Ollie's Bargain Outlet — Local services in Galax

I'm writing to share a frustrating experience I had at Ollie's, despite generally loving the store.

I spent nearly an hour carefully selecting items and filling my cart. I briefly left my cart at an end cap, stepping away for less than five minutes while remaining in the immediate vicinity of the checkout area. Upon my return, the cart was gone.

An associate who had seen me with the cart moments before kindly tried to help me locate it, even mentioning that another customer had recently experienced a similar issue. After searching the entire store, I found another associate actively emptying my cart and returning the items to shelves. When I explained that it was my cart and asked her to retrieve my items, she stated she couldn't recall what she had put away.

When I informed the first associate who had been assisting me, his response was, "She didn't mean to, sorry for the inconvenience." While I understand the store needs to manage abandoned carts, I believe there's a missed opportunity for better customer service and training here. I was actively shopping and had only briefly stepped away from my cart, not left the store.

This incident wasted over an hour of my time, effectively forcing me to re-shop. A simple customer service gesture, like offering to help me re-gather my items, would have made a significant difference. An exceptional response would have been an offer to prioritize my checkout, acknowledging the inconvenience and wasted time.

My hope in sharing this is twofold: To warn other shoppers to keep a hand on their cart to avoid a similar situation. To provide feedback to Ollie's regarding their cart management and customer service training. Improving these areas would greatly enhance the...

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So far so good. I'm hoping the prices don't sky rocket. The cashiers are extremely helpful and so friendly always smiles...