Tenjin LOFT — Local services in Fukuoka

Tl;dr - The stress and frustration of interacting with tourists (or working the tax refund counter) is reflected in some associates’ extremely rude service.

Let me first say that this was my first time at this Loft location at Tenjin (15/2/2024 @ 1:45PM), I have not had any experience nearly as negative as this one.

The store itself: Although this Loft only occupies one floor of the building, it carries a wide range of products from stationary to personal care items. You can easily find souvenirs and cool gadgets here. In terms of the products carried I have no complaints. It’s a lovely store. 4/5

Service: This may sound ironic coming from me as I am a tourist visiting from the states, but please bear with me.

As I was checking out at the tax refund counter, the associate helping us was incredibly short with me and blatantly rude for no apparent reason. I was not previously aware that my passport had to be opened to a specific page, showing a QR code indicating my arrival date. She spoke to me as though she was giving orders, ie) “I said OPEN (to the page of the passport).”, and when it was clear that I did not know what she meant, she simply repeated the same demand “OPEN.” but louder this time.

I took about 3 seconds to find the page she mentioned, and she rudely said “WHICH one?!”. Again, perhaps it’s my fault for not clearly pointing at the specific QR code for her to scan (context: I have 2 arrival stickers for Japan on the same page of my passport, one from a previous visit). I assumed that she would know which one to scan. If this was communicated to me in a more respectful way I will have no problem finding the page and code for her. I get it, working retail is tough and believe me I want to make your life easier too!

I was then given a number tag and instructed to wait as she prepares my items in a sealed bag. When my number was called, she presented me with a list of instructions/policies (printed on a laminated sheet) about tax-refund that were written in multiple languages, and based on the way I physically presented, she must have made an assumption and circled the instructions in simplified Chinese - which I thought was strange because I used my US passport and spoke in English throughout the entire interaction. Needless to say, she was incredibly rude when I had to use the extra 3 seconds to read the instructions in English because I did not want to break the tax-refund violations.

And please let me make a few things clear: I only spoke in English and provided a US passport My family and I were respectful and considerate of other customers and shopped quietly and independently I had not asked anyone for help during this shopping trip (no questions were asked, we did not bother anyone) I even handed her my passport and credit card with both hands to be respectful throughout the whole interaction I did not show or return ANY of the negativity during the interaction

In conclusion… I understand that working with tourists can be incredibly stressful and frustrating due to cultural differences and barriers. I hope that store associates will not generalize all tourists as deserving of such poor treatment in the future. In fact, there are many who try to be respectful and considerate of local customs/practices when visiting. I feel sorry that this did not seem to be the case for this particular Loft associate. Also, I do not blame this staff member because I do not know what she may be going through personally to cause her to project her anger this way.

Nevertheless, it was rather upsetting and shocking to be treated like this when I gave her no reason to. Perhaps my only fault is that I’m a tourist?

Despite this experience, Im still be a fan of Loft because I know that one bad experience is not representative of the rest of the staff members or the brand itself. I think I will go to other Loft locations for now. PS. None of my receipts show the name of the associated who processed the tax-refund. I...

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