1. Safety hazard/fire code violation locking customers in store during regular business hours
2. Insensitive to covid-19 health guidelines, personal space, boundaries
3. Rude, condescending behavior
We're in the middle of a pandemic so my mother and I went into this store with a quick plan to get in and out within a few minutes. An overly talkative tall, asian, male sales associate locked the door we came in through (~3pm, during regular business hours) and forced us into conversation, even though we tried several times to shut down small talk and said we didn't need help. Since there was only one door (locked), we were trapped, forced to listen to his condescending loud lectures and risked being exposed to tons of his droplets and germs.
I already looked at a jacket online so we walked straight to the jacket I wanted to see. I saw it, touched it, and then headed back towards the exit door. Some other jackets caught my eye so I went to take a look. The sales associate approached us again, telling us not to be shy about any questions, I said ok, and we walked away and continued to talk quietly amongst ourselves in another language. We did not want to talk to him, we did not need help.
He butted in again, asking whether I had a Moncler. I explained I was familiar with the ski line as I had worn a Moncler Grenoble jacket skiing, but I wasn't specifically wanting to buy a ski jacket (the jacket I came looking for was not a part of the ski line). He condescendingly lectured me telling me that I was WRONG and that ski jackets are lighter and less warm than their normal jackets to account for heat generated from skiing (I already said I've gone skiing in a Moncler Grenoble jacket so I know how skiing works) and went on and on. I nodded politely, not responding with any words to try to end this conversation ASAP. I was extremely uncomfortable with him standing so closely and talking loudly (spitting) at me because of the coronavirus pandemic. He had clearly never heard of social distancing.
He then commented on my mom touching another jacket and rudely said that she's wrong for touching the jacket. Without asking what we were looking for or why we were feeling the jackets, he claimed that she was feeling how thick it was and was therefore WRONG. He asked if I had a down jacket, I said yes I own down jackets. "Let me tell you, ok" he began another lecture loudly explaining WHAT DOWN IS and why we're not allowed to feel the jackets for thickness. This is AFTER I already told him I have down jackets. The arrogance. He went on and on explaining what feathers are, "let me explain to you, ok." It was clear he was not trying to be helpful or trying to sell us anything. He was on some power trip, enjoying talking down to us and hearing the sound of his own voice.
It was the middle of the afternoon (3pm), during regular business hours, but the only door was locked and there was no way out without him unlocking the door with his key and letting us go. I was forced to stand there listening to him loudly, condescendingly, MANSPLAIN everything and insult my intelligence. He was talking so loudly it was like shouting. I feel sick just thinking about all the droplets/spit and germs I might have been exposed to from his shouting and standing closely. We were all wearing masks, but he only had a flimsy mask on. Since we were indoor with no windows, door shut, and no free air flow that means it was a higher risk environment. He had no respect for boundaries, personal space, or social distancing.
After patiently enduring the torture, he finally unlocked the door and let us leave. I'm certain it's not legal for him to lock customers inside the store during regular business hours (3pm). This is also a gross violation of fire code. There was no way to exit without him unlocking the door with his keys. If there was a fire in the store, we would all have to listen to him mansplain FIRE to us and we'd all burn and die before he'd let us out.
The shocking insensitivity to personal space and boundaries, especially in the middle of a global health pandemic is appalling. The rude, condescending behavior is offensive. Locking customers inside a store during regular business hours is unacceptable, a safety violation, and likely illegal. This was an absolute nightmare of an experience.
I raised this to their corporate Customer Service team. The store manager called and did not explain any plan to address the concerns raised, only made up excuses to downplay and dismiss the concerns. She confirmed that they break fire code & ignore safety when they're short staffed (gross negligence still applies even if you chose not to schedule enough workers that day), don't care about social distancing/personal space (claimed temperature reading & hand sanitizer was enough covid protocols to follow and SA did everything correctly), and dismissed the rude, condescending behavior as "educating the customer" read more