Hobby Lobby — Local services in Johns Creek

I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday with my mom and baby daughter. We were excited to purchase multiple picture frames to decorate my house. Five minutes after we hung one of the frames it came apart on the wall. It was made so cheaply that the wood corners split making it come crashing down. Luckily the glass did not shatter since both my dog and daughter were in the room.

I drove back to Hobby Lobby that evening to learn that they close at 8:00 and it was 8:07. One employee pointed and laughed at me as I stood at the closed glass door. Finally the employee that checked me out earlier that day came to the door. I told him what happened and asked if I could switch frames and he told me under no circumstances was he allowed to open the door.

I returned to Hobby Lobby the next day to exchange this haunted frame and was put on trial about what happened. After asking me multiple questions the cashier finally came to the conclusion it must have been the way I hung it. Reluctantly she called her manager who agreed to switch the frame for me.

This manager could have made a latte, called an old friend, or read a short story during the time he was “getting this frame” for me. As I stood at the front of the store with my crying daughter in her stroller I watched two other disturbing customer experiences. A dad with 3 kids asked to exchange an unopened bottle of yellow paint for a different shade. Unfortunately he did not have a receipt and was told there was no exceptions. This Dad was clearly just doing a fun summer craft with his kids and was being treated like he had just stolen something.

The second unseemly scenario was a mom with a toddler son and a baby daughter strapped to her chest trying to check out. She had a lot of craft items and was bagging everything herself! She then managed to waddle out the door only dropping one bag. Both of these scenes transpired while “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” was playing in the background.

The manager finally came to the front and said “here” handing me my picture frame. There were no apologies exchanged and I knew it was out of the question to expect them to give me this frame to make up for this horrible experience.

After I left Hobby Lobby I went through the drive thru of another Christian company. I ordered a medium drink and they accidentally gave me a small. When I said I ordered a medium they were extremely apologetic, giving me the larger size for free and let me keep the small. When handing it to me they said...

With everything going on in the world you'd think people would want to improve customer service skills and wouldn't be so careless with how they address people. Well not today ladies and gentlemen. Today I purchased a number of things for my small business. One of the items was an unfinished wood circle that was supposed to be 40% off. I hadn't noticed that I was charged full price for said circle until I got home. I thought I'd call the store to see if maybe I misread something and it wasn't the following item that was on sale. Now chances are if I had misread the sign or not I still wouldn't have left my house again over eight dollars. But when I called about my question it was assumed that I did and I was told repeatedly the woman didn't know what I was talking about and that she would have to see it. I know working in any store you don't know every item that is sold. But in hobby lobby there's always a sales sheet at the counter or in the building in general. Now I don't remember the name of the young lady who answered the phone for me but if she was at the counter the sheet would've been right in front of her and she would have clearly saw unfinished wood crafts as I repeatedly said it's an unfinished wood circle. If she was in the back or on the floor it should have been difficult to find the unfinished woods after repeatedly hearing me say it or ask another employee. But I digress. Anyways, I expressed to the woman that I felt as if she wasn't listening to my question and was trying to get me off the phone. Before I could ask if there was someone else I could speak to she told me "No, You're not listening to her." I proceeded to repeat my question again about whether or not the item was on sale at this point I just needed an answer for my friend who I was trying to recommend the item too. I had already known in the back of my head that I would be returning all of my items because of the amount of disrespect and attitude in her tone. She proceeded to say if it was a craft item then it would be on sale. Now why was that so hard? It wasn't even a definite answer but I would have taken that over having to bicker back-and-forth with someone. I've been trying to spread a lot of love during this time but her negative energy really took a chunk out of me. All of my items have been returned. 0 out of 10....

I regret that a '1' is the lowest number of stars I can give in this review format, because Hobby Lobby doesn't deserve even that. The employees are abrupt at best and downright rude, uncaring, and incompetent at worst. I have visited this store on several occasions only to find the employees far more interested in re-stocking the products on the shelves than helping customers.

I recently was searching for a large picture frame and rang the bell for customer service in that area. The employee that emerged from the back to "help" me seemed very uninterested in my questions about the products I was trying to select, or the fact that many of the frames on the shelves were damaged. When I questioned a sale price item, she referred me to the checkout at front rather than trying to obtain an answer for me. I had the sense that she couldn't wait to get back to whatever she was doing before some "pesky" customer interrupted her.

Upon purchasing several large picture frames, the checkout employee seemed reluctant to bag the items for me, asking each time if I wanted a bag for the item. I was tempted to reply, "No, of course not. I spent over an hour waiting on myself, sorting through scratched and dinged up frames on your shelves and now I'm hoping to throw them in the back of my car with no protection so they will get broken on the way home!. Of course, I want a bag surrounding an item that has glass!" Hello? Where is the product training, much less customer service? I've had more helpful cashiers wrap and bag items at the Dollar Tree!

When searching for a particular item I asked employees in 3 different areas of the store only to have them shrug, point toward another area, or reply that "we probably don't carry that". Really?!? I think Hobby Lobby needs to take customer service notes from Publix, where the employees always take you to the item you are looking for. Perhaps they should follow the lead of another "Christian" company, Chick Fil A and make outstanding customer service a hallmark of their organization and a tribute to the values they supposedly embrace.

I truly enjoy looking at the merchandise Hobby Lobby has to offer, but their customer service is a terrible reflection on their ownership, management, and the Christian values to which they...