Macy's — Local services in Austin

This store is a good primer for why department store chains are in such dire straits. I went in when all other stores in the area are having big sales and the first thing I noticed was nothing appeared on sale. The shirts on the rack all were wrinkled and one I picked up appeared used as the tag was blacked out, hiding the actual sales price. After I picked up ~$500 in clothes I went to check out downstairs and looked at the watches. There was no one in any of the booths in the watches / cologne / jewelry stations and I stood there for about 10 mins with this big pile of clothes before I finally was able to motion someone over. I looked at a watch and asked the rep if she could tell me about the watch and she went to her computer and read off some basic fact (it's shock resistant, waterproof - yes I saw that). No fault of her own, but she knew nothing about the watch. What I wanted to know was what did it mean that it was bluetooth compatible - what did that do? I began looking it up myself and she asked me why I was looking it up on my phone (should be self evident?). I decided to buy the watch and then as she rang me up for everything (over $650) she pitched me on a Macys credit card that came with an immediate discount on my purchase. No sales discounts today (even the worn shirt) but they'd be happy to give me 20% off if I open up a card. I declined and then she asked again ("you really should consider it given how much you're buying today"). No. Starting to get annoyed now. As I'm signing, the screen says "get a 25% off coupon by providing your email address" and so I ask - will that be applied to this as soon as I get it? No, of course. I asked her if any of the things I was purchasing were on sale - including the shirt that was obviously returned and put back on the floor and she said "no, name brands like Levis rarely go on sale" (???). So after I've paid, she then tells me they don't have the watch in its box - only the floor model. No booklet. She says "well if you're a techie I'm sure you can figure it out" and I say "why would I pay brand new price for a watch that is a floor model and doesn't come with the booklet" and I still have my phone open and I say "I can just buy it for the same price online and get it delivered to me tomorrow" but she says "well it still might not come with the booklet." Like, huh? This was a classic sales-y bad customer service experience and this person exuded commission focus above...

Maybe the worst return experience of my life. I totally get that working in a high end mall means the employees take their fair share of bull, but today I went to exchange a pair of boots I received for Christmas for a size up (they will ruin my toes if I try to walk in them) and the woman in the shoe department was crazy rude. First, it was a disaster in there, so I can get being stressed, shoes everywhere, nothing too organized, but the sales associate ignored the 5 person deep line I was in for minutes before telling us she would "be right with us" and then proceeded to walk in circles like she was lost/overwhelmed for a few more minutes. When another person finally came over to help the line started to dwindle and I tried to exchange my boots. I asked how her day was going and she actually scoffed in my face, so much for pleasantries. Macy's had the exact style in stock, and the sales associate insisted that without a receipt (it was a Christmas gift!) she could not exchange my boots. Now I need to go to another Macy's to swap them and who knows if that will be successful either. I have worked retail and I have never seen a guest interaction be so blatantly rude. I also understand store policies, but with a brand new item, tags still attached (she didn't even check) store credit is standard. I won't be spending my money at Macy's again and I hope I am not stuck with a shoe that I cannot even wear because they don't properly break or take care of their employees. Ugh, bad atmosphere, worse interactions. I would 0 star...

I’ve generally had good experiences at Macy’s in the past, but this time was quite disappointing. After waiting about 10 minutes in the men’s shoe department without any assistance, I started a timer, and another 15 minutes went by. During this time, several associates walked by without acknowledging me or offering help.

When I finally got the attention of the associate covering the area, she claimed she hadn’t seen me, even though I was standing in the main walkway. I watched as she assisted two other guests while overlooking me entirely. Another associate in the men’s department also walked past me multiple times without offering any help.

It was only after I placed the shoes I was interested in on a table that an associate asked if I needed assistance. At that point, I decided to report the issue to the men’s department manager. While I understand there may be staffing shortages, that shouldn’t be an excuse for poor customer service—especially when customers are ready to make a purchase.

I wasn’t expecting anything in return; I simply wanted to give feedback. Macy’s should be mindful that there are shoppers who genuinely want to spend money and make purchases, and a simple acknowledgment or offer of help would...