2024 update: Now under new ownership, I change my stars from 1 to 3 because I cannot hold against the new ownership what the prior ownership did. Overall with 15 stores at this point it is still quite a few stores in one location, and hopefully the customer service is now good.
I took my eldest daughter, age 4, to the Tanger Outlets in Westbrook, CT on 7/12/14. We parked in the perimeter parking area and were waiting for traffic to pass to then cross, however a tall dark-haired man wearing dark sunglasses said to stay on the road, [then to cross]. I nodded, and while holding my daughter’s hand, we followed along the road and then crossed.
After crossing, I curiously asked what it was that we were avoiding. He said the mulch, which people can trip on since it is not compact. There was a narrow strip of mulch (perhaps 5’) where across the street where we stood when he made his statement.
I said: “Someone tripped on it?”
He said: “Not on my watch.”
I said: “Oh. Did it happen before?”
He said: “It’s none of your business.”
I inquired: “I was just curious.”
He replied: “Why the hell do you want to know?”
I said in a moderately quite voice, as my hand still held my daughter’s: “Don’t talk to me that way in front of my child.”
He told me to leave, and as I readied to leave, I asked his name, to which he refused to tell me.
As I walked away, I felt very uncomfortable. I saw no one wearing a Tanger shirt, so I reached for my phone. I hoped to ensure no one else would endure this experience by letting a manager know what happened. In doing so, I noticed my hand was shaking to the point where it was hard to dial the number to the Tanger office. But, I managed to do so and then saw an employee, whom I asked if I may speak to a manager. She brought me to one. However, the man she brought me to was the very man who affected me and my daughter!
When he saw me, he said: “I want you to leave.”
I said I’m here to bring my daughter to the food and other event. I then said I’d like to speak to a manager, and he said: “I am the manager.”, to which I requested to speak to his manager and what his name is, to which he replied Dave. Dave said, “I’m calling security.”
I said: “for what?”
He had the gall to say: “You’re harassing me.”
He called security, and I had told the employee that brought me there that I had felt threatened by him, then I said: “I’m going to walk away and bring my daughter to what we’re here for.” As I left, I think I heard him cancel the request, but given how I see things work around there when he’s in charge, I can only imagine what was in store for us if I talked to security.
I got food for my daughter, and sat down. I then noticed an uncomfortable tightness in my abdomen. We then walked around, as my daughter asked, but as we did the tightness built into a pain. I ended up leaving prematurely, and I don’t see myself returning so long as that man may be there. Truly, there was nothing else to this story of any significance I can identify. I remained polite pretty much the whole time (I did get a bit panicky when he angrily confronted me when the employee brought me to him), though perhaps at a cost. The only silver lining is that I may now be more empathetic toward people dealing with this kind of bullying.
A decade ago I had a decade of retail experience. There are many places with zero tolerance for this kind of behavior by a manager, and despite having two kids and a 1-month old, I felt it worth my time to write about this experience to try and help others avoid the assistant manager of Tanger Outlets, Westbrook, CT. But, whatever happens next is up to whomever that can do something that reads about...
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