Absolutely HORRENDOUS customer service. After wandering around this store trying to find cat litter, I finally found an employee, a short, angry looking woman in at least her mid 60s with gray hair and glasses. As I approached her she smugly looked elsewhere, as if she was too good to answer a question for me. When I politely asked her if she could tell me if the store carried what I was looking for, she immediately appeared annoyed that I would dare bother her as she pointlessly walked around the store doing nothing but look pissed off. Without even addressing my question, she quickly and condescendingly pointed out that I am supposed to leave my backpack at the back counter (which I was wearing because I'm a cyclist and need to carry my belongings with me somehow...), something that was supposedly clearly stated on a sign posted at the front of the store. She made a point to be extra condescending in pointing out this fact about a sign that I was implicitly too dumb to notice, while walking me to the back counter as if she was escorting me to the principal's office for wearing inappropriate clothing to school. I then turned right around and walked out of the store. Forget that. If you want people to spend money at your store, then treat potential customers with some respect--plain and simple.
Of course, I didn't see the sign in the first place, but I highly doubt anything about the signage in this store is "clear," which was made evident to me by the very first sign I actually did notice upon arriving: a "no bicycles" sign posted literally a few feet above the bike rack outside the main doors. Yeah, that's right, whoever runs this store apparently thinks it makes sense to warn bicyclists that they can't bring their bike onto the property, all the while tempting them with a bike rack to lock up their bike. The bike rack is there just for aesthetic purposes, don't ya know? Needless to say, I parked my bike there anyway, as I figured the store would rather get my business than abide by an absurd rule that doesn't belong at any Portland-Metro business anyway. From my interaction with this obnoxiously rude employee, however, I've learned this store doesn't want my business after all.
It's incredible to me that this woman felt it was appropriate to speak to a 30-year-old man in such a condescending way. I am not a child, and in fact I have probably accomplished more academically and professionally than she ever could. Obviously I will never step foot in this god awful store again primarily because of the customer service, but the hilariously idiotic bicycle signs certainly don't help the store's reputation either. This Rite Aid was almost completely empty the day I was there, and I have no doubt it will stay that way until the day it goes out of business in a few months. read more