I had an absolutely terrible checkout experience at this store tonight, although the woman at the…read morebakery counter was delightful, helpful, and professional.
(The photos show just how tense and unnecessarily escalated this situation became over a simple cake purchase. Three employees were essentially tag-teaming me over an incorrect charge that could have been addressed when I first pointed out the repeated scans--before Gary charged me and forced me to leave, examine the receipt, and come back inside. Instead, it took three employees about ten minutes to address a basic checkout mistake that should have been corrected in less than a minute. I started recording a video after a few minutes of them telling me I was wrong and them being rude, then suddenly they started being fake nice when I put my camera on, classic.)
I had just gotten out of work and had hot takeout food waiting for me. I stopped briefly to purchase three cakes for a special occasion, advertised as three for $12.
Gary, the cashier, rang in more cakes than I actually had, leaving the receipt full of confusing entries and corrections. I heard the repeated scans and immediately asked him, calmly and politely, to check. He would not scroll back to let me see all of the charges on the screen. Instead, he repeatedly assured me that I had not been overcharged, so I had to complete the transaction and wait for the receipt to print.
Outside, I checked it and discovered that I was right. Despite all the corrections, I had still been charged $17.97 for three cakes advertised as three for $12.
I went back inside and deliberately approached another cashier because I did not want to deal with Gary again, but he came over and continued insisting the receipt was correct. The second cashier also repeatedly told me I was wrong and claimed this was simply "how the receipt looks." She underlined different entries with a pencil and tried to explain that the $17.97 represented only one cake, which made no mathematical sense.
I finally had to pull out my own calculator and walk two employees who handle money through the charges before they began recognizing the problem. The second cashier then rudely told me, "You're going to have to wait," dismissed me, and looked away. The way she spoke to and disregarded me was what started making me genuinely angry.
When the manager arrived, he barely acknowledged me, side-eyed me, and acted irritated rather than concerned. By then, the cakes had been tossed around and shaken up during the ordeal, and I was too upset to want them, so I returned all three.
At one point, Gary remarked that "life is too short." I replied, "Yeah, it is too short, and I don't have time for this s***." The manager focused entirely on that statement, threatened to have me removed and banned from the store, and shooed me away.
I acknowledge exactly what I said after the situation escalated, but I began calmly and politely. One frustrated statement does not excuse ringing in more cakes than I had, refusing to check the transaction, repeatedly insisting I was wrong, dismissing me when I asked for help, or threatening to ban me.
This ruined my evening. The hot food I had ordered was cold by the time I arrived to pick it up, and I left without the cakes I needed for a special occasion. I regularly shop here, but after this treatment and being threatened with a ban, I am uncomfortable to return and will tell my family and friends how I was treated.
Gary has made mistakes on my previous transactions that I chose to let go. This time, I simply did not want to be overcharged. The employees escalated the situation through their dismissive and arrogant treatment, then acted as though I was the problem for questioning an incorrect charge. The manager's mafia-wannabe approach felt more like intimidation than customer service.
The woman at the bakery counter was the only person who treated me with genuine kindness and professionalism. Frankly, she demonstrated better management qualities than the manager and should have his job.
Corporate should review the register transaction, my receipt, and the complete camera footage. Mistakes happen. What made this unacceptable was the refusal to check, repeated arguing and dismissal, lack of accountability, wasted time, and threatening treatment from management.
