Lina C.
Yelp
I don't know what is happening here, but after reading the reviews about this store location, it shows time and time again the staff is not up to par with the Crate and Barrel image. It sounds like some of the staff members are rude to their customers and I can attest to that as I've experienced that today, myself. Now, I'm not sure how the rest of the employees are, but the person I am going to mention is a lady named Araina.
Honestly, I thought maybe it was a one-off situation, but I got on Yelp and wanted to see the history of the recent posts as I rely on this medium as my go-to info for reviews and I noticed there were a ton of negative comments regarding the staff and how they are to their customers.
My Story: I had asked one of the members on the first floor where the bathroom was and an employee had advised that it was upstairs near a certain wall. I went upstairs and could not find the bathroom so, I had asked the nearest employee where it was. A middle-aged lady with red glasses and long straight hair behind the counter (Araina) closest to the window towards the street. She answered with "the bathroom is for customers only." Right then and there, I was surprised that she had even mentioned that to me. Which I had responded that I am a customer. Then she gave me another look as if I was lying to her. Then says it's only for paying customers. Mind you, I've NEVER been treated this way before and I was livid. LIVID. She then starts to "guilt trip" me into saying that this is the stores policy and repeats it's for customers.
I'm not the type to confront people publicly. I also don't know if she was having a bad day (and have a level of empathy for people), but the way I was treated doesn't allow her to be a not-so-kind individual. To be honest, I felt like I was targeted as if I was "another Asian tourist." I know people reading this might think I may be pulling the race card, but I don't encounter this type of behavior from others and I think it comes from a place of entitlement. Everything about that interaction really ticked me off. Like I said, I'm not the one to publicly shame people for their behavior even though I know it wasn't right what they did.
If it was the company policy, how do they judge who is a customer or not. Why did the employee downstairs direct me to where the bathroom was but not the person on the 2nd floor? If it's policy, then why wasn't everyone consistent in saying that it's for paying customers only. Does that mean they only target specific people or is that what they say to everyone? Highly unlikely or else a lot of people would have felt insulted. Why do I need to defend myself if I was a customer or not? Things I think their corporate office should really look into when it comes to training on the floor and interacting with customers.
Not once in my 35 years have I ever felt like I wasn't welcomed into a store. What even bothers me the most is that I actually love Crate and Barrel and even CB2 because of its aesthetics and style and quality. Let's say I didn't purchase an item, am I not considered a customer? It just baffles me how she said it.
I will say, the staff member who rang me up was sweet though. I described Araina's physical features and the cashier had identified her. I felt bad to put her in an awkward position but told her that my encounter with Araina left a really bad taste. She had asked if I wanted this info to be told to anyone else and it was her choice to let Araina know or a manager. I didn't have the time to talk to a manager since I was busy and had to leave, but I knew I wanted to write my long-winded experience for everyone to see but I also plan to email corporate this evening or tomorrow cause this needs to be addressed.