have asked for the balloons to be filled. We also apologized because no employee deserves to be spoken to that way by a manager. In the end, all of the balloons were completed by 8:59 PM, before the store even closed.
The manager's behavior was completely unprofessional and out of line. The way she spoke to both customers and her employee demonstrated a serious lack of customer service skills, professionalism, and respect. If I could give this experience zero stars, I would.