Hobby Lobby — Attraction in Columbia

I like the store very much and can spend hours there. In fact I usually buy much more than I have gone for. However I have had an awful experience getting knobs that I ordered after being told they would arrive in the store in two days. After a week of not hearing I called the store and was transferred to 3 people (which took approximately 5 minutes each) and was finally told that my order may have been misplaced and I should call the following day to speak to the manager about it who would perhaps to put in a new order. The following day, after waiting 10 minutes (and being transferred to 2 other staff members) to be put through to the manager, much to my surprise, the manager was one of the folks that had re-routed my call on the previous day. He was the fifth person that I spoke to (each time having to repeat my story) after keeping me on hold for another 10 minutes, found my order. Yeah! I thought my troubles were over... not so. Apparently orders are done manually and there is no way to check by computer if they have arrived so one has to go looking around the store to see where they might be. I was amazed at how many people I had to describe the knob to. I went to the store last Thursday to pick up my order and inspite of telling the cashier that they were being held in the manager's office, when a stock person eventually got to the cashier, she told me she had a hard time finding them because they were not in the normal place... Listening skills? - apparently non-existent. As I had ordered 50 and didn't want to hold up the line counting them, I didn't open the order until I got home. My bad! Wouldn't you know the order was one short! This wouldn't be a problem if I lived close to the store, but it is a 50 mile round trip for me to go there. So I called store and asked another manager to please mail me the missing knob and he assured that he would but it wouldn't go out until Monday (3 days later). Apparently he needed to wait for a mail pick up! As I didn't receive today, Wednesday, I called store again and once more waited 5 minutes to be connected to said manager who advised, with no apology, that he would mail today. Let's hope that this happens because I was assured once before. I don't know if these are real managers or if the term is just being applied loosely, but I am really quite disheartened by the service I have had with this group. The cashiers appear quite friendly and helpful but this experience has been quite a nightmare (and it isn't over). I would be happy to discuss and provide names to any real managers/owners who are interested and sincerely hope that my continued bad luck was just an isolated incident. The store has a lot to offer but owners may want to invest more customer relations training in their "management" level staffing. Perhaps they need to know as a start, that businesses can fail, and they can be left jobless, if customers...

Ayeh was 100% so helpful today.

I went in to buy 2 cartoons of cigarettes. Newport have a discount when you buy so many packs. I forgot my sheets card and Emily (which I found out later was the store manager), gave me a new card. Which was greatly appreciated. When I looked at the total, I noticed only $5.00 came off. I knew it had to be more. Emily explained it only took tgat amount off because my card wasn't registered. I went to my car to register the app. Yet another app on my phone, ugh.

This time, Ayeh helped me. I went back k in went through the entire process again. Same thing, only $5. came off. I said to her that this is wrong there should be more taken off. I asked how many packs you have to be to get a dollar amount off. She took the time to ring up by individual pack and $17.50 came off. I know cigarettes are bad for me. But in a time where everyone is watching every penny and in this case every dollar. I GREATLY appreciate the customer service and taking the time to figure out how to help me. I asked for the Manager, so I could express my gratitude for Ayeh and up walks Emily. It was awkward a little for me because if Emily had provided the same customer service I wouldn't have had to wait in a long line twice. Or explain to her what her employee did to provide the excellent customer service. In Emily's defense, she may not have known or she may have been trying to get the line down. Emily was very respectful when we spoke, and she did say there was a place I could leave a review for Ayeh and the store number.

I would have rated it higher, if I was only rating Ayeh...

4/13/24 update: someone reached out to me about the items but still no resolution and told me I could return the cabinet and get a store credit . I actually rented a uhaul to get it home and she hasn’t confirmed if I would get a store credit , so it’s not worth me renting a truck and get to the store and they don’t honor my receipt . Still nobody’s addressing the elephant in the room and that’s racial profiling ? I experienced racial profiling at this location two times. I even called Corporate and they made so many excuses for the associate's behavior. I've been asked for my receipt and to look in my bag. Secondly, I purchased items for Christmas for my hot chocolate bar and I returned some items and was told I had already returned the products. The associate was rude and I asked for a supervisor and he said he could offer me 80% off because their receipts doesn't have sku numbers to match the merchandise which is a big red flag to me. If you have several items that has the same price its issues or return to different locations. I didn't appreciate being called a theft . I spent alot of money after black Friday and made some returns . Lastly, I purchased a shelf on 12/4/23 and they return policy is 90 days. I know February is short and they are closed on Sundays but I was told when I called customer service on 3/4/24 that I was pass the return window. I thought I had to 3/4/24 like most...