Romney Brown Candle Company — Local services in Grayslake

I recently visited this candle shop for the second time, but unfortunately, my experience was nowhere near as positive as the first. I made an online reservation with just a few hours notice, and the store was open for two hours after my appointment. When I walked in, the young lady behind the counter greeted me with, "I'm sorry, but we are not taking any more people today due to an 8 p.m. movie night." This was at around 4:45 p.m., and I was confused since I had an appointment and the shop was still open for a couple more hours. After explaining this to her, she reluctantly let us go ahead with making our candles but made it clear that we needed to hurry because the movie was starting in three hours.

Throughout the experience, she rushed us, repeatedly reminding us that she didn’t have time for us. The entire candle-making process (minus the cooling time) would’ve taken maybe an hour, but I felt constantly pressured. Other groups that came in after us were welcomed and seated without issue, which made the situation even more uncomfortable. In the end, we were ushered out quickly, and she told us we could pick up our candles later due to the movie.

Fast forward to 8:15 p.m. when we arrived to pick up our candles, and the doors were locked. We had left our information on the provided sheet, so we expected a call when our candles were ready. That call came 10 days later. When I returned to pick up the candles, the young lady seemed frustrated and had to ask me multiple times if I was sure I had two candles there. She had lost the bag and was visibly irritated throughout the process.

When I finally received my candles, one had wax clumps down the side, and neither had the usual stickers to label them. This was a detail that other groups had provided during their experience, which made it all the more disappointing.

This wasn’t my first visit to the shop, and my first experience was amazing. The owner had been so welcoming, sharing the history of the shop and even going out of her way to deliver our candles to our restaurant. She was incredibly passionate about her business, which made the experience so special. Because of that, I have been recommending this place to others. But after this visit, I’m not sure I would return or suggest it to others anymore. The whole experience was uncomfortable and rushed, and left me feeling like an inconvenience to the staff member working that day.

I truly hope the owner sees this feedback and can restore the positive energy and care that made this shop such a great place to visit. It has so much potential, and I would love to see it return to its former charm.

I did give two stars because of the positive experience I had...

My mom and I came to make candles for my birthday over the weekend and had the best time! The atmosphere and decor is beautiful. The gentleman who walked us through the process was very friendly and engaging. He was extremely knowledgeable and answered all of our questions thoughtfully! He told us his mom is the owner of the company and made all of the furniture by hand using old locally sourced wood/material, it was so neat! The candle container options are wonderful and they are always testing new ones. The scents are amazing he helped us choose which ones would go together well! We will definitely be coming back to refill...

The first time my siblings and I came here, we unfortunately did not have a good experience. Patty, the owner, reached out to me immediately and not only gave us a full refund of our visit, but offered us to come back and make new candles completely free of charge. She also personally assisted us during our visit as well. I am so appreciative of her thoughtfulness and generosity and for listening to my concerns. I wasn’t expecting to get any compensation but I am so please with how the situation was handled. Will definitely be coming back here again soon. Thank you so much for your kindness Patty!! My family and I had...