Information

[Scrap Bug]

 I had a most frustrating experience at Hobby Lobby today.  I am a frequent shopper since I live nearby, and I just had one too many frustrations and called the corporate office while I was there - after the managers who were asked to come see if they could help me, got together and whispered and then went about their stocking and rearranging all the while sneaking glances at me hoping I had left - never ONCE coming to explain anything to me like they had been asked.  They didn't even come to say "I'm sorry, I can't help you", "what's the problem?" - NOTHING.  Total ignore.  

I had misplaced my receipt on a special order - they make you pre-pay here.  At first the head cashier had said she would take my DL, then she wouldn't because they couldn't find a list - and she said they didn't have copy even though I know they did and told her where it was (in a binder under next to the cash register).  She said no - they only keep copies of cake decorating transactions.  She asked if I paid cash or credit.  I said I wasn't sure, but might have been debit.  She said she could look up the transaction if it was debit, and I said "yes, please do".  She then said "no - not today.  You'll have to come back tomorrow when so and so is here to look it up and look up the cameras".  What?  I told her I wasn't leaving, I was here today - not tomorrow.

This was after a frustrating phone call to see if the order was in, and they forgot about me while I was on the phone -  TWICE!  The order they said was in, wasn't the right item anyway, then I found it after they told me to look on the shelf to see if it was stocked.  

I kept waiting and waiting and waiting until I figured out that they were ALL ignoring me when I started walking around and saw them.  The only helpful person was the sweet lady in sewing (the dept. my item came from) who tried to get the others to help me.  

So - while I was in there I called corporate headquarters to see what they could do - something I have NEVER done, but always wanted to when dealing with poor customer service.  I had a great experience with corporate.  They answered right away and made me feel like I was important to them.  The lady listened and told me that of course she could help me and they should have done so here, that there was no reason they couldn't look up the special order or look it up from my card - anybody should have been able to.  She told me they have a strict policy against prepayment for a special order.  I explained to her that I've done several and they've always made me pre-pay.  She said she hoped I didn't mind, but she needed to call the store manager and let him know that wasn't their policy for the very reason why I was in that predicament.  She couldn't find the special order - I told her I suspected it was b/c they didn't submit it, just stocked the shelves with the item, since that's where I found it eventually (another part of the story).  She had to call me back twice while trying to look up to find my debit transaction.

 I had finally decided to leave, since corporate was doing something for me.  While heading out, I stopped the head cashier who was ignoring me and told her not to worry, that I called corporate and they were finding the transaction for me, she needn't worry about it anymore.  She said "oh - I can look up your debit transaction if you'd like me to".  Really?  After telling me I had to wait until tomorrow?  I told her no, it was ok b/c corporate already had.  At that moment my phone rang again and I said "oh, that's them calling me back right now".  I'll see you later.   (Passive aggressive, I know).  It was them.  She was wanting to know exactly what the cashier had told me, and about the others, so I told her what all was said.  She then called me at home and said she had found the info she needed and had contacted the store and found out that the head store manager was actually on vacation, but now they had the information and was to give me item when I went in without any hassle or questions.  She wanted my address and told me she was sending me a gift card to help compensate for all my troubles, that the store's actions were not right.  

Ugh.  They're going to hate seeing me come in for a while, but I don't care.  Even if they didn't think there was something they could do for me, they could have been nice about it and not ignored me.  I guess they kind of got their way as in I'm going back tomorrow.  All for a cheap diy lampshade.  I told the lady at headquarters "I'm sorry, I know it's just an inexpensive item, but the fact is that I paid for it already and I shouldn't have to pay for it again, even if I lost my receipt. Other companies can look it up other ways when you lose a receipt, and apparently, so can HL.  Mine just didn't want to help.

[CarrieG]

sooooo sorry you had to go thru all of that............... 
quite possibly the head manager being on vacation was part of the lack of customer service...when the cat is away............................and they should all be reprimanded!

jobs are so precious here with our crappy Oregon economy that it seems like customer service has gotten BETTER...people really want to keep their jobs.........silver lining..ha

[Morris4]

So sorry you had to deal with that. Our closest Hobby Lobby is about an hour away, so every time I am up that way I want to stop in.....only to realize that it is usually on a Sunday.

