Recently this past weekend, I had a very upsetting and uncomfortable experience at this store. I was in the parking lot minding my own business when one of the store members tapped on my car. At first, I was told that I couldn't return to the store anymore and it shocked me. When I asked why, she said a customer had accused me of taking something without paying.
I tried to explain that I did no such thing and I was more than willing to have them review video evidence. I also requested to speak to the supervisor regarding this misunderstanding. The staff informed me that the supervisor was not on site at the time and that it would take hours to review the footage. After initially insisting that I may have done something wrong, the store eventually backtracked and told me that I could return after all. However, it still did not sit well with me that I was accused of theft without proof and I took it very seriously.
Update: When I followed up with them the next day, I asked to speak with the business owner through phone. I was told by the owner that after reviewing the video footage, they didn't find any evidence of me taking anything (as I already tried to explain to them). The owner apologized and same worker from the day before also said sorry for acting rashly.
While I do appreciate the apology, I should not have been put in this position in the first place. Yes I know the workers were acting in response to what the customer said, but there were still better ways to handle this. I should not have been followed to my car. I should not have been told initially that I was banned, especially when there was no concrete evidence of me doing anything wrong. Besides only one customer's claim, none of the store members themselves have actually witnessed me take anything without paying. During the incident, the store staff mentioned several times that they had other people steal from the store before. It doesn't change the fact that I was not one of those shoplifters, nor does it excuse that I was still treated this way before any evidence was confirmed.
Giving this place 1.5 stars is more than fair after everything that happened. Originally I was going to leave a lower rating on the day of the incident if the store staff did not apologize. Hopefully they can learn from this to improve. In the future, please have the staff trained to handle situations like this more professionally and respectfully. It's not worth putting someone through emotional distress and humiliation by accusing them of a crime they didn't commit. I used to be a regular customer who frequently bought things from Earth Roots, so this incident was deeply hurtful to experience.
Also to the customer who falsely accused me, I have never shoplifted from this store and I'm not sure why you felt compelled to say this about someone you don't even know. You may not have realized it since you quickly left after accusing me, but all this unnecessary trouble was not worth it. You never even apologized for the stress you put another customer through. Take responsibility for your actions and don't do this to other people again. read more