Aqua B Boutique — Attraction in Hickory

I am local to the area, and have spent many years shopping at this boutique. I have been a customer long before it started expanding to Morganton, to Boone, and to the second location in Hickory.

I will no longer be a customer of this boutique. I’m not a fan of this establishment anymore. There was a special ran on giftcards for the first time on Black Friday this year. Myself and 2 other family members purchased giftcards for our niece, resulting in multiple gift cards for her. Both times she has tried to use them at the Morganton location and it has been nothing but an embarrassment and a hassle to deal with. Let me add I was the one who picked all 3 separate transactions up for myself and two family members, at the morganton location. They were nothing but flimsy little paper cards with no giftcard ID numbers on them. We were not made aware until AFTER trying to use them, that they can’t be used unless the full amount is spent? Never have I dealt with this issue before, and this was NOT disclosed prior to purchase either. For example if you have a 50$ gift card, and you only have a shirt for $38 you either find something to equal the whole $50 or you lose the rest of the money on the card. I’ve never in my life been told how I can use a gift card in that sense. Both times when used my niece, they also had to verify the giftcards were “legit” by calling the owner. The employee was super helpful, it was not her fault I understand. The owner however had 10 questions, as well as acting shocked that my Niece received multiple giftcards from multiple family members. Which to me is none of her business, who cares how many giftcards she got from family. We paid for them! Such a mess, so after a long phone call and embarrassment for my 14 year old niece we were finally “ok’d” to purchase her items with the giftcards we had bought for her in November. Never again. They have lost my business, beware if they run that special again it is NOT worth the hassle. They really should not offer specials trying to bring more revenue in and then be such a pain...

I’m frustrated with the customer service I experienced today. My credit card was charged instead of using my gift card balance.

I intended to purchase a dress with a gift card. While 1 checkout employee was looking up my gift card balance (using the gift card # I gave her), I was told by another employee to insert my credit card…so I did, thinking that if there was a remaining balance due after applying the gift card, that my credit card would handle rest.

I was then informed that I have a $50 balance on my gift card, so I requested to use it. However in the meantime, unbeknownst to me, my credit card was charged for this item. The woman who told me to stick my card in was the original employee I had asked to check my gift card balance, so she was fully aware of my intentions.

I explained how the sole purpose of asking about my gift card balance was to see how much funds I had left, and to obviously use it toward my purchase. Instead, I had to spend my own money on something I wouldn’t have bought if I didn’t have a gift card.

I asked if this transaction could be reversed and instead applied to my gift card balance, as I had requested before. I was told that this cannot be done, that it was a “miscommunication,” and that I shouldn’t have stuck my card in if I didn’t want to be charged.

I don’t appreciate being blamed for an employee’s mistake, especially when it costs me $. I’d appreciate it if the manager could reach out to me to...

Walking by the store you’d think you’d found the greatest clothing store in the world. The truth is that the clothing is low low budget and low low quality for way too much money. $40-$60 for a glorified T-shirt that’s completely unwearable after the first hand wash and line dry. There is no actual return policy. Only a store credit with tag and receipt policy. I’ve been twice (the second time because I had to find something worthy of my store credit-I didn’t), the first time I bought a dress on sale. I got home and noticed that the seam was falling out. When I looked at it I saw that ALL the seams were sewn with only a stay stitch (straight line-the kind of stitch you learn in 5th grade). The second time I bought a t-shirt and some shoes. The shirt lasted exactly one wear and hand wash. After the wash it looked like a piece of bargain bin clothing from a .99 store. So to be very honest, you would be better off wearing a disposable plastic table cloth you stole from some family’s picnic. At least the crease lines on that are straighter than the seams will be on anything in...