Unbeatable prices, but customer services leaves a lot to be desired. Having worked retail before, I know how much it sucks. One thing to remember is that the majority of people working at Big Lots are just trying to get their rent paid; they aren't interested in making a career out of it, so low expectations are the best approach. So I'm really not suggesting cashiers should automatically know whether or not a certain big-ticket item is in stock, but it would be great if their apathy didn't get in the way of communication and I've seen that a lot with this store.
For example, I recently went in to order some furniture. They had to put a few pieces on back order. I did not have a problem with this, and understood why they could not sell me the floor models. But when I was up at the cash register paying, the cashier had an attitude that clearly reflected she didn't want to be there. Fine by me--I am not a consumer who feels like cashiers owe me a smile when they ring me up, and because I hated working retail so much when I had to do it, I really don't expect employees to pretend like waiting on me is the best part of their day. She wasn't talkative, cool. No issue.
The problem came in when I was trying to talk to her about the arrival date of my products. It was a complicated situation because one piece of furniture had arrived, but I could not collect it with my vehicle, whereas the other had to be ordered outright. I tried to explain to her, "Hey, Furniture A is here, but I can't take it. You need to order Furniture B." She kept trying to tell me she could not order Furniture A because it was already in the store, and wasn't hearing me when I told her, "Yes, I know it's in the store, but it won't fit in my car." During that same time, a co-worker asked her for help and she shrugged it off by saying she didn't know, go call someone else. Like I said, it was obvious she just didn't want to be there that day.
We ended up having to call the furniture manager over to explain to her the situation, because I apparently was speaking in a foreign language. I didn't appreciate her treating me like an idiot and condescending to me, including the expression of, "Dude, are you serious right now?" when I asked whether the return policy's period began at time of purchase or at time of receipt for the products themselves.
As I said, the unbeatable prices are the winner here. Don't avoid Big Lots just because their customer service leaves a lot to be desired, but be aware of what you're dealing with ahead of time! read more