ALOHA Collection — Local services in Encinitas

I went into this store with some friends while I was in the area for the weekend. One of my friend had some items which she got from the Honolulu location and she wanted to get something while she was also in the San Diego area. The items were very, very nice and I would have even considered purchasing some things if I didn't feel like I was being watched. I am a person of color and I have experienced being watched closely and even followed on various occasions. It happened here in this store. My friends and I were looking at different things in the store and one of the employees came up and repositioned or checked the things that we had touched. I understand that businesses need to make sure that the products for sale look their best, that is, tidy, well ordered and organized, not fallen over, etc, but I left no mess. In fact, because of my past experiences, and because of my upbringing, I made sure to leave everything nicely. I am the type of person who will walk all the way across a store to put something back in the proper location if I change my mind about purchasing it. It just did not feel right being followed around in the store and having things that I touched being checked or rearranged. We were not even greeted once the previous customers who had purchased certain things left. So there we were, people of color who were not greeted and were made to feel like we were unable to be trusted with the items in the store and were being watched. I certainly do not expect this to happen in the Honolulu location and perhaps I will need to go there to purchase what I want instead of the Encinitas location where I would feel a discriminated against...

I shopped here today to buy my daughter some matching pouches or bags for her larger bag. I was with my spouse and we were the only ones in the store. No one offered to help us, although we were obviously a bit confused by the patterns and sizes.. I could have asked for help but I just wanted to be asked I guess. Sometimes I feel discounted or ignored due to being older:/ I was friendly to the cashier who only stated “no returns or refunds.” I asked if my daughter could exchange the pattern if we chose the wrong one and she said no exchange either.. the whole experience was not fun.. . The Hawaii store was 180 degrees different with tons of help and assistance.

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I love the Aloha products, great items but this specific location has terrible customer service. I have gone into this store twice, both times customer service was so bad. Staff very unfriendly, especially the older lady that literally just stares and watches your every move but doesn't smile, greet or help with anything. The 1st time I went in I bought quite a bit but simply because there was a good sale, the second time I returned I was looking for something specific but left because it felt uncomfortable in there. I hope cusservice improves here because I really do love...