Burlington — Local services in Cerritos

Usually, I have a neutral to positive experience at Burlington stores, but today was something new. I'm not sure if this store was an unfortunate victim of one of those smash and grab robberies that have been happening at stores recently, but security here is TIGHT!

I want to preface this review by asking if there was a robbery, why Burlington?, I mean, it's not like this is "top tier" merchandise, especially considering there's a Saks Off 5th, a Nordstrom, and a Nordstrom Rack in the vicinity. Honestly, I don't think anything in this store costs more than $20. I mean, you could probably steal a whole truckload of merch and only have maybe $2000 worth of stuff TOPS. Those thieves must really be STRUGGLING, but I digress.

Back to the issue at hand, when you approach the store, they have crowd control stanchions set up outside. It was like having a velvet rope entrance to a club nobody wants to go to. Then, you snake around the entrance and you get inside, and there's this guy, who I guess is pretending to be a "bouncer", with the rope closed off asking you what you're in the store for. I'm like, "to shop, please". Then, he's asking me what section I'm going to, and I'm just like, can you open the rope, please? With the store's already harsh fluorescent lighting, I felt like I was on an episode of "Lockup" and I was being booked into prison. While this is ongoing, there was a lady, who I guess was his supervisor, standing there observing this process, and as my intense interrogation concluded, she tells him to "make sure he looks into the camera so we have his face". I'm like, seriously?

At this point, I'm waiting for someone to fingerprint me, collect a DNA sample, or at the very least, come over and ask me to bend over and cough. After she was satisfied that my mugshot had been taken, I was finally let through to disappear into the abyss of off label "Gucci" knockoffs and clearanced Kenneth Cole Tshirts that is Burlington. I then stood behind some racks of "Chanet" bags to observe the process and I watched them do this to every customer for the 10 or so minutes I was in the store. I mainly did this just to make sure I wasn't singled out and luckily for them, I wasn't. Each customer was even more confused about this "Alcatraz-esque" booking process than the last. They even had someone's granny in there, probably giving her flashbacks to that time she rolled a doobie and thought she was being chased by the fuzz.

Needless to say, and all jokes aside, this is a retail store, not a casting call for the new season of "60 Days In". I walked out empty handed and I will definitely not be returning until this process changes. I understand theft and retail crime may be up, but there really needs to be a happy medium for those of us who just was to actually pay for our merchandise and have a positive...

I've been shopping at this particular location, for quite some time now. Before all the renovations and upgrades even. But, two days ago, I had the worst customer service experience ever. WITH A MANAGER... ESMERALDA!! First she lied, then she lied and once again she lied. I went to exchange some shoes, I didn't have my receipt and the shoes didn't have a tag. They didn't have one when purchased. I was told by Esmeralda, I couldn't exchange/return without the receipt, but to bring my CC used for said transaction. So I went back the next day ( oh, and the shoes were purchased on layaway) I had my CC... Esmeralda said she couldn't exchange them once again. That she's never seen me before, let alone said such things. I didn't catch the cashier's name but she practically threw the shoes back on the counter and said sorry. I asked for a manager, Esmeralda said, "I'm the manager". And gave an Up and Down stare. 😡 I looked at the cashier and told her, "that manaher doesn't know how to do her job, neither do you. Please call her manager or whoever is above her. Well, well that seemed to have lit a 💡 because Immediately I got my money back for the shoes. Horrible customer service. I won't ever be back to the cerritos...

Terrible store will never ever shop at this location again. Esmeralda one of the managers t was the only helpful person when their cashier workers lost my layaway stocked with designer purfumes. Some of the worker have know respect for customers spending their hard earned money they don't greet you they just look at you like they've seen a ghost. My layaway was lost by one of the employees who never bagged my items that I put a down payment on instead she took my money and put it on someone else's layaway imagine all Christmas gifts gone and the other manager Colleen don't care I called her over a week ago and she has not contacted me back. This is because she doesn't care further more she she got really firm with me and my husband and tried to make us the perpetrators for something wrong her employees did. I believe the store has been doing this to people for a while and they will keep doing it if someone don't step in and change their way of doing things. Totally disappointed by the lost of my family gifts and then having to pay my money on someone else layaway this was not an accident it was done on purpose Thanks alot Burlingtons for messing up my Christmas. Your workers need some ...