My parents, fiancé, and I were stopping in for soaps for my upcoming wedding shower- hoping to buy 30 soaps. Upon entering the store, it was clear we weren't wanted. Joselle was busy with shipment and prepping the store to close, mind you we asked if we were holding her up and she said the store closed at 7:00- we were there at 4:30. She was getting bank slips ready, cleaning up, etc. After we had to ask about store promotions, she showed us the clearance wall, and we directed ourselves back to the fall scents. Usually associates ask us what we like for scents, what we are looking for etc- this wasn't the case. For any question we had, we had to go up to the counter, or near the door to the back room to get Joselle.
After grabbing a bag ourselves, we thought it'd be easier to load the soaps in a box. We didn't want the pumps to pop up, or anything to explode from being jostled around. My mom went to as Joselle for a box... when she asked, Joselle said she wasn't sure she had one, glanced around the cash wrap, and said she wasn't sure again. Then she finally went to the back room and got a box, unloaded the soap, and gave it to my mom. My mom thanked her, and tried to make conversation by commenting that new scents must be coming in, to which Joselle simply said, "nope, these are in the wall". Back to work Joselle went, and back to the soap we went.
After we helped ourselves to everything we needed, we went to the cash wrap where we asked for cellophane and ribbon, something they usually ask if we need. I ended up finding the coupon in my phone, and wanted to split the order so we could maximize our savings. Though we were the only customers in store, Joselle kept scanning the entire time we were trying to break up the order, never even letting me talk, which frustrated me as a customer. She said one coupon per customer, which I would have normally understood, but her attitude was so abrasive I pushed for three coupons since there were three of us with them on our phones. After explaining why it wouldn't work, and telling us there were cameras watching her, she finally said she would do it, but we may not be so lucky in future visits. That's when I told her there wouldn't be future visits to Bath and Body works. She asked me why, and I point blank said, "you". At this point, Joselle took it upon herself to argue. Asking what she did, I explained, we were never greeted, never helped, rudely handled with the coupon, to which she had an excuse- she said hello, she gave us a box, she told us about the coupon. Obviously getting nowhere- I wanted to leave, so I stopped talking. Later in the transaction, Joselle started AGAIN, saying if we wanted to talk to her manager, she would be happy to arrange it. When we asked if she was a manager, she rudely said now, but she was a "Shift Leader" and she "followed her managers direction".
The thing is- had we been greeted, talked to, made to feel like we were wanted in the store, I wouldn't have cared about the coupon. But, I felt so terrible after leaving the store in West Branch that I will NEVER return to Bath and Body works again. I've been a loyal customer for years, purchasing gifts, party favors, and my favorite bath products and candles (love sweater weather!!!), spending between $700-$1000 annually. While that may not be a lot to the corporation, think about the impact this experience is going to have after I tell my friends, coworkers, and the online community about this appalling experience where not only was there zero customer service, but an employee actually tried to argue with me, even after I wasn't speaking to her. Multiply my spending by the countless people who will hear or see my experience and it will make a difference to the corporation.... All this, over one HORRIBLE experience just trying to buy soaps for a wedding shower. read more
