[Throwin64]

Originally Posted by stumblori

My mom tried to use the coupon there this weekend, and the lady at the register plum forgot to ring the coupon up! She said she'd have to cancel the transaction and start the whole order over again. She had been waiting forever in the line so by that time she didn't even want to bother. I hate going to Michaels - every time I go in, there's either a long line, there's no one at the registers, etc. etc. I like Joann's even though it's further from where I live. Does anyone have a good story about Michaels?

That happened to my wife too, only she was 8.5 months pregnant and it was the second Saturday in December. She was finishing up the nursery and had gotten a bunch of paints and stencils, all low priced items but about 30 or so in all. There were 2 registers open and long lines at both. After nearly 20 minutes in line, we get to the register, and the clerk (who looked about 95) slowly peered at each item, rang it up and bagged it, one at a time. Steven Hawking could have processed our order faster. While this was going on, we happened to look out front, and there are 3 or 4 employees talking and smoking outside, seemingly oblivious to what was happening. Ol' Ethel finally finished, and my wife handed her her coupons (there were 3). The clerk peered at them , then told us she couldn't accept them because they hadn't been presented [b]in advance![b] Well, the time to be most wary with my beloved is when she gets very quiet and calm. She tried to reason with the clerk, her voice getting softer and softer as I got more and more worried. The clerk would not budge. "I'd like to speak with the manager?" "She's on her break." "Is that her outside?" "I believe so." My wife walks to the doors, and asks if the manager is present, getting a yes. She then tells the manager she needs a problem at the register resolved. The manager, believe it or not, tells her, "I'm on my break and I'll get to it when I return."

Big mistake. My wife comes back inside, pulls out her cell phone, and calls seeveral 411 services until she gets a customer service number. All this time, the line isn't moving, just getting longer and longer as the other cashier is nearing a conniption fit and Ol' Ethel is just standing there, watching benignly and chewing her cud. After another 7 or 8 minutes she gets a live body at customer service, tells them her story and says she's not moving until she gets her discount. The person on the phone asked for the manager, to which Jenn replied, "She can't be bothered with this. She is outside haveing a smoke." Well, that must have done something, because less than 3 minutes later the manager comes over after answering a phone call, and she gives us the discount on the spot. The problem for her at this pooint was she had just ticked off an 8.5 month pregnant woman with sore feet and an aching back. My wife got the names of everyone involved, and literally spent the next three hours at home blistering every Michaels email addy she could find.

One week later, a Priority Mail envelope arrives for her containing a $100 gift certificate, written apologies from several corporate bigwigs and business card of the district manager with instructions to call her if she ever has any more problems. So in late January we go back to use the gift certificate, and who's out front smoking whenwe arrived? You guessed it. We got our items and go to the single working register. What a shock when we see who is peering at each item, ringing it up and then bagging them one by one. 25 minutes in line this time. Needless to say, we have no plans to ever go there again (though my wife did send another blistering email to the DM - she didn't feel like talking to her).

I guess the whole point of this screed is to say we both fully believe that poor customer service is both ingrained AND tacitly condoned by Michaels management (they certainly don't take any steps to correct the problem), and will never shop there again.

Take care,
Throwin