This was not only the worst retail experience in all my years living in Hawai'i, it was the worst…read moreshopping experience ever. I don't say that lightly, nor am I exaggerating.
When I came into the shop, the owner was helping the only other customer there. I walked around and found some bottles of what I was looking for in the back, where a woman was wrapping baskets. She made no eye contact with me, and didn't offer a greeting. I remained in the back for over five minutes, repeatedly looking at her and trying to get her attention, but she refused to engage. I returned to the front, where the owner had finished cashing out that one customer and was chatting with him. He made no acknowledgement of my existence for at least another five minutes. The other customer then left and the owner finally asked what he could do for me. I said that I just wanted some help. He told me that it was a very busy time of year (note: at this point I was the only customer in the shop, previously there were two, including myself), and that I need to have patience. This felt like a highly passive aggressive thing to say. But I desperately wanted a certain liqueur for my husband, so I ignored the comment and checked out the bottles. He left me in the back to help another customer.
By the time I returned to the cash register with my bottle of choice, he had just started to cash her out. A "she's been waiting, would it be okay if I assist her" might have been nice and what I would have done but I let that slide too. The customer left and he started cashing me out. Being one who's both honest and upfront, I told him that I understand both being busy and patient, I'm an elementary school teacher with Hawai'i DOE; the customer service was deeply lacking, and that I had thought the woman in the back didn't even work there, but rather was a volunteer. He repeated his line about it being a busy time of year (at this point I think there were three customers, including myself, but not including the distributor near the register). I said something to the effect of, "too busy wrapping baskets to even greet a customer," and reminded him of my very busy job. The owner then asked me to leave.
As I was walking out I heard him tell the distributor that this had never happened before, but if you look through previous reviews, there are complaints about this woman. Ultimately the owner did me a huge favor. The bottle I was going to buy retails for $45-$52, he was selling it for $79. Another bottle that he was listing for $87, a competitor had for $64. Extremely greedy in addition to rude? All of DOE will hear about this experience!
