Richards Variety Store — Local services in Atlanta

I’ve had some horrible retail experiences in my life, but never have I had a store owner call the police to have me forcibly removed from their property because I was trying to return a $7.00 defective book light. I’m a mid-40’s mom and Girl Scout Leader, PTA chair, and do not look threatening or scary. Yesterday I purchased a few items from the Richard’s in Midtown, including the $7.00 clip-on LED book lamp for my daughter to take to choir camp over the Labor Day weekend. When we packed her bag last night I opened the lamp and clicked the button but it wouldn’t turn on. No big deal I went to Target and bought a different one. Today I tried to return it to Richard’s. I had the receipt and package and had only had it in my possession about 18 hours. The cashier stared at it for about 30 seconds until I finally asked him if there was a problem. He said he had to call somebody “in the back” to look at it. A young lady came up and took it from him and walked away. I asked the cashier why I couldn’t just get a refund and be on my way as I was going to be late to an appointment and he said “a technician is repairing it.” Technician? I came for a return, not a repair. I already bought a different light. After about 10 min the young lady returned and said “Ming said to give her another one.” But I explained that I just wanted a refund, that’s all. Soon Ms. Yang appeared and asked me “what the problem?” I explained that I wanted to return a defective light and didn’t understand why this was so difficult. She said “you can’t leave lamp on 24 hours or battery die.” This was odd, I said, “I’m sorry, I guess I wasn’t clear. I bought this yesterday afternoon – about 18 hours ago – and it was broken when I took it out of the package.” She repeated “you can’t leave lamp on 24 hour or battery die.” Now I got it. She was insinuating that I was responsible for the defective item because, in her imagination, I left it on for 24 hours. Why assume her customers are dishonest? I asked her to just return the item and she said: “This LED light - not defective. Maybe bad battery. No refund because it not returned in perfect working condition.” I felt like Alice in the rabbit hole: I was returning the lamp because it was defective but I couldn’t return it because it was defective. It would’ve been kind of funny except she then told me she had enough and ordered me to leave her store. I said I wanted to leave, I was late for an appointment, all I wanted was a simple refund. At that point she picked up the phone and said “I call police now, this private property and you trespassing.” Never in my 35+ years as a retail consumer have I had a store owner call the police because I was trying to return a defective item. I never caused anything resembling a “scene.” I listened, flabbergasted, as she gave the police my description as if I were a criminal: “Ya, she about 40, chocolate top, blue jean, brown sandal..." I stood near the doors and waited for the police. Meanwhile, Ms. Yang and the cashier hunted (unsuccessfully) in a drawer for a screwdriver so she could fix the lamp, I guess to show the police it wasn’t really broken? A young officer soon came and asked me what happened and I told him that I just wanted to return a broken lamp was refused a refund, and explained that I was happy to leave as soon as the refund was issued. Ms. Yang then told him I was yelling “Defective! Defective!” all over her store and wouldn’t leave. The officer was sympathetic, but explained to me that mine was a civil matter, and if Ms. Yang wanted me off her premises, indeed he would have to arrest me for criminal trespassing if I didn’t leave. So I left. I hope no one else ever has to suffer through this abuse and humiliation. In Ms. Ming’s store, “the customer is always wrong.” If not a liar...

Ok so background first: My wife recently got very in to puzzles (weird I know) and she wanted a new one. She said there was this really cool variety store down near midtown close to where she worked. Soooooo I looked it up to figure out where to go. The first thing I noticed were the horrible reviews. I read each and every one - they're amazing and pretty hilarious (sorry to those who had bad experiences and hurt feelings but I loved the stories...too good to be true)

Frankly, I was extremely excited to go. How awful can the customer service be? Who is the crazy manager and employee everyone keeps talking about? How can I meet them?

So here's my experience with the store - the first thing you see as you walk in are no less than 4 signs telling (or screaming at you in exclamation points and block letters) that no minors are allowed without an adult - NOT EVEN STUDENTS one signs says. Given they are near-ish Emory and Tech I'm sure that this has caused some confusion and hurt feelings. There is also a sign that demands all bags must be checked at the front. Yes I understand that knick-knacks are oh-so easy to shoplift. But honestly, even if you packed a bag full of knick-knacks at this store and ran out the door your total probably wouldn't ring up higher than 100 bucks. And don't be fooled, the poor dude at the front (apparently not the same as the other reviews) will remind you if you try to sneak a bag past him.

