Nordstrom — Local services in Columbia

I honestly think I am about to quit shopping at Nordstrom all together. First, this store is nearly empty. They don't sell the brands people look forward to seeing at Nordstrom. They don't even sell the basics like Tory Burch or Stuart Weitzerman. Honestly, they should become a catalog store (so 1992). Second, the customer service is terrible. Many of the sales people are racist to their own race. I have watched many people return items at Nordstrom of all races. And I am super nosey so I watch everything. For the most part, everyone knows Nordstrom will return almost any used/new item other than Uggs with/without a receipt. But everytime, not sometimes, I see African Americans receive a hard time with returns. Once, I watched a caucasian lady come to this location with a pair of used Tory Burch shoes... no box, no receipt, not even a credit card to look up, no email receipt, nothing. She was given a cash refund in under 5 minutes. Nobody even asked her why she was returning the item. And the item was very worn and old (no longer being sold) and it was not an item exclusive to Nordstrom. I purchased the same shoes at Neimans years prior. Then when I made a return, right behind her, I was asked 100 questions for not having a receipt. I did have a box and a Nordstrom scan sticker. Today, my daughter tried to return a pair of new Uggs with a box and sticker, the receipt was left home mistakenly. She was told by Akim she couldn't get a cash refund without a receipt after showing him the Nordstrom sticker. When she told me what happened, I requested to see a manager, and waited 15 minutes to be serviced. I explained what happened and she said the same thing Akim said. Luckily when I raised my voice, a service rep walking by said she could look the transaction up by the sticker. I knew she could because I have been shopping at Nordstrom for like 100 years. I know their policies better than the reps. After about 10 more minutes, we were given a cash refund since the shoes were purchased with cash. I requested to see the manager in charge MIC since Angela Williams ( the store manger) was not present. The MIC told me all she could say was I'm sorry. Due to the fact that I will likely drive 25 miles past this store to the nearest Bloomingdales or Neimans, I won't push the issue. But on the real, Nordstrom does compensate you better than an "I'm sorry" when they inconvenience you and you point it out. The funny part about this is the MIC and her partner rep made jokes about compensation. Specifically, I said you could at least offer me a cup of coffee for my troubles. They laughed. I have been offered a meal in the Nordstrom cafe at other locations for just waiting in a long line. But the real laugh is on them. With bad customer service, they are going to spend a lot of time working for low wages while the people they service spend 3 months of the average Nordstrom sales rep paycheck at the David Yurman counter in minutes on a cocktail ring. On top of all the poor service, on many occasions, I can buy the same items or better in Bloomindales and I can receive $25 on $100 spent to spend in Bloomingdales. Just last month, I purchased a pair of Ferragamos ($500) at Bloomingdales and got $125 to spend on another item. Then when I put the $125 towards an MCM crossbody, I got $75 to spend on another item at Bloomingdales. Matter of fact, I am done with ...

I went to return a pair of kids’ shoes. I went to the kids department to complete the return, and the representative working the register along with a customer before me were complaining of people returning their online items to her department when “they should go upstairs.” The customer turned to me and included me in this conversation for some reason. The rep and the customer then told me I should really go upstairs to a perfectly good “returns area.”

I went upstairs to what is the “order pick up” area. They completed my return, but told me that I should have gone to any other purchase area of any other department.

I went back downstairs and let the rep know that there are messaging discrepancies and it made for a bit negative experience. She said “oh, well you could have waited since you had kids’ shoes. That would have been fine.”

Her manager approached (was not requested) and asked what was going on. I didn’t want to get the rep in trouble so explained while downplaying the reps involvement. The manager of the department then became short with me and scoffed that I was upset with what a customer told me, and went on to reiterate the information that the upstairs reps had shared (but contradicted the rep in the kids’ department.) Again, I was trying to give her grace, but now the manager was condescending to me. What an unnecessary & messy experience that was.

I’ve been shopping here for years. Never had a bad experience until now. Can’t say I’ll be back anytime in the...

The store is changing...and not in a good way. I have been a faithful Nordstrom shopper for years in fact, I even worked at this specific location over 10 years ago. I was always enamored by the "Disney level of customer service," the professional associates, and the festive spirit in the story. Not yesterday (11/26/2022) and not recently. The age of the associates have decreased and while this is not a golden standard for whether or not you will receive quality customer service, you can definitely tell the difference between people who are there just to have a job and discount, and those who uphold the Nordstrom brand. I was specifically in the shoe department when the young lady with pink shiny pants told her coworker not to walk up to customers and that if they really wanted something, they would come to them. I was immediately turned off and decided to just buy online. Matter of fact, I decided not to buy from Nordstrom at all and I went to the brand website. I was disappointed that what the lady thought was the best way to determine if customers really wanted something, ended an opportunity for either herself or her associate to make a huge commission. Sometime customers are unsure; sometimes customers need a little encouragement; customers ALWAYS need great customer service and this was definitely not it. I was beyond disappointed and as I originally mentioned, this is the way that things are going for this...