Five Below — Local services in Costa Mesa

I had the most unpleasant experience at the Costa Mesa Five Below today. I was waiting for an RX at the local pharmacy and went into Five Below to pick up a few items and look at their Easter candy. Not feeling well, I picked up a few things and decided to check out. I went up front to find two female employees chatting at the registers. I moved toward them, and they told me to check out myself. There were about 8 open registers (I was the only one in the store) one of the women pointed to the register and said check out. I was tired and not in the mood so I put the items down and proceeded to walk out. One grabbed my arm and said "hey wait", it's easy to check out. I headed toward the door and the second woman stepped in front of me and said "I will show you how." At this point, I was getting agitated and said I want to leave. One of the women started scanning the items, one was standing between me and the door. I was extremely uncomfortable. I went back to the woman checking out the items and said "OK, just please get this done so I can go." The whole process took longer than it did for me to shop for the items! I don't appreciate self check-out and will not shop at stores that only offer this service. Again, the store was void of customers and the two women were up front talking and laughing as if they too were customers. I bag my own groceries I'm not an elitist. However, when I go into a store, I don't expect to check out my items as employees stand by and watch. The entire situation was weird and uncomfortable. I will no longer shop online at this store either. You don't know how to treat your customers or your employees. I thought the store was empty because it was late afternoon. However, I went to the store next to it and it was absolutely packed. I had to wait in line but a lovely lady kindly rang up my order with a smile. Five Below, you have a...

Horrible experience the other day there was a young Latina girl, and an older Latina woman. We had been visiting from another city and decided to go to five below before our beach trip To grab a couple of last minute things. We got the right at 9:28 AM And knew that they opened at 9:30. We got out of our car and walked to the store at 9:32 AM. There was a payroll mail delivery guy knocking at the front door for a long time. He was knocking telling us that they are not opening the doors and they are right there in the front registers not acknowledging him. As soon as he was irritated, he shoved the payroll through the door. The lady opened up at 9:35 AM five minutes after they opened to grab the mail, she did not acknowledge him and he walked off telling us that she is so rude. The older Latina woman I’m not sure if she was the manager, but she did not acknowledge us, nor did the younger woman. It’s unacceptable when these people are getting hired with poor customer service and no urgency in opening the doors When they Have been open for five minutes already. Trust me, I have worked in retail and if we are opening up late due to an urgent matter, that is understandable, but if both of them are standing at the registers where we can see through the door, not acknowledging the payroll guy or anyone knocking on the door that is Unprofessional, and they should be Placed on a PIP or even let go. When we walked in, they were both on their phones talking to. It seemed like their family members. Disgusting customer service that we witnessed even until check out no one acknowledged us even when I asked the younger girl a question, She didn’t even respond. She just scanned the barcode and that was it. Horrible...

Five Below is right next to Northgate Market. We've never been to a store where everything is marked under $5. There are actually some interesting finds here. They have toys, art supplies, Funkos, Mini Food Brands, Squishmellows, board games, beauty products, bags, clothing, just like a 99 cents or Daiso. But everything is just a little bit more upscale due to the $5 price mark. There are products that's over $5 but that's in the electronics section ... something the other discount stores generally don't have.

I actually found a few items for under $5 that I normally see for $10 elsewhere. It really is a cool treasure trove of goodies.

This store's concept is quite unique and the service was very friendly. I almost walked out with a hoola hoop because I was carrying it on my shoulders. The store clerk quickly helped me use another register to check out so I didn't have to restart my initial transaction. I would definitely return...