I'm not one to complain. I've always been a reasonable person that understands things can't always go perfectly, but my most recent experience with TJ Maxx has left me dumbfounded. Before I go on to write this review, I do want to clear-up the fact that this is not in any way a complaint of the staff as people themselves. They all were friendly and seemed genuinely concerned with the problem that their employer had left me with. This is a complaint of the establishment of TJ Maxx as a whole.
I had been there on Christmas eve to purchase some of the last minute presents on my list (I am a procrastinator and have no shame) and I had decided on a Michael Kohrs watch and a purple throw. I waited in line and was greeted by Spencer. He scanned all of my items, made me aware of an extra step he was required to perform whenever a watch was bought, and then told me I was ready to swipe my card. I did so, the screen said processing, and then...nothing. It gave him some type of error code and prompted me to swipe my card for a second time. Through polite conversation, Spencer mentioned how the computers act up frequently there and asked me to swipe it again and that this time we would put it through as a credit instead of the debit that I preferred. I complied, saw the "processing" screen appear back onto the keypad, and then once again...nothing. Spencer worked with the other cashiers around him to find a solution, swiping my card every few moments to try again, but it was determined that it would simply not work. I decided that I could make the quick drive over to a store nearby that had an ATM, withdraw the money needed, and proceed with the transaction in cash; little more than an inconvenience on such a busy day. But, when I reached the ATM, I was surprised to find that my account balance was $0. I frantically took out my phone so I could load up my online banking website to find out what could possibly have happened. Well, it turns out that every time we swiped my card, it took the money out of my account. Their faulty computer system had literally drained my account.
I went back to the store, waited in line, was greeted by a new cashier (a very cute girl who made me regret the fact that I didn't take more of an interest in my appearance that day) and explained the situation. She quickly brought the matter to the attention of her manager. He took enough information to get his head around what had transpired and retreated to the back room. From there, I did a lot of waiting. The cashiers casually chatted with me in an attempt to ease my obvious annoyance and, aside from occasionally having them make comments that suggested that MY CARD might have been to blame instead of their computers, they did a good job at this.
When the manager finally arrived back, I could tell by the look on his face and his overall tone that I was not about to get good news. I was told that the system errors had happened far enough into the process that my bank had initiated the transaction and removed the money from my available balance. The verdict? I was shit out of luck. The money would go back onto my account but it would NOT be on there when I needed it. It would not be on there in time to get done the much-needed, last minute Christmas shopping that I still had on my list. It was not going to be on there in time to make sure that my daughter had the gifts that had been promised to her when she had visited Santa. Simply put, TJ Maxx's inability to process a simple transaction on the most important day in the retail-world had a direct and dire impact on my holiday season. When I asked about other options available to me, I was given blank stares, shrugs, and a consuling "I don't know what you want me to do." read more
