T.J. Maxx & HomeGoods — Local services in Newport

This TJ Maxx gets ZERO stars.

Their employee, Alexandria, gets five stars.

I can't find my TJ Maxx Rewards Card so I called ahead and asked if I could just punch in the 16 digits at the front counter and was told yes. I know they can do this because when I got my temporary card (a receipt with 16 digits on it) that's how I made purchases until the card arrived. I just needed sheets and body wash but I stopped at jewelry to buy my mom something pretty because I wanted to make her smile because she's either been in bed, puking, or walking at a 90 degree angle for a week. When I went to check out, manager Mary Something was incredibly rude and told me it was against store policy and I had to download the app. So I did but the app won't connect to the card. I went back to the website and had them watch me log in, verify my name, watch me pull up the balance and account number and offered my ID. No go.

The next manager, Gabrielle, told me the computers were not capable of taking the card number. I'll be verifying that with corporate but I'm not buying it. Stores enter debit/credit card info all the time when cards don't work or the purchase is being made over the phone. The only human person with any sense of compassion in that store was Alexandria. She apologized over and over and paid for my purchase. And her managers were upset with her! I don't know if they were upset because she was the one that told me it was okay when I called prior to arriving or if they were upset because she offered to pay. The managers probably thought I was lying because I went to jewelry first. I don't have to prove my sick mother to them, though.

And on top of ALL OF THAT, when Alexandria bought the sheets, she got snapped at by Gabrielle in front of me for "ringing up her own purchase." 😡

Alexandria: Thank you so much for your compassion today. I needed it and will definitely be paying it forward.

Somebody give that...

One of my wife's go to places when in Newport, RI. Tjmax and HomeGoods. She just loves there bargains galore clearances.all the woman's clothing. Home goods has great furniture,trinkets alot of assorted items, she says if you see something you want get it 👍 it can be gone tomorrow morning.all of these stores Carry different merchandise. No two stores appear to be alike. friendly people, service is great, very clean 👌 for the amount of traffic,has a bathroom that's clean. Plenty of parking plus handicapped parking...

Six staff behind the register. 2 registers open. 1 customer. Me.

One staff checking out a customer. One leaning back on the counter. Two twirling their hair AND chatting with a 3rd. One messing around with a price check that did not require any immediacy for easily 5 minutes, until she finally decided that maybe she would wait on me.

This is why we shop at Amazon & retail is dying.

The staff stocking domestics...