Crossroads Trading — Attraction in Oakland

I’m sad to say that Crossroads has really taken a nosedive, in all aspects: selection, employees, and overall experience.

I remember (probably close to a decade ago) when this location was on the other side of College, had an amazing vintage selection, and a staff that actually cared, and treated customers with respect. I looked forward to shopping there, both for what I would find and for the friendly atmosphere and conversation.

Today I went to pick up a pair of clogs I had tried to consign at the College Ave store that didn’t sell.

When I got there, I got the shoes quickly. However, I noticed that they weren’t in the box I had dropped them off in. These are expensive shoes, and like new, so the box is important for transporting and storing the shoes. But, that ultimately shouldn’t matter: I should receive them in the manner that they were dropped off. Or, if they don’t keep the boxes, I should have been told that, and I would have gladly taken the box home with me.

The person who helped me, a tall man with brown hair and dark eyeglasses, looked bewildered when I asked where the box was. He said something to effect of, “they weren’t dropped off in a box,” which immediately rubbed me the wrong way: why was he questioning me? I dropped off the shoes (and importantly, not with him) so I’m not sure why he thought he was the authority on this.

I asked him to please look again. He questioned me, asking me if I, “was sure I dropped them off in a box.” I said, yes, I was positive I had.

He gave a cursory look at the shelves behind the counter where consigned items live, and said if they had been dropped off with a box, it would be there.

I asked to talk with a manager. He said, with total disinterest, “you’re talking to one right now, and the person next to me is one, too.”

Wow. Ok. Super professional.

So, what happened here is that the store ditched my shoe box. Plain and simple. And instead of being accountable and apologizing, (perhaps offering to give me a different shoe box that they didn’t need and were recycling, for example) this manager acted indignant that I even asked, and made it seem like I was crazy when I insisted that I had dropped them off in a box.

Not once did he apologize, and his co-manager just started me with an equally apathetic look on her face.

After almost 15 years as a Crossroads customer, I am done.

Consign with them at your own risk; they clearly don’t care about the stewardship of your belongings while they are in their care and don’t care in the slightest if they...

First off, this particular review Crossroads at College Ave does not effect my overall typical experience at the store so I gave it a 2. The buyer whom helped me was fairly new. I usually stop in 1 to 2 times a week if time allows. I purchase clothing and sell just about an equal amount of time.

The buyer bought one item from me. I was very suprised to hear she priced a pair of brand new mall brand denim overalls for $12 dollars. From working for a similar business on Haight St in San Francisco, you arent allowed to price items you want yourself. Yet when a co-worker of hers returned she spoke about trying them on. I had a pair of G-Star Raw 5620 black jeans with a zipper knee in excellent condition. I asked why she didnt take them she told me because of markings on the thighs (which were from the denim being distressed) and the style she really didnt like.

The new male manager was there so I asked him because previously he so adamantly told me they dont price G-star jeans higher than 32.50. When I asked him about the retail $210 dollar jeans again and he had the nerve to say “I wore biker jeans in 2010”. Whatever the hell that means, but i took it as an insult and had a horrible experience.

I would like to further add that the store prices things according to market resale prices. This is why product knowledge is very important. Does this store have buy meetings? It was evident the young buyer bought what she liked for herself and passed on several good items. The most a pair of great rare moto reinforced butt and knee jeans that wouldn’t have lasted until 5pm for 32.50. I would be almost for certain it be grabbed by an employee. Im curious to see how this store changes when the seasons do. It has had high turn around and now its becoming...

I am usually not a very angry or petty person but the service here is unacceptable. I went to sell clothes for the second time, and the employee, Mercedes, was rude for absolutely no reason, being very short with me. This was irritating, but not the main reason for my anger because I don’t usually take it personally when employees are rude. Anyways I had brought in lots of nice clothes from Brandy Melville, Garage, Hollister, Levi’s, Motel Rocks, and a few unique thrifted pieces, and not to mention, I had bought a lot of them from Crossroads a while back. However, he told me he couldn’t accept any of them because he was “looking for warmer clothes for winter.” I was surprised at this since they still sell T-shirts this time of year plus I had brought in two pairs of pants, two hoodies, and two long sleeves, which are perfect for winter. It made no sense to me and after I had left and was in line to buy something else I looked in the bag and everything was still folded nicely and neatly and hadn’t been moved from the original positions. He didn’t even look at the clothes before he just said no, which is absolutely insane. All that time wasted just for someone to be rude and just glance inside the bags without even pulling out the clothes?? And they were kind of packed in there, so he wouldn’t have been able to clearly see all of them by just looking inside. I was complaining about this in line, and the woman in front of me turned and said that the same thing happened to her, so clearly this is an issue. This is so unacceptable, especially because the clothes they sell in store are often down right ugly, it wouldn’t hurt them to accept a few normal clothes every...