DO NOT SHOP AT THIS STORE! Go to USA Fireworks. Buyer beware at Phantom... Let me put you in the situation. You're having a happy time with your family filling up your basket with cool fireworks. You're at the end of your shopping spree, dodging other customers, trying to figure out which firework does what, and you decide you need some fountain fireworks to finish off your basket. You've gone over your budget, but hey it's the 4th and who cares about the $250 your about to spend at the register. In the store, the fireworks are stacked 3-4 tall and some teeter on top of others with rounded tops like some kind of Hasboro game. Mostly teenagers are working the store and no one at anypoint has asked if you need any assistance despite the 15+ employees joking around and laughing at the front of the small store. You finally put your last fountain in your basket and as your doing so one of the teetering $15 retail fireworks falls off the shelf and lands on the floor do to no fault of your own except poorly stacked and unattended shelves. Your diligent other half picks up the firework and realizes that the bottom paper-thin cardboard split, but other than that the firework seems ok. Your significant other stops by the front desk (where they've already ID'd you, retained your personal information, and gotten your PERSONAL guarantee that you're not a terrorist upon entering the store) and informs the front desk of the broken firework. As you turn to walk to the register and make your $250 payment, a small, barely 25 year old in plain clothes (no Phantom fireworks shirt, no badge of employment, etc.) stops you and says "Sir, you have to buy this firework". As you look at him in disbelief you say "it fell off the shelf?" With a puzzled look on your face. Then follow up with "I'm not going to pay for something that fell off the shelf", he says "uh, ok" , then you turn again to proceed to the register to pay your $250 bill. During the short walk to the register, you can't help but think "are you serious, wow". Your now are at one of 4 registers where obviously no one really cares you're there or says anything friendly to you and you unload your stockpile of fireworks. The cashier beeps one, then another, and as you look down at the form to sign the release, out of the corner of your eye you see the 25 year old (assumeably) employee switch the firework that had already been rung up. Your significant other picks up the switched firework and says "excuse me sir, did you just switch the fireworks?" while picking up and noticing the switched firework was now the broken firework that had been shotily taped back together, as the unknown employee walks away...
Needless to say we then went straight to the managers office where we got accused of purposefully breaking the firework. We attenpted to explain that all their fireworks were teetering on top of one another, only to realize they were unsympathetic ears listening and then to be told by the manager "we've never had a firework fall like that". We then said "well glad you lost a $200 sale for that ($5 worth of fireworks)" and walked out of the store without buying anything. We got lucky that we had never submitted payment and honestly we have never been so appalled in our lives from the demeanor, dishonesty, and attitude of a store or it's employees. We will NEVER shop here again!
Side note: the cheap Chinese fireworks at this store cost nothing to buy at wholesale and are marked up egregious amounts (hundreds of percentage points).That is how everything is always "buy one, get one free." Meaning: the store would have lost nothing by just placing the broken firework in the loss column or could have even offered it to someone who made a big purchase as a bonus. I know this because I used to buy fireworks at wholesale. The store we ended up going to (USA Fireworks) actually cares about it's customers and gave a free firework to our kids just for shopping at their store. By the way, the USA firework store manager was also appalled at the treatment we received from their rival store. read more