Paradise Road — Attraction in Colombo

I am an Indian and I with my husband and 6 month old daughter were on a tour of Sri Lanka. Last day was in columbo and we had planned the day so as to include paradise road in our must visit places. We checked online and got to know, 7pm is the closing time. We rushed and reached at 6.20pm only to be greeted by an extremely rude and obnoxious bald gentleman who asked us to run and rush since the closing time is 7pm. He constantly kept asking us what are you looking for? Do you have anything in mind? He told us to hurry up since they have to be home. He kept staring at us and made us very uncomfortable. I requested him to give me 5 mins, and that I will quickly just glance at all the items on both the floors. He looked at the watch again, made a face and said okay but 5 mins strictly. (This was 6.40pm). We ran as if we were on some treasure hunt. Quickly picked up stuff we liked and rushed to the billing desk. This was 6.55pm. As we were waiting for the billing, 3 white skinned English people entered the store and he very politely said closing time is 7 pm.and that he can wait for 10 mins for them and they can go through the store and see what they like.

We were shocked to see the change of tone, attitude and behaviour towards white skinned people. The overall experience was horrible and pathetic with the staff/ bald gentleman/owner being extremely racist. They think they are living in a paradise but the experience is that of a...

We'd added several items into a shopping basket this evening with the assistance of the staff working, and then stepped into the café (situated upstairs inside the store) for a quick coffee before checking out. Maybe 15-20 mins pass when the barista comes up to us to say that the checkout counters MAYBE closed now - "not sure sir, just go down and check" he says. We then rush down the stairs to the checkout counters (I glance at my watch just then reading exactly 7:04 pm; I believe closing time is technically 7pm). There's just one staff member downstairs. We tell him our predicament. He says nothing doing, the checkout staff has closed the counters. Just then, another couple (shoppers who we also noticed in the café earlier) appear at the checkout counter with the same baffled look on their faces. To my knowledge and experience, it's the general practice/common sense for someone to run a thorough check inside the store 10-15 mins prior to closing time and remind shoppers that it's near closing time. Or run an announcement. No such service here. What's more, there's no solution that they could now provide either - just absolute nonchalance and indifference - which was even more infuriating. We wasted our time, and left the store with nothing but...

During our visit, we asked the doorman (wearing a White long Slevee Shirt and sarong) for directions to the washroom. Instead of assisting us politely, he rudely directed mr to use a backyard toilet, even though there was a proper washroom inside the building. His tone was unnecessarily harsh, and he made it clear that the indoor washroom was reserved for "guests only," which felt disrespectful and unprofessional.

He spoke in a rude and dismissive tone, as if assuming I was just a local passerby.👎

Customer service and respect should be extended to everyone, regardless of their purpose for being there. This experience left us feeling unwelcome, and we hope the establishment will take steps to improve the behavior and attitude of...