I'm a long-time customer, but after an experience at this Arco AM/PM store today, I plan to take my business elsewhere.
I'm hoping this message will be forwarded to the franchise owners of the Arco AM/PM located at 61122 South Highway 97, The Dalles-California Hwy S, Bend, OR 97702. I visited this location today, 5/13/23 around 3:50 PM to make a quick purchase. Unfortunately, I received exceptionally poor customer service during my visit today, and it was not the first time I had had a negative interaction with a specific staff member at that store location.
I selected a few items for purchase and waited for the checkout clerk to tell me to insert my debit card. She indicated that I should insert my payment card, and when I did, I received a chip read error. No problem, as this is a fairly normal occurrence and seems to occur frequently, especially at that store.
However, today this clerk told me that it was probably my fault that the error had occurred since I had inserted my card too quickly. To be clear, I inserted my payment card subsequent to being directed to do so by this staff member and yet was immediately told that it was my fault that an error had occurred.
As I prepared to insert my card again, the clerk slammed her hand down on the merchandise I was purchasing and claimed that I was in the process of trying to take the items without completing my purchase. Essentially, she put me, the customer, in a position of denying that I was attempting to steal goods. Bizarre, but not great.
I would normally laugh this kind of an interaction off as someone having a bad day had this exact situation not already occurred a couple of times prior to my visit today with the specific employee in question. To be clear, this employee has, multiple times, been verbally abrasive to me and on more than one occasion has slammed her hand down on the items I'm in the process of purchasing when a chip card error occurs.
If I owned this business, I would wish to know that one of my employees was treating customers in this way. She has effectively driven my business away from not just this Arco AM/PM store, but all Arco stores. I did not catch the clerk's name tag, but she is a 30-40 year old, robust woman with light brown/dirty blond hair who has worked at that location for at least a year.
After reading a few other Yelp reviews, I suspect that a few other customers have had similar negative interactions with the specific clerk I encountered.
Owners. Up to you to fix this. read more
