Black Mountain Yarn Shop — Local services in Black Mountain

I am unsure why I cannot respond to the response so here is my edit with my response: First off, I know what a hank is and how to work with them. I have multiple drawers full of them. What I’m referring to is the yarn in the hank has areas where there is a knot to join strands. Also some of these strands are unraveling and makes the hank look cheap and unappealing. I wish I would have gotten pictures to prove this as this to me is not high quality and not worth $30+ and should have not been on the outside of a display. Now there were multiple hanks that were gorgeous! As for greeting customers by name that are regulars, I would expect this behavior. I referenced this to make a point around the lack of poor customer service that was provided to myself as well as others that came into the shop.

Original post: I decided to check out this cute shop on our way home. Was not worth the extra time to get to this shop. The first thing when walking in is being told to use the hand sanitizer. This is no big deal to me but the way it was told to us, we found rude. So let me talk first about the yarn. It’s more on the pricy side. I bet it’s nice yarn to work with but if I’m paying $30+ on a single hank I expect it to be a good hank. Multiple hanks I seen as soon as I walked in had been knotted and/or had unraveling in the yarn to get the full length. I believe these type of hanks should be discounted as there are some projects I want to make but don’t want multiple knots through my work. Also the way they were knotted seemed really poor to where if I bought one I would cut the knot out and redo it. And the ones that have the yarn unraveling this is going to be a loss due to how some looked and I would personally cut this part off. So now comes the time for the wanting to create a negative review. The customer service. I read so many positive reviews on the staff so I though it’s worth paying more to get service and nice yarn together. I’m not sure if it was the way we were dressed (just basic shorts and Tshirts) or not but I didn’t see customer service with us. The guy (rude about hand sanitizer) asks if we are picking up. I respond I’ve never been here. I was then told to look around and ask if we need help. I expected to be given a little break down on the store layout or even asked if there was anything specific I was in the store for. We got little interactions with the staff. One staff was helping customers but the guy was not so unsure why we were not asked if we needed help with anything. Due to this, they lost my business. In customer service, you should never judge a potential customer and treat them as they are important. Now I did see the customer service when a regular walked in the store. She was immediately greeted with a...

Beautiful shop, lots of natural light, the largest selection of indie dyed yarn that I've seen in WNC (without being cluttered--there's plenty of room to walk around or maneuver a walker/wheelchair/cane), very helpful, friendly and knowledgeable owners and staff (in the hour I was there I was asked if I needed help/had any questions/was still doing ok at least five times by three different staff members--great if you're the kind that wants attention or guidance, not so great if you just want to be left alone to shop). Staff is current on the latest indie patterns, yarns and fiber events and involved in the wider, online knitting community. They seemed genuinely interested in my project and excited to share their own, and I was invited to their knitting group (two on Thursdays, one in the morning and another, larger one later in the day). The yarn isn't cheap but indie yarn never is--that's just the price of supporting small businesses--and about what I would expect to pay at a brick-and-mortar store, just slightly more than ordering directly from the dyer but being able to see the colorways in person and feel the yarn is priceless (if you value any aspect of your local yarn store, buy from them! They're quickly disappearing as more and more customers shop online). Also large selections from companies like Brooklyn Tweed, Quince, Woolfolk, etc, all beautifully displayed. I did see a small stash of Shepard's Wool (also reasonably priced) but I doubt you'll find any Cascade, Noro, Plymouth, Debbie Bliss, Rowan, etc here. Totally worth the drive...

I have only had one interaction with purchasing from this store. I wasn't happy with it. When I called to order, I wasn't sure what I wanted and it was difficult to get Donna to concentrate on me due to background noise and impatience on her part for not knowing what I wanted. When she rang up my purchase and asked for my credit card, I asked for my total to which she responded that she didn't know because she didn't weigh it yet and how'd she know what to charge me. I was shocked that she wanted me to just hand out my credit card info without knowing what would be charged. THEN once she mailed it, I was overcharged for shipping. I have been tempted recently to buy different yarn or a bag but I noticed that her prices were higher than other yarn stores or from buying from the dyer/creator directly. I noticed the increase of price on Joji bags from purchasing from Black Mountain Yarn Shop instead of Joji direct.

UPDATED!!! Apparently I can’t respond to her comment to me but yes I did make a purchase. In summer of 2019 (which I can pull my credit receipt if necessary to prove I did buy Donna), I bought three skeins of Madeline Tosh Dachscond and two other skeins of tosh which I gifted. So yes I did. Any accusations that I commented for other reasons are unfounded and petty. But I guess you are showing your...