I had a similar instance with my local Michael's store. I had a coupon for 50% off that didn't have anything on it about using it on die cut machines etc. Since they now stock Silhouette machines, I got mine for 50% off.  It toook 4 personnel and the store manager to check this coupon. At first they weren't going to honor it, but since it didn't specify I couldn't use it, and my husband was kept telling them that they had to honor it.  Eventually they did honor but it took some time.  Then they kept asking were I got the coupon, etc.  I swear they still cringe everytime I go in there with a coupon on my hand. LOL!

[koala1966]

Wow, what an ordeal. Honestly I've never been impressed with my HL, their customer service is not good. The first time I went there, the cashier yelled (yes yelled) at me for giving her my coupon at the end of the transaction instead of at the beginning. You put out a weekly coupon. Assume everyone has one. And what kind of system in this day and age needs a coupon at the start? She insisted she had to ring my whole order up all over again. I don't go very often, but now we're getting one just down the street, so we'll see if they are any better.

[CarrieG]

Wow, what an ordeal. Honestly I've never been impressed with my HL, their customer service is not good. The first time I went there, the cashier yelled (yes yelled) at me for giving her my coupon at the end of the transaction instead of at the beginning. You put out a weekly coupon. Assume everyone has one. And what kind of system in this day and age needs a coupon at the start? She insisted she had to ring my whole order up all over again. I don't go very often, but now we're getting one just down the street, so we'll see if they are any better.

weird how things are done differently at diff stores.......ours wants your coupon at the end so they know what all you bought that is on sale and then they can take it off a non sale item............lol

[average_kim]

Glad you got your issue cleared up with the corporate headquarters; and hope they get that store straightened out.  Sometimes I've had cashiers who didn't seem to know how to do this or that, but they always call someone up and they are good to help.  And, I've special ordered stuff lots of times, but never have to prepay and have rarely had a problem with anything I've ordered there.

[butterfly843]

Glad corporate took care of it for you. I had a terrible experience at a local michaels two years ago and I still refuse to shop that location (luckily I have 2 others not far away). I had no clue each local michaels has different clearance prices. So shelves I needed were on clearance at my local store so thought they were at the other locations. They called the other store to hold more for me and when I went to that location they were full price and the girl was nasty when I said I didn't want them. I asked for the manager to ask about the pricing difference and he refused to come up he only called the register from the office. 

[emarie803]

I'm glad that corporate stepped right up and took care of you! I hate going to the HL here because the customer service sucks. No one ever seems to aknowledge me with even a hello and I've gone in several times with my son in his stroller and have had employees standing around by the doors (not on the registers) who just watch me struggle with the door and the stroller. But, all we have here is one HL and one Michael's so I make the best of it.

[Scrap Bug]

sooooo sorry you had to go thru all of that............... 
quite possibly the head manager being on vacation was part of the lack of customer service...when the cat is away............................and they should all be reprimanded!

jobs are so precious here with our crappy Oregon economy that it seems like customer service has gotten BETTER...people really want to keep their jobs.........silver lining..ha

No, it's really not the lack of manager - our city is notorious for their terrible customer service.  Good service is SO hard to come by here.  When we do get good service we latch onto that business with all we have.  HL doesn't always have poor service, but there are certain turds that work there, for lack of a better description.  I have dealt with the store manager before, and he usually is ok to work with, and maybe if he had been there he would have taken care of me better.   The other managers not so much.  

I am just done with the poor customer service from anywhere.  If I hadn't been so blatantly ignored I probably would have sucked it up, but that was the breaking point for me.  From now on in this city, I'm just going to deal with matters through corporate offices if it's a chain I'm dealing with.  I'm just so tired of being a loyal customer and being treated like "they" are doing me a favor instead of remembering that I and other customers are the reason they have a job.

[killarney_rose]

Wow, what an ordeal. Honestly I've never been impressed with my HL, their customer service is not good. The first time I went there, the cashier yelled (yes yelled) at me for giving her my coupon at the end of the transaction instead of at the beginning. You put out a weekly coupon. Assume everyone has one. And what kind of system in this day and age needs a coupon at the start? She insisted she had to ring my whole order up all over again. I don't go very often, but now we're getting one just down the street, so we'll see if they are any better.

weird how things are done differently at diff stores.......ours wants your coupon at the end so they know what all you bought that is on sale and then they can take it off a non sale item............lol

That is strange!  I have been in once a week for four weeks now buying cake plates.  Almost every customer has the coupon.  Everyone who does holds the item they want the 50% off on until last item scanned and then show them the coupon via phone.

If it were me I would ask to see the Head Cashier or Store Manager.  Now you have at least three who use their coupon at the end of the transaction from three different stores in three different states.