Michaels — Local services in Alcoa

Having formerly received 2 employee of month, and multiple customer service awards and acknowledgements as a Michael's employee in another state, I am well acquainted with, and a big fan of the company policies and expectations when it comes to service. As such, I was very disappointed by the treatment received by, Erin, the current store manager at the Alcoa location.

A family member of mine purchased a birthday gift online for store pickup. An hour later he dialed the location to see if the order had been filled, or would soon be, before he made the 30m trip there.

The cashier who answered took down the order confirmation number and kindly asked him to hold. The call was then picked up by the store manager, Erin, who without acknowledging the order number had already been given, instructed that there were 70 other online orders for the day they were trying to fill. Our response to Erin was to request whether or not our order, placed an hour prior, for a single item marked in-stock when ordered/purchased for that location, was or could/would be filled before making the trip into town within the next hour to get it (for a birthday on the same day).

Erin responded there were so many orders ahead, she was not certain ours had been filled because so many people had ordered online. She asked how long ago it had been ordered, we reiterated that it had been ordered an hour prior.

In an effort to again get our question answered, we asked what information she needed to check our order. Erin said she just needed the name. We gave the order name, she took a moment to look it up, and again said she was unsure if our order could be confirmed because of her influx of orders, where our purchased item may rank in her cue, since how she had looked it up was not allowing her to know.

So here we are, customers requesting a reasonable definitive answer either way, and are again, unanswered.

Having been an employee, I know each store is equiped with multiple portable inventory devices that all managers and most employees wear which are accurate in instantly verifying what product and count is physically on the premises when an employee is not at a scanner or register.

Instead of providing a solution, or bothering to easily check if that one item could be location confirmed or filled, or could not be, so we could devise an alternate gift option, Erin again expressed her overwhelm of orders coming into the store.

As a compassionate and empathetic person having been in similar situations, I know it is store policy to not lecture customers on issues that are not the customer's problem, especially if the customer has honored process and isn't asking for anything out of the ordinary. Michael's employees are empowered to provide solutions.

After listening to her explanations that did not answer our simple question, we again requested if Erin could please check the single item and verify before the trip to the store was made. She asked how long ago we placed the purchase, and we again said it had been an hour prior. Without checking the item to confirm, Erin stated if it hadn't been 2 hours since the purchase was made, it may not have processed. Again, not our question.

If myself, or my prior store managers had received the same call, we would've typed in the stock number on the device, then radioed a floor employee or pulled it ourselves, and/or confirmed to the customer if it was out of stock at our location and could be transferred from another, or not. It would've taken the same amount of time to do so, even when several lines were ringing and registers were 30 customers in. I've done it. Since our 3 attempts to answer the same simple question were diverted, I asked for Erin's name and title. She gave it, then rudely and intentionally hung up.

Shout out to the kind/helpful employees at this location and others out there who create solutions/treat customers with the respect they hope to receive, even on tough days,...

Went for some sketching and paint supplies since they have usually have great deals and deep discounts. Before shopping I went into the men’s room for a pit stop. The men’s room smelled strongly of urine, enough so it took my breath away. I searched out and informed a manager of the situation. She (Evlyn ?), informed me that a ticket was in and that’s all that she can do. I told her it was unsanitary and offensive to the customers and suggested she elevate the ticket with her boss. She proceeded to , condescending , explain how life works and that you don’t always get folks to respond when you want them to and made a reference to a plumber at a residence. Her attitude and demeanor were horrible. She has no business being in that position. How about this (regardless of the reality of the situation)…”thank you so much for taking the time to inform me of that situation. I have a repair ticket called in, but maybe I can call my supervisor and see if we can elevate the priority of that ticket.” I will avoid that particular store at all costs. I know it’s only a drop in the bucket, but as a consumer I have plenty of other options (which I exercised directly after leaving that store). Maybe some more/better training for managerial staff, or flow with the current model and be prepared to lose customers that value customer support and being appreciated for spending their money at an...

This store is a mess. And when I say mess.. I mean it literally. There was trash all over the floor throughout the store, the shelves were all disorganized, there were boxes everywhere (I assume stock that was not put out yet), etc. it was literally hard to walk through some parts of the store because there was just so much junk crowding the walkways, I can’t imagine how someone with a mobility issue who was in a wheelchair or something would be able to navigate the aisles. It just didn’t look clean or put together at all. It looked like the store was going out of business and had been ransacked by people to get the best sales. Then when I was checking out, one of my items did not have a barcode. The kid had to call for who I assume was his manager to come help, because he said he had not been trained how to handle that scenario yet. When the manager came, she spoke so rudely to him I was appalled! If that is how their management speaks to employees, no wonder they have trouble keeping help. Just an all around bad experience. I usually don’t shop there but I decided to see how it compared to hobby lobby. Now I know why their parking lot is always empty, definitely...