一井おみやげセンター — Local services in Kusatsu

I am a repeat visitor to Japan multiple times a year for many decades due to the great omotenashi experience but I just had my worst customer service experience in Japan in my entire life. I was served by a young man, Mr T.Isobe, who was belligerent and rude, and tried to refuse to let me complete my purchase tax-free, claiming that there was a problem with my passport, that an error message was appearing on his terminal. I handed him my family members’ passports to try with the same result, which made me suspect that there was something wrong with his system instead. He disagreed and told me to check at the airport and that the only way to complete the purchase was to give up the tax free benefit. I was not convinced and asked for details of the error message. What was shown on the terminal was “入国日を確認してください“ and not the error that he had represented. When I pointed it out to him he said he didn’t understand my bad Japanese and that there was nothing more he could do “どうしようもできない” “あなたの日本語わからない“. At this point the lady cashier next to him came over, peeked at his terminal and whispered to him that he had to press “03”. He did so, hesitated, looked up and said ok it works now “もう大丈夫です” and started processing my purchase in silence, without a word of apology. I said it seems the problem occurred because you didn’t know how to operate the terminal. I also told him that he had a bad attitude. He waved and told me to move away from his counter because he had other customers to serve. This was truly an appalling way to end my visit to Kusatsu Onsen. I am never coming back again and will definitely warn my friends and family about visiting. I attach a screenshot of my receipt and invite management to check your records. Hopefully no one else will ever have to repeat...

This is a fun souvenir store with a lot of Kusatsu and Gunma Prefecture merchandise! Many of their Kusatsu, Onsen, and Yumomi-chan merchandise are quite memorable, enjoyable, and easy souvenir wins! This is really the only store that sells souvenirs in large quantities like this in the town, and is definitely worth grabbing some keepsakes from! Credit...

Varieties are great! You’ll find many goodies right there for Kusatsu gifts 🎁 Pricy but definitely something that is memorable from this location! Hope you get to find the ones of your choice! Come...