Kohl's — Local services in Downers Grove

I am not a shopper, leaving that chore to my wife who loves overcoming the challenges and the hassle in getting the best quality and price procuring what our family needs. And Christmas shopping is her forte. I only shop once a year, usually on 12/24, and buy for only one person, my wife. This year was no different in the dread I felt approaching the inevitable chaos of my annual excursion into a world I know noting about.

So as I breached the doors at Kohl's last week, with an expression of fear and feeling totally lost on my face, a friendly checkout clerk called out to me, welcoming me to Kohl's, and asked me if she could help me find something. I of course could not admit that I indeed needed help and mumbled something about "the jewelry department." She pointed to the counter directly in front of me. I scanned several displays of beautiful diamond encrusted necklaces, pendants, earnings, bracelets--all lovely, but with price tags between $100 - $500, a little more than I was planning to spend.

I looked over to my right, and was able wander around the racks of sweaters, blouses and dresses, imagining how my wife would look in each. I found a pretty dark blue sweater with some scattered sparkles and a cowl-like collar, in a size I thought could fit her for under $25. I snatched it from the rack, and on my way to checkout, passed a "clearance " display of jewelry when a simple necklace strung with a number of small but pretty stones, originally marked at $50 something, now down to $12.

Feeling pretty good that I had successfully accomplished my mission, I was shortly checking out with the same clerk who first welcomed me. She complimented me on my choices, scanned an additional 30% discount coupon she had, and told me that I had saved some $70 with these purchases. I really felt good as I left the store. And my wife loved the gifts. Although I still hate shopping, Kohl's staff made my experience--in and out in under 20 minutes--not only satisfactory, but nearly...

Boy has this place gone downhill! I remember Kohls as having excellent customer service-even if it was hard to find a free employee. But now they must be operating on a skeleton crew! I went to get new bras and the only employee I found was a maintenance person. She was at least able to point the way to the fitting room which is no longer near the bra section. The downstairs registers were closed, so I had to go up to pay. One lady was working her way through a growing line of customers. I needed a one item in a different size and she said they didn't have it. The crystal lake location had one, but they can't send it to me or to the DG store. They couldn't even hold it for me or verify it was there. They aren't able to order it for me, though I was welcome to check the website myself. So I asked if they had a black one, but she wasn't able to check unless I went back down, got a black one and waited in line to have her scan the code. I am so used to Kohls helping their customers! Essentially now you go in and are on your own. I know they have construction inside, but that doesn't excuse their poor customer service skills. I will probably be doing my shopping online or at a different location...

Today, I had to make a return and ended up wasting over 10 minutes waiting in line at the guest services desk on the first floor. When it was finally my turn, I was met with the completely unhelpful and apathetic attitude of Diane, who flat-out refused to process my Sephora at Kohl’s return. I've been shopping at this location for over two years and have never had an issue with returns like this before—other associates have always handled Sephora returns for me without any hesitation. Yet, Diane insisted they "shouldn't be doing that," even though she admitted they are capable of processing the return.

It’s honestly infuriating that she denied my return, even though I had the online receipt with the order number clearly displayed on my phone. Diane was completely uncooperative, dismissive, and downright rude—short with me the whole time, as if it was an inconvenience for her to help. It’s baffling that I received such poor service when I’ve never had a problem at this location before....