Gethsemane Garden Center — Attraction in Lake View Township

Heinous behavior exhibited by the manager in the indoor decorations section (older white male- late 60's?, white hair, thin, glasses) last night. A young woman was returning several Christmas decorations with her child. All were still wrapped in tissue paper, clearly unused. The manager came over and started to berate and humiliate her in front of her son and the rest of the store. It sounded like she'd come back once before to exchange one (of DOZENS of items she purchased within the last MONTH alone) because the motor of a Christmas decoration was acting-up and stopped working when she got it home. They'd sold her the item on display in the store, instead of giving her a new item to begin with. Apparently this same manager took the item she brought back, changed the batteries, and had the cashier give her the same item instead of a new one, and this woman trusted the store and only discovered this when she got home, so she was back again with the same item. It sounded like it was clear from the location and positon of the price tag, which she had photos of that were taken in the store when the item was originally on display. The other identical items we saw didn't have price tags on them, or the price tag was in a different location and positioned in a different way. My wife tried to remove the sticker to see if she could move it. The stickers on the tree were stuck as if glued. It would be impossible to remove the sticker and keep it intact.

We heard the woman say that she'd spent hundreds of dollars over the past few months, and hadn't returned anything until that night. She pulled out several receipts from her most recent transactions, which confirmed exactly what she said. The manager continued to treat her and her young child in one of the most appalling, demeaning ways we've ever seen. Her child became visibly nervous, and you could see her physical dicomfort and shock at the way this man was treating her.

We overheard her say this manager encouraged her to purchase a lot of items at once and then return any that her family didn't love. She was clearly keeping the majority of Christmas decorations, and complying with the store return policy.

In our opinion, it looked like this manager realized he was caught for changing the batteries and NOT exchanging the one item she previously brought back for the faulty motor (a plastic Christmas tree around $20), so he went on the attack immediately.

It looked like the manager was at least actually exchanging the item this time. He took a new one out of packaging and gave it to her (rudely, aggressively, deliberately trying to make it look like she was a problem) so she could listen to the motor and confirm it worked. She said that it sounded great. Then the manager went and got another of the same item, but that was on display, and tried to give her that one instead. She caught him doing this and asked why he wasn't giving her the new item. He again went on the attack. It looked like this was due to being caught. He started to loudly criticize and attack her, making a big show of it. She appeared to be incredibly intimitated and embarassed.

The manager finally agreed to give her the new item that he'd originally unwrapped and handed to her so she could turn it on and confirm the motor worked. The woman was visibly rattled and clearly wanted to get out of the shop with her child.

We then saw the manager do something that made our jaws drop. He took the original item the woman brought back (for the second time because it had a faulty motor), took the batteries out, and put it in the styrofoam packaging that the new replacement item came from, and put that in her bag to take home. The woman didn't notice what he did.

We don't understand how Gethsemane has someone like this working in their store. It's definitely made us not want to return to Gethsemane and continue to share our experience of what we...

I’ve been a loyal Gethsemane customer for years and have always appreciated the quality of their plants and gift shop. Unfortunately, a recent experience left me feeling dismissed and disrespected — not because of their return policy, but because of how that policy was communicated.

Earlier this week, I returned with two hydrangeas I had purchased just two days prior. I had decided to go in a different direction with my garden and brought the plants back to the Tree & Shrub area with my receipt. As I set them down on the counter, an employee abruptly asked if I was purchasing them. I began to explain that I was hoping to return them, but before I could finish, he cut me off with a sharp “No, no, no,” picked up both containers, and walked them out of the area while saying there are "signs everywhere" stating the return policy.

I followed, assuming we were heading to another staff member who could discuss things further. Instead, he stopped at the edge of the parking area, placed the plants down, and told me they couldn’t be accepted back. When I mentioned I hadn’t realized the policy, he repeated that there were “signs everywhere” and explained the rule had been in place for a couple of years to prevent diseased plants from being brought back. In my shock and confusion at how quickly I was dismissed, I also noted that the person who helped me with the original purchase never mentioned the items were final sale. In response, he pointed to the fine print on the receipt stating that returns are not accepted.

To be clear, my issue is not with the return policy — I did not read the receipt and understand why it exists. My frustration lies in how the interaction was handled. I was cut off, spoken over, and made to feel like a burden for asking a question. There was no effort to engage in a respectful or helpful conversation.

After years of shopping here, I left feeling dismissed and unwelcome. This experience has changed how I view Gethsemane and I will no longer be supporting...

I genuinely loved this place. I loved it so much that I brought my grandmother to the garden center because she shares my interest in plants. She recently got a small service dog and wanted to bring him with on our visit today. I had a suspicion that they would not allow dogs so I called before we left for the garden center and asked the staff if service dogs were allowed. They confirmed, "Of course service dogs are allowed" so we go. When we got to the nursery, we were questioned and I reiterated that I had called before and confirmed that the service dog was allowed. One of the staff had the audacity to rudely ask my grandmother if she really needed a service dog and if her dog was actually a service dog. My grandmother is a small, fragile older woman and she has absolutely no reason to lie about this. This staff member was extremely rude and when we confirmed again that it was a service dog he rudely walked away. If they had said that dogs were not allowed on the phone we would not have brought the dog into the garden center and I would have done her shopping for her. This rude experience has changed my mind forever about this business. If you can't be kind to the elderly who require service animals then what kind of...