Once Upon A Child — Local services in Calgary

First of all, I will give them five stars when it comes to products. Their clothes are clean and neat and easily able to find. Bigger items are in great condition and also are priced accordingly and easy to find.

My issue is with customer service. As I live out of town, I had called yesterday and asked for an item to be put on hold. The young lady on the phone was pleasant and polite and stated she would put my name on the item and put it aside for us. I explained that we lived out of town and would be there towards the end of the business day. When I left my home to go pick up the item, I called to again ensure the item was there. The woman on the phone stated she had no idea what I was talking about, and could not see an item with my name put aside. I explained that I had called in the afternoon and spoke to someone and that it was going to be done right away. She answered with “I am the manager, I think I would know this kind of thing.“ She then said “I don’t see anything with your name on it, Holly.“ ( my name is April ) We took our chances and drove into the store anyway. I found the item that I had asked to be put on hold, and chose a few articles of clothing to buy. As the store closes at 8 PM, it was 7:50 PM and staff were starting to tidy up. I apologized for the lateness of our arrival – and explained that we lived out of town and that we were ready to go. There were several other people in the store, and several times we heard who I assume is the manager say “I am the manager, this is the way we do things“ and stuff of a similar nature. There was definitely no doubt who the “manager“ of the store was. I did one transaction for my large item, and a second transaction for the clothing. As I was sorting through the clothing on the cash – the cashier continued to huff and puff and roll her eyes at me while continuously looking at the clock over her shoulder. She stated “you know we close at eight right?!“ I replied that I knew that, but that it was only 7:55 PM. I paid for my items, and started packing up to leave. There was a young employee who I assume was new (as she was learning the closing details from the cashier I had dealt with) Who seemed quite flustered. The cashier stated to her very loudly in front of people “go get the broom, and start sweeping the front. You do know what a broom is, don’t you?” I was shocked at the way that she spoke to this young woman. As we left, my husband attempted to console the girl- but she continued sweeping with tears in her eyes. I told her to have a good night, and that sometimes people unfortunately take their bad days out on others.

Definitely not a family friendly vibe at all. It’s really unfortunate, because as a young family this store is super convenient for our needs. After seeing how they handled my issue, basic customer service, and the treatment of a young employee – we will no longer be...

I am a frequent shopper at Once Upon a Child at both this location as well as the others in Calgary and I have always had positive experiences. The staff has always been helpful and friendly. However today I had a very negative experience with the owner of this location. They had a buy 3 get 1 free deal on regular priced 0-12 month apparel. I had found a couple regular priced items but was struggling to find a third and fourth item, and as such ended up spending at least 20 minutes searching. Because one of the items I had initially found was swimwear, I read the sign multiple times to ensure all of my items met the criteria. The sign listed many exclusions including outerwear, sleepwear and dance items, but said nothing about swimwear. However, when I went to pay, the cashier told me that swimwear was not included. When I explained that it was not listed as an exclusion she told me that it was just store policy. I asked if there was anywhere that was written so people would know and she said no, but said that we could discuss it with the owner, to which we replied ok. She went to find her and when she came back once again (the cashier) just said that it was store policy and that it wouldn’t be included. It seemed as though the owner had instructed her to come back rather than coming to speak to us. We once again asked to speak to the owner about it. When the owner finally came to speak to us she was very dismissive, clearly not wanting to listen to our concerns or suggestion that it just be added to the sign so save this from happening again. She told us that she couldn’t make an exception because if they scanned the item as free they would be audited (which didn’t make sense to me). She then said “it’s only $6”, which I felt was an inappropriate response. I began to look at my pile of stuff to decide what items I actually wanted, because I was really just adding some to get to 4 items, and then she said that she would do it this one time, but again said “but really guys it’s only $6”.

Now I understand that stores need to have policies and stick to them, and I also understand having worked in retail that customers can misunderstand or confuse those policies. My concern however is two fold, number one their signage should reflect those policies, and more importantly, number two, I believe customers should be addressed with kindness and respect. In this case the tone and body language that was used was not at all kind. I know that this is a busy store and that all of the employees (including the owner) are always working hard, so perhaps it had just been a tough day and that was why we were addressed the way we were, but it was just extremely disappointing given how much of a fan...

I live in the North but came down to this location because I thought it might be slightly better for buying and selling since the store is larger.

Buying: A really bottomless selection for anything you might want except for zip sleepers ha. Examples of pricing: $1 bodysuits, $3-5 sleepers, $4 baby pants, $6 boys shirts and sweaters. As tagged I think that the prices are not super competitive with the clearance rack of a retail store, but the selection is much more expansive and so shopping here for multiple random items that you need is much more efficient than going to 5 different stores. They also have sales and bundling that bring the prices down lower. Condition of items was new to laundry-worn. I still bought pretty worn out items anyways as they were cute and the price was right. Personally I thought their inventory could use more long sleeved bodysuits. I also wish that they organized bodysuits by "fits-like" sizing rather than what is stated by the retailer (we all know the lies). This would make shopping faster and probably cut down on returns.

Selling: Was very efficient. If you bring small loads, they'll squeeze it in for you while you shop, which is VERY appreciated. The intake area is bigger and more organized than at Varsity. Do know that there is now a 2 container drop off limit. The buy back pricing is fair given that they need to turn a profit. Know that the buy back pricing on new items and outerwear was a bit weak--in the realm of $1-3. If you are trying to sell anything like great condition jackets, baby gear, or lots of sleepers/pants in a single size, you will likely get a better return on Marketplace. I was glad I didn't bring some of the more valuable outerwear I had as it is not very easy to pull singular items back if you wanted to reject their offer. Overall I was happy to get money for items that would have been very difficult to get rid of otherwise. It was very convenient to sell my lot of mixed gender and size clothing and I still got an excellent return.

I walked out with roughly 1/3 of what I brought in, a handful of items I needed and broke even on the trade. Would highly recommend both buying and selling here. Space is tight. Don't come with a stroller or...