Long post alert
I've been here a couple of times. The most recent was last Saturday. I came in a hurry, as I was late for a baby shower and needed to find an outfit and make an exchange of a previously purchased top, but for a smaller size. As soon as I entered the store I was on a mission to find an outfit and was moving quickly with my handbag and Aritzia bag in one hand and clothes in another.
Out of nowhere, a sales associate approached me and insists on taking my clothes to the register to help me "move quicker." I explained to her that I'm making an exchange and shopping and I'm in a rush so I will come up to the register when I'm ready to do everything at once. She didn't take "no" for an answer and reaches and actually grabs my Aritzia bag that not only had the item I was exchanging, but other clothing items I previously purchased and not planning to exchange or return along with my handbag as they were on the same arm...so to put it simply, she grabbed my Aritzia bag AND MY HANDBAG. I looked down at her hand on my things in disbelief and felt extremely uncomfortable by this. She was already distracting me from my mission and I was already flustered and in a rush. I couldn't concentrate and was flustered even more.
Out of frustration I ran to grab a smaller size of what I planned to exchange along with my exchange item and receipt and she brought it to the register. I hesitated doing this because at the end of the day it's MY receipt and item I already paid for and felt it should be in MY POSSESSION until I'm at the register. The sales associate made it seem like this process would be quicker for me but I knew better.
Anyways, I decided to wrap up my search and I wasn't in the mood to look for anything else so I got in line with what I had already picked out (without deciding if or what I was going to buy yet). I figured I'd decide at the register since I was being rushed. Once I got in line, I wanted to see if she was going to direct me to the front of the line for this "quicker" experience. Instead, she rushes over to me and takes all the clothes out of my hand, goes to the register and starts folding them. I say from across the line that I haven't decided on what I want yet because I'm feeling rush so no need to fold anything.
When I finally get to the front of the line she directs the associate at the cashier to do my exchange. The sales associate then calls the manager and asks her for some type of override that'll allow her to initiate my exchange. I then explain to the manager that I didn't appreciate my shopping experience today and felt rushed and how the sales associate grabbed my personal shopping bag and hand bag insisting to bring my things to the register and I was already in a rush so now I was flustered and discombobulated by all this to the point that I wrapped up my shopping and didn't want to try anything on. She then explained that perhaps the SA misread the situation and my body language and they aim to make it a shopping experience of ease so in other words the SA probably saw I was in a rush and tried to assist me.
The manager was nice and apologetic which was great but I knew better. I used to work retail in my college days and there's something called loss prevention and that is all that was. She saw me with clothes in my hands and my Aritzia shopping bag with my previous purchase and assumed I was going to steal something. I have been in Aritzia and plenty of other retailers where they insisted on taking my clothes and starting a dressing room. But never this forceful, like not taking 'no' for any answer.
I felt violated, humiliated because people did notice the interactions, uncomfortable, and the whole ordeal really upset me and left me feeling uneasy. This location is most convenient for me but I'm not sure I'll be back to this Aritzia for a while. I have a great career, I travel the world, I have access and resources, and the last thing I'd want to feel is targeted under the guise of a "shopping experience of ease". I can tell the difference when there is a true shopping experience of ease and I welcome it because I do get tired, I don't like holding too many clothes, and personally, I prefer shopping with people who help me carry my things, but the forcefulness of the situation read way differently. I don't even like going into the mall these days unless I'm going for a very specific thing and I certainly will not go into a store and be treated like I can't afford to shop in the store. Window shopping has never been my thing. read more