The best and most hilarious thing about this store is the insane level of passive aggressiveness, for these are not the only signs you see. In the puzzle section there was a personal favorite of mine: STOP OPENING THE PUZZLE GLUE! Never mind that the puzzle glue was not in that section but hey, you get the point. Who opens puzzle glue? Jerks do. Don't be a jerk. The best sign though is the one at checkout explaining the return policy. It is written on construction paper and laminated like a bad elementary school bulletin. Some highlights: it states that you should READ IN FULL, there's a 7 day return policy, no open or broken seals (so if your product is defective you're SOL), and the best part (wait for it) - all returns and refunds are subject to the discretion of the manager. So basically, you can't return anything the manager doesn't want you to.

On the plus side, and there is a plus side...they do have an epic collection of STUFF. It is literally a store of stuff. If you want a unique toy or especially a puzzle or board game this is absolutely your place (no minors, bags, or returns though)

My only personal anecdote of poor service (despite the near comatose man at the counter) was when a mom and her 2 daughters (looked to be 8 and 11) wanted to ride this animatronic pony they have in the store. As the mom asked for change, the man at the front made sure she checked "they meet the weight requirement." HAHA! He almost refused to give them change and everything got way more awkward. FINALLY! I was waiting for this all along.

I will give 3 stars since nothing personally happened to me and I found some great puzzles. But I can absolutely see where the 1 star reviews come from.

In summation: this store is like a crotchety old man with a hoarding problem having a yard sale. Every time you try to go buy something he screams to get...

Please do not shop at Richard's Variety Store. I have never been treated this way in my entire life by a business.

They have amazing toys there and it's a great place to buy gifts. My family has enjoyed coming here for years and we have spent hundreds of dollars on great gifts for our extended family each Christmas.

BUT... the man who manages the place is extremely hostile and unkind towards children and adults alike. We were stalked around the store the entire time and badgered every time the kids were looking at the toys that they set out to play with. They have passive aggressive signs littering the entire store about don't touch this and don't do that and minors not allowed without adults, etc.

This particular day my daughter was looking at a toy and for literally thirty seconds I turned away from her to put a book back on the shelf. When I turned back around he demanded to know if she was mine and commanded me to pick up the toy that she had just decided to set down. We weren't tearing up the place. I was actually putting a book back where it goes. RELAX. I've got two kids. I'm watching both of them and trying to shop for gifts for them at the same time. And I'm doing a good job of it thank you very much.

He has acted this way towards me and other customers overtime he is on duty. I have seen him take shopping carts away from people in line and made them hold an armful of items so other customers coming in could use the carts. I have seen him badger, harass, and generally make people uncomfortable. He stresses everyone out. You can't come in and just enjoy yourself, because he won't allow it.

I had enough this time and asked him why he made everyone feel so uncomfortable. He replied, "not everyone, just you". He got in my face and I felt physically threatened. I never cursed at him, didn't yell, didn't call names, didn't do anything but question him about why he was treating us this way. I asked for his name and he refused to give it. Then he proceeded to throw my children and I out of the store. For nothing more than daring to question his behavior.

I will never go back there, except to lay out my grievances with the owner, who I understand condones this manager's erratic behavior. If you look through other comments on Yelp you'll see they got four stars because most people come and go without incident. But you'll also see a litany of complaints of rude behavior by management and staff, so I know I am not alone in this.

You may go in here a few times without incident, especially if the bearded angry dude is not on duty. But your number is bound to come up at some point and when it does, it may be your kid that he snaps on or you or your spouse. It sucks to say I refuse to go back, but I can't support this kind of behavior. Just because your store has cool stuff and a long history, doesn't give you the right to treat people terribly. I don't wish the people ill. I have no idea what has made this man so angry in life that he treats people this way, and who knows what someone's life story is. Maybe he's been through some crap. But I won't be bringing my kids in there anymore because he's consistently like that.

Please, do not shop there. Don't give money to an owner that won't address how their manager is...