T.J. Maxx — Attraction in Sugar Land

Unprofessional Management Team

I would like to start by saying that this is my first negative review I have ever felt the need to write and it's regarding my in-store customer service experience at TJ Maxx (Location: 3591 Hwy 6, Sugar Land, TX 77478). I have lived and shopped in this area since 2000, and this particular store has previously been one of my favorites. I have been going to it for years and have never had the slightest concern about any area of service, until now.

On June 10th, 2019, I visited the store to return a few items that I had bought but never used. I came prepared and had all my receipts, tags were attached, and all the price labels/stickers were present. One of my returns was an online purchase and included 4 items. The cashier quickly became quite impatient and irritated going through the long store's established process of putting tags on the items bought online. Then I wanted to return two fridge storage bins, which I had never used. They were clean, with all three stickers attached to each of them - exactly the way I bought it. However, I was immediately accused of "trying to return used items" only because I bought them last year. I swallowed the accusation, my thought process was $20 wasn't worth an argument. I had 3 more items that I bought about 7 months ago and guess what? They refused to give me store credit because the items were not in their system anymore, which has never been an issue in the many years I've been shopping at this location. I decided it was time to call the manager and get this settled. What happened next was unprofessional, unacceptable and unnecessary. I will give the manager credit for giving me a refund in this situation, but I will never accept his attitude towards me as a customer. He wouldn't allow me to speak, even though I remained calm, he proceeded to repeatedly interrupt me. Since he stated there were was a new Return Policy, I attempted to ask him what the new rules were, but as soon as I started asking questions, he became incredibly rude and was absolutely incapable of explaining it to me.

At this point, he took all my receipts, and asked me to step away from the cash register so we could speak one-on-one. Before I followed, I looked for my store credit card, (because I didn't see it) and simply asked him if he had my card with the receipts he was holding. He said, "No." So I reached back in my purse, opened my wallet and saw it was there. I showed him and his associates that I had found it, as it simply slipped my mind that I previously put it back, due to the shock of the whole situation. The next words to come out of his mouth were, "You just accused me of stealing your card." ... Really??? That was just too much, so I finally said, "This is no way to speak to your customers." I followed him to the end of the customer service counters, where he handed me my receipt papers back, and just walked away while mumbling under his breath.

The whole situation was so surreal that I didn't even get angry, but nonetheless, I wanted to share my experience to inform you that the store is now under New Management and New Rules. But don't try to figure out what those rules are or ask any simple questions, the manager was incapable of explaining the new return policy, which he himself put in place! Unfortunately, I did not get the name of the male manager or his 2 associates, but I am left with a very bad taste in my mouth after...

Customer service from the manager was deplorable. We asked the sales associate why a media console was marked down because there were 3 in stock. She compared the tickets and stated it was due to being the last one due to the sku numbers being different. (We wanted to make sure it was not damaged) We asked her was it damaged she said no, it was because it was the last one ( even though there were 2 identical ones next to it). We took the console down off the shelf and noticed that it was very wobbly. At the check out we asked if it could be discounted due to the wobblyness of it and the manager was very rude, over talked us, and did not listen as we tried to explain our concern. She questioned us " who told you that?" We said your associate. She said well here shes goes right there and we repeated again what the associate communicated to us in front of her. The associate stood by what she told us. The manager told the associate she was wrong and said that the console was damaged. We then asked where was it damaged? The manager then goes to say it's not really damaged another customer inquired about a discount due to the wood being uneven but it really wasn't because that's how wood is." I marked it down because I was being nice". Then she said the other customer wasn't even happy with that and she advised her to buy one of the other ones that were there. I then advised her the console is damaged because it is wobbly and it shouldn't be and asked could it be discounted anymore ? As she continued to over talk me her final comment was "I'm the manager and I'm not talking anything else off the console. " With that we put back majority of the things we were going to purchase including the console and left. Now it was just about the principle. The level of customer service here or lack there of is appalling. To go from " I was being nice" to another customer and marked it down for no apparent reason to not wanting to mark it down for a customer where there is clearly damaged on the console due to it being wobbly is unbelievable. She could have offered $5 additional dollars off and that would have been fine. Had I bought the console, I would have had to purchased some thing to level off the the fact that it wobbles. She could have said in a nice professional way, unfortunately I can't take anything more off. Any one of those options would have been acceptable. But instead she choose to make a scene, agree with me that her associate didn't know what she was talking about, and argue what she did for another customer (because she was being nice) who didn't even buy the console instead of going above and beyond for a customer that actually wanted to buy the console. I am visiting my children from out of town and I would never come back to this TJ Maxx again. The level of customer service especially from manager says alot about who TJ Maxx puts in a leadership role. Instead of " being nice" how about you just do your job and talk to people people the way you would want to...

Update: ( revised my star rating from 2 to 4) Regarding my initial review, maybe I caught TJ Maxx on a bad day. Because when I went back to return a couple of things, the store looked better. The air conditioning was now working. It looked a little brighter. Was neater. Looked more like a TJ Maxx I'm used to seeing. I actually had a pleasant shopping experience. And ended up buying more items. I still think it needs to change locations. It's in a dreary shopping center and the store should be larger given that it's the only Maxx in the area so you can have more merchandise .

But please instruct your Cashiers to be a little more consumer friendly. As I was standing in line, I was watching one cashier who looked the most miserable person. Never spoke to the customers as they came up and was chewing gum so hard I thought her jaw was going to break. I was praying I didn't get her and thankfully I didn't.

Initial review: Sugar Land TJ Maxx is one of the most disappointing TJ Maxx I've ever been in. I can't believe they have a dingy store like this in an upscale suburb like Sugar Land. I'm sorry it happens to be my local Maxx, with the next closest one too far to pop in for casual browsing. And speaking of which, why so few locations? Given how long the checkout line was, this area can handle stores in both Sugar Land and Missouri City.

small store. Tight aisles. Dim lighting making the store look even more depressing. The central air conditioning wasn't working so they had some jerry-rig blowers - it was quite warm in there. It was obvious corporate doesn't spend any money on maintenance and upkeep of this store.

no home decor/knick knacks- except bits of furniture. Empty shelves. Clothes were mostly cheap quality items. I saw nothing that would entice me to shop there again. I'd rather shop at Ross, where I always seem to find a few unique decor items.

TJ Maxx used to be the place to go for department store quality decor and clothing. Even designer labels were there. It was the upmarket bougie store out of the triad of Marshall's, Ross and TJ Maxx. Oh how the mighty has fallen. Or maybe it's just stores in the Houston areas. Because I'm from Northern Virginia and I've never seen a TJ Maxx like this there.

This store needs to move to a larger, refreshed space in Sugar Land or Missouri City - or both. This old looking hole in the wall location isn't doing...