The main reason for this negative review is that the manager at the Melrose location made the 20 minutes I spent there unnecessarily unpleasant!
I have spent at least thirty years buying and selling at the Buffalo stores. I began in San Francisco in the late nineties, then when I moved to Los Angeles at the La Brea store and currently at the Sherman Oaks location, and when I am in the Melrose area I go there.
I am aware of their business practices, what they purchase and don't purchase and therefore sell, when they have sales, etc.
I was excited when I arrived on Wednesday, February 28 at around 11.45 a.m., especially since I would be the first to sell. However, to my surprise, the buyer, a white woman with dark blonde hair, gave me an unpleasant, "What do you want?" kind of greeting.
I ignored it. As soon as I walked in with the bags, she started talking about how they didn't buy "fast fashion" and that "from now on they buy only designer and exclusive brands and some vintage." Mind you!, she hadn't even seen what I was selling yet, but even so, she was really rude in the way she communicated it. Again, I didn't say anything.
I was going to get another bag from the car and put some money in the meter, but she told me to "HURRY UP" because "YOU can't leave your stuff unattended", even though she had already placed the bags on the counter. I continued to ignore her attitude, but in the three to four minutes it took me to return, she had gone through both of my big bags and thrown everything back into them like trash. She hardly even looked at the other bag; after giving it a glance for two minutes, she repeated what she said earlier--that they only purchase "designer" and "expensive brands"--and she didn't find anything in my bags.
Needless to say, I was taken aback, I generally bring vintage and the newest styles which they always end up buying half of what I bring. During this trip, I had some Kate Spade jeans and jacket, a Coach black bag, a Michael Kors purse, and a few "fast brands" that were brand-new with tags from Zara. I knew my stuff would sell later, so I felt it was not worth it to continue dealing with her, and needed to get away from her arrogant demeanor.
On the way out I glanced to the cashier and I inquired about purchasing a vintage dress that the cashier was putting away in a box. She declined, saying that it would be donated because no one had purchased it. When I asked whether it would be okay if I buy it, she said no, to speak with the manager.
To my surprise this manager happened to be the buyer I just had a bad experience with, I asked her nicely if I could buy the dress. She asked the cashier if the tag was still on, to which she said "No," but then she told me I could have it for $20 because it was on sale from $30.00. I asked if I could have it for 15.00, and she firmly said, "NO! we don't bargain here," I mentioned there are stains and rusty marks and if the dress had been on sale from 30, it would have been 15. to what she said "NO it was 40" then the salesgirl chimed in, " it was 36." Regardless of that, I said "You were going to donate it anyway", and immediately her story changed to "Well, we're not donating it; we're packing it for 'EARTH DAY," What! It will only cost $1.00 on Earth Day! at that point, I knew that she was just being nasty so I just turned around and walked away, shaking my head at the numerous stories I was receiving about a sad dress that no one was buying, and she was fighting for five dollars, when at the end she will put it in storage for a month and give it away for one dollar. If it's really the truth.
Why is this woman a manager? She is arrogant, rude, and mean. Despite the fact that, in this situation, it was a small amount of money, she clearly makes poor business judgments that probably cost the store money if not customers.
In any event, her actions weren't justified. I'll just turn around and go right back out of the store in the future if I see her again.
I have never before encountered such a callous, arrogant attitude from anyone, much less a manager, I only wish I got her name, but if the business is concerned about providing excellent customer service or even just retaining their clientele, they can certainly ascertain who it is by her work schedule, if they do not already know. (Wednesday, February 28 at around 11.45 a.m)
On a positive note, following this unnecessary fiasco, I went to CrossRoads, where they purchased my Coach bag, my Michael Kors purses, Kate Spade jeans, one of my Zara dresses, and a few other trendy items I owned. From there, I went to Buffalo in Sherman Oaks, where they purchased a few more items, including two pairs of platform shoes and a pink faux leather motorcycle jacket. read more