Minta F.
Yelp
I have always enjoyed Gibson Mill. It is a great escape to find antiques, oddities, new items, and fun stuff. I will continue to go, but I know that my recent experience will forever taint future experiences.
I found a gorgeous standing mirror while shopping one Saturday with my mom. Purchased it and they said they could hold it for up to seven days and I could come pick it up within that time. Wednesday rolls around and we leave our house in the husband's truck, with an hour before closing (30-minute drive with an anticipated 30-minutes left before closing). Due to unforeseen traffic issues, we pulled in the parking lot at 7 PM and got to the door at 7:02 (2-minutes after they closed). I get that I was late as the women mouthed through the glass window "sorry, we close at 7". So, we left, with the intent to come again the next day and a 30-minute drive home
Thursday, we left a little earlier, in storms, accidents everywhere and got there with 5-minutes to spare. Door locked again, and three people inside. I showed my receipt through the window and said you still have 5-minutes before you close. I immediately get told they can't do pick-ups that late, the lights are already off, all the guys had already left (except the one who let me in) and they have to be off the clock exactly at 7 pm. When I was told when I could pick it up, no one mentioned that it could not be picked up that close to closing. The two female staff had really bad attitudes and were rude. I explained that this was my second evening of leaving as soon as we could possibly leave, after my husband left work early, sitting it traffic for nearly an hour each time for different reasons and will have spent 3-hours just in the effort to pick this item up.
The gentleman who let me in, looked at me, spoke over the two women and said, "Don't worry, I will go get it for you". As he went to go get it, the first woman, who was the woman there the prior night angrily reached her hand out and demanded she see my receipt as if she didn't believe me and was frustrated that she was being asked to provide excellence in customer service. I get that there are limits on working hours and some people are just there to collect a paycheck and ideally, I would have been there earlier. Would LOVED to have been there earlier actually. Dealing with the stress of kids in the car, traffic, storms, and being late for someone who thinks being "early is on time" is frustrating.
It may sound cheesy, but I learned many years ago in customer service training to "Give 'Em the Pickle". I suggest Gibson Mill get their employees to watch it, because it has had a lasting impact on how I treat my customers and clients in my business (Give 'em the Picke, by Bob Ferrell). Giving 4-minutes of their time, a tiny bit of extra effort, is a easy pickle, especially for someone who has spent three hours of stress trying to make it happen. Empathy, compassion, service, excellence and trust are some values that could be instilled in these ladies.
Additionally, if you don't believe in assisting your customers until 7, your advertised closing time, then communicate a time for cutting off pick-up - 6:30 maybe?
However, the gentleman who said "Don't, worry, I'll go get it for you" should get a shout out in your next staff meeting. He was a an exemplary employee and lead by example. He had empathy, strong emotional intelligence, compassion, excellence and service. To the gentleman who's name I do not know who saw what we were going through and understood....Thank you, a million times THANK YOU!