i was looking for a specific vape for my sister for christmas and after calling all over the state…read morethis place seemed to have it so i called and put it on hold with them because i live half an hour away, at which point i was told they were closing an hour early today so i said i'll leave right now (this was at like 4:25pm) they said that was fine, to hurry, and that they had it on the counter for me.
i called 5 minutes before they were supposed to close early saying i was getting off the freeway and that google maps said i'd arrive at 5:01, and i was told that if i got there and they were still there they could still help me.
weird response, made me feel like they were now starting to pack up as fast as possible so they could be gone by the time i got there, which was contradictory to the last few times we spoke, when they said they'd help me if i got there right at close.
the person on the phone said they had a company christmas party after they closed, and i said i understood and would be there at 5 like we had agreed on.
i did get there at exactly 5, not 5:01, less then 4 minutes after i spoke with them on the phone.
but as i suspected, the store was completely dark and the metal gates had been closed. not a sign of anyone inside. i was shocked, considering i had just spoken to someone in there less than 5 minutes ago, and had arrived right when i said i would. they already closed an hour early and wouldn't stay one more minute?
the fact that the store was completely dark, gates closed, right at 5 confirmed to me that they started closing seconds after i got off the phone to be able to walk out right at 5. when i worked retail we couldn't even start closing until after closing time because someone might come in during the (publicly posted) open hours and we had to keep a til open to still make the sale.
i felt deceived and upset. i saw the employee getting into their car and asked why they would tell me they would help me at 5, when it was just now hitting 5 and they're already in the car, to which they responded with "it's not 5", so i said, "but it is, we just talked about this", and their response was, "it's not though".
why so cold? like, there was no way they could have closed in 1 minute and i felt like they closed even earlier so they wouldn't have to help me. like why are you pretending that you had no idea i was coming? why gaslight me about it? :(
i told them gas isn't cheap and that this was the last place i called after calling all day to find this particular item and was assured that they would still help me if i got there by a certain time, which i did.
the employee just said sorry, sorry, i have somewhere to go. i said yeah, your christmas party. we just spoke. in the amount of time they spent telling me why they couldn't still help me i could have gotten the vape, they just spent that time outside the store after close instead of inside helping me like i thought they would. like i get that you had places to be, that's why i called multiple times on my way to verify that it was still okay and basically gave live updates of my location. but instead they wasted my time.
this 40 mile round trip was expensive, and i get that they were closing early today, but i was literally assured that they would still help me at 5. i would not have spent the time and gas driving up there as fast as i possibly could (because i was told to hurry) if i had known they wouldn't be willing to sell me something they already set aside for me, something that might have taken an extra 5 minutes. i was going to tip them $20 for staying and helping me too since they're like the only place in the state that has these and it was understood that they'd be doing me a favor, but now i'll be getting my sister a different vape from somewhere that doesn't give me flashbacks to how jaded working in retail made me. y'all wasted an hour of my time for a few minutes of your own.
i prefer my local vape shop because it feels like a community, and this place is just not the vibe. have a little compassion. it's christmas.