Tonight my best friend, her adorable three year-old daughter, and myself were shopping in Franklin Park Mall. I had flown in from California for a week or so to visit friends, and part of that included seeing my best friend. During the course of the day, the daughter asked if we could go to the mall. She loves the play area and the Disney store. So, despite the record-setting cold temperatures, we bundled up and drove to Franklin Park Mall.
After a long day of shopping, I went to walk my best friend and her daughter to their car, which was parked right outside the doors of Forever 21. It should be noted, these doors are public-facing and open during business hours. When we walked through Forever 21 to exit, we noticed the doors were locked already and the staff were making preparations to close early it appeared.
We spoke with two employees, Lauren and Monique, and asked if they wouldn't mind kindly opening the door so we could exit, and then lock it again behind us. We noticed that Lauren was wearing the keys around her neck, and we figured this was a totally innocent request. Lauren immediately responded with, "No, we can't". At this point, my best friend replied with, "But she's a child - it is very very cold outside!!" Lauren and Monique exchanged looks, and I overheard Monique say, "Well, you have the key...." But Lauren again told us they couldn't let us out.
At this point I walked calmly up to the desk and advised I would need their Manager's name, the District/Area Manager's name, their names, and a number for corporate. Lauren and Monique spoke amongst themselves for a bit in hushed tones looking at a phone list and deciding which number to give me. While they were deciding I mentioned, "Seriously, you can not let us out?" Monique turned around apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, they told us not to". Lauren glared at me. They came back with the generic phone number for Customer Service (888-494-3837) but no names of any of their managers. Frustrated, my best friend commented that this was silly, and then told me we would just leave.
We then exited the store, walked outside, and around the building, to my best friend's car. Mind you, the windchill was -20 Fahrenheit at the time (this is no exaggeration. We set a record today). As we were loading her daughter into her car seat, one of the employees (we believe it was Lauren, but it may have been a third employee with whom we had not interacted with), opened the very door we asked to exit out of, and yelled at us, "You know what, if it is too cold to walk outside, it is too cold to bring a damn infant to the mall!!" She then popped her head back into the store, and locked the door.
My best friend and I looked at one another in utter disbelief. This means, not only did the employee forbid us from walking outside through the doors, they watched us trudge to our car in the bitter cold, and then felt it was appropriate to yell at us (from within the warmth of the store), loud enough for everyone else in the parking lot to hear. Not only was this a poor representation of the employee's character, it was also a very poor reflection of her employer, as she stood underneath a giant "Forever 21" sign yelling at members of the public.
Here's what the sales girl didn't see: She didn't see a single Mom doing the best she can day after day to provide for her daughter. She didn't see someone who doesn't have the luxury of child care so Mom could go shopping on her own. She didn't see a three year old who was upset because she couldn't have a cookie and was growing more and more tired with every passing minute. What she DID see was a mother putting her daughter first, asking for some simple humanity of being let out the store doors which led directly to my best friend's car. A door, mind you, which normally would have been open, however the store chose to close early. Also, incidentally, a door which prevented any other paying customer from leaving.
I beg to know where in your employee handbook it states it is ok to yell at members of the public (and potential customers) from within your store. I want to know what training your corporation provides on parenting to make your employees experts on raising other peoples' children. And finally, I would like to know whether or not you allow your employees to share their personal beliefs on perceived parenting mistakes with customers.
As a result of this entirely unnecessary debacle, a three year-old left the store crying asking why the "mean lady" yelled at her. She thinks SHE did something wrong. Perhaps your staff was instructed to keep the doors locked, and they were simply following orders. But when I politely inquired the names of Management, they could have said, "You know what, we were told not to open the doors, but let me get my manager for you". But that was never offered.
This is not acceptable in any sense. This is disappointing. This is the kind of behavior which makes us lose faith in humanity. read more
