St. Jacobs Antiques Market — Attraction in Woolwich

I was super excited when I walked in to see the gigantic antique store teeming with a plethora of amazing objects. Unfortunately, my excitement was extinguished quickly by the only staff member I talked to. After I waited for her to acknowledge my existence for a few minutes and determined that her conversation was just an ongoing chat, I said "excuse me for interrupting" and asked where I could find a certain type of object and was told that there may be some in display #300, but they were mostly "all over the place". She didn't bother to offer to show me where this display is located.

Now, since this place is the size of a grocery store and there is no particular order to things AND with the added disadvantage of looking for extremely small items, this was no easy task at first sight. So I asked who would open the locked displays if I found something. She replied that their employees "wearing black and white" were to be found everywhere. OK. So I started looking for the elusive display #300 only to see that the displays were not in sequence and the numbers were written on tiny white paper stickers, not possible to see unless you were about 12" close. Great organization (sarcasm).

I looked and looked. Finally I found some stuff, but the mysterious employees that were supposedly all around must have been very stealthy, because I had to go back up to the counter to talk the unpleasant lady when I wanted to have a display opened. Yes, they were all over the place indeed. After having invested hours into this search I only found a couple of usable items, so I decided to ask if they could hold them. I wanted to check out a second antique store around the corner to see if they would have some better items before spending money on things I wasn't completely happy with.

They said they closing at 6, so I went and did some other shopping and went to the second store. The employees at the second store (which I will also be writing a review for) were extremely helpful and immediately attentive. They quickly showed me where the items were and kept on finding more stuff for me as I looked around. Let me note that the second store seemed busier than the first one.

There were a couple items I wanted to grab from the first store, so I went back at 5:55. I know that this is close to closing, but I wasn't there to browse, just pay and go, but the attitude I received was shocking (and is the reason I'm writing this long review).

I walked in and the lights were off. I apologized and asked if I could still purchase those items. The lady who was counting the money remained quiet, but the woman who had un-helped me earlier threw her calculator across the desk and gave me the look of death "we are closed" she said. "I just wanted to pay. We will be done in two minutes", I replied looking at my watch and she said "I closed everything. It's going to mess it all up," her tone was even less friendly than before. I should have walked out without buying, but I wanted to inconvenience her further since she had failed so miserable in giving me proper customer service from the first moment. I bought only 2 items (Had to ask that she give me a receipt!) and was out of there at 6:00. Would have been done sooner if she had given less attitude.

Now, I will never return to that store. Maybe they don't care about one customer, but surely this kind of service cannot be doing them any good in the long run. I work in retail too. I have been in retail for about 13 years and also run my own business. I understand the frustrations of opening, closing, routines and mainly customer service, but I don't see why it's so hard to help one of the three customers that were in your store, or at the very least greet them and give them a smile. The most important part of any retail operation is the customer (not to mention they really are the ones who pay the bills and the employees), so you should be NICE to them.

Over all: Great knick-knacks and furniture, but if you want also some great service, you probably won't...

Edited: shop handled issue and apologized. Lacks integrity and dishonest owners/vendors. I have been coming to this market for years, driving down from Toronto every few months. I generally spend about $150-$200 per visit, cause I love vintage + antiques. After my last experience, I won't be returning. I found this (what I thought to be) awesome watercolor paint tin. It didn't appear to be in poor shape, the colors were bright and bold. The vendor was in her booth at the time and even talked to me about it, recommending it over another tin that I had in my hand. She didn't mention any damages, in fact saying the tin was in great condition. I purchased it - it wasn't cheap. When I got home, I realized that the price has been taped on with packing tape multiple times, covering the top right corner of the tin. Upon removing it, I found a 2" rust spot going through multiple layers of the tin. I couldn't see it at the store as it was taped over, and I don't think it's an appropriate practice for customers to be removing price tags to look underneath. The vendor could have put the price sticker anywhere on the tin (the underside is generally where prices go), but they deliberately decided to cover this horrible damage. I realize with vintage it's usually 'as is', but I would have liked to be aware of the damage. I felt tricked and lied to about the actual quality. With all the packing tape to make sure the price tag stayed in place, the vendor went to great lengths to hide the spot. I am extremely disappointed at the lack of integrity and honesty. I contacted the antique market, with no response. I can see that this is not an important issue to them, and from their lack of response, it seems like they have no problem backing such dishonest practices. I'll need to find a new, more honest, antique market. Won't ever give them my business again. Beware when...

Terrible experience here last weekend. Will never return. Went for the first time with my fiancé and friend. Did not see any visible signage about backpacks. My fiancé brought his backpack in as he was travelling with expensive items. No one approached us upon entering and we even passed employees at counters. More than halfway through the store we pass the main desk where a lady asked my fiancé if he would like to leave his backpack. He asks if it’s mandatory and she says yes so he politely declines and decides to leave with his backpack as he did not want his items left at the front. Meanwhile I’m still looking at something near the desk as this is happening. I then hear the same employee laughing to her colleagues about how ‘she guesses she altered his plans’.. insinuating he had planned to steal from them and put the items in his backpack. She rudely stereotyped him as a thief because he politely declined to leave his backpack. I turned to her and told her that the person she was laughing about with her colleagues was my spouse and that he wasn’t a thief. She did not realize I was with him and appeared embarrassed and apologized. Very unprofessional staff who laugh about customers and insinuate false things about them while working at the desk during opening hours. I was so offended I left, as did my friend. I will not give them any of my business. I wonder what else they say about their customers when they...