Last Chance — Local services in Phoenix

After reading the reviews, I was concerned about making the trip to Nordstrom Last Chance. When I decided to go, I went expecting the worst and prepared with the best attitude I could muster. Here's what happened...

I arrived 7-10 minutes after 10 am when they open. I found out they are in the basement, not unlike any other store in a mall. There were stairs, escalators and elevators leading to the basement. Obviously, there was no line to get in as they were already open. There were actually a couple of people walking to the register with their purchases. I have no idea how they managed that so early.

They had a bunch of racks outside of the store for sweaters and two large tables with lots of boots. The pictures posted by another reviewer of the messy mangled stuff is these boots tables. They have different type shopping carts to choose from outside the store. I have Verizon and had cell and data reception. Someone mentioned there was no reception.

The store was organized by item type and size which makes it easy to look for what you need. Yes it does feel like Ross or Burlington except much more crowded with smaller aisles. It is a clearance store after all where all the unwanted merchandise goes to be sold.

While in the shoe aisles, I heard a staff member repeatedly telling customers that they need to move along and not hang around the closed aisles. Apparently when they put unwanted items back on the shelves, they close the aisle. Some people hover around waiting for the aisle to open. In fairness to all, they were trying to stop that. I didn't even notice when the aisle opened. When I did notice, there was a line to get inside the aisle and people were entering one by one. When I got my chance and walked through after probably some 10-12 people, I did notice a group of young Latin ladies outside the aisle looking over their finds and discussing it among themselves. I don't know who they were or how they got into the aisle first. Whether they were the "Regulars" referred to by another reviewer, I do not know. From the looks of it, they were looking at sports shoes.

Some of the shoes were dirty, some had embellishments or rhinestones missing. Some had lost their shape. Some were dirty on the soles. I even saw a pair of shoes that must have been used because they had back of heel cushions attached on the inside. Choose your shoes wisely.

They also have at least one full length mirror that I noticed and people were trying on hats and clothes and looking in the mirror 2-3 at a time. Some people were extremely polite and asked if they could stand with you to see themselves. We are in Arizona after all.

They also had some home goods, scarves, hats, purses and bags, evening bags, belts, accessories, sunglasses, dresses, evening gowns, pants, shirts, men and children's clothes. This store is cheaper than Dillard's Discount.

So here are the pros and cons:

Cons: The line to pay is HUGE in the middle of the week, middle of the day. I can't imagine what it's like on the weekend. The clothes are all the same you find at Ross, Burlington, Marshall's. Fabrics are all the same polyester or junk mixes. The prices are higher than Burlington and Ross. There are NO returns or exchanges. Many items are stained or damaged or used. They had no shoes worthy of even a glance. The wait at the fitting room can be long. The toy area was closed off and there was supposed to be a line forming and people allowed to choose 2 items. There was no line. No one was interested. There were probably 4-5 people total so they removed the line and people could take what they wanted but there was never a rush.

Pros: Honestly I can't think of one except maybe once in a while you might find something worthy.

While I was in line, someone asked me if it was worth it. I told her no and explained the cons. She said she lives 10 minutes away. In that case, it can be worth it to stop by once every few months for the heck of it and see...

My recent encounter with Jasmine D. and her manager was nothing short of deplorable and entirely unbecoming of any professional establishment. Upon arriving at Jasmine’s register to complete our purchase, she received us with a demeanor that was curt, inhospitable, and frankly disrespectful. My mother, who is handicapped and still recovering from surgery, was brusquely told to return to the line because “only one person” was permitted at the register—despite the fact that there was absolutely no one else waiting. Even after I clarified that I was paying on her behalf, Jasmine maintained an antagonistic disposition devoid of the most basic courtesy or empathy.

The situation deteriorated when Jasmine declared that one of our items had been mispriced by her store’s own inventory team—a negligible discrepancy of merely three dollars—and insisted on a price check for an identical item of the same brand. When I requested managerial intervention, the manager was unable to locate the supposed “correct” item on the sales floor yet still refused to honor the clearly marked price. Instead of demonstrating accountability and extending goodwill, the manager adopted a combative stance, prolonging the exchange while my mother, in visible discomfort, was left struggling to remain standing.

The final indignity occurred when Jasmine, with visible irritation, stuffed all of our garments into a single, excessively heavy bag—an act that showed a willful disregard for my mother’s physical limitations and underscored the absence of even the most elementary consideration.

This encounter illustrates profound service failures: unprofessional conduct, refusal to uphold pricing integrity, neglect of accessibility, and, most disconcertingly, a wholesale absence of compassion for a disabled customer. Such behavior reflects systemic deficiencies in training and accountability. It is my earnest expectation that this incident catalyzes immediate corrective measures, including retraining in professionalism, empathy, and adherence to both ethical and customer...

We've been traveling from New Mexico to Last Chance for years to shop. However, there are groups of people who are there from the time they open until closing. They grab every single pair of tennis shoes, UGGs, etc, clothing and Home Goods before anyone can get to them. The last time we were there, my daughter was #57 and got moved to the front of the line. As she was going in she heard one of the people behind her say in Spanish that the shoes were behind the long dresses, sz large and an empty hanger would be sticking up. I guess they didn't expect her to understand what they said. My daughter went straight back to that area and pulled the dresses open to find a suitcase full of the expensive athletic shoes. The people behind her began grabbing them and when she reported it, nothing was done. Another time we were there and my sister was #10 and I was #22. She went straight to the women's sz 7 shoes and I went to the men's shoes. Despite none of the racks showing any shoes had been removed, people had baskets full of tennis shoes. Some of the people were 10 to 15 people behind me, yet they had baskets full of shoes. Years ago when we started going to LC, the manager limited everyone to 3 pairs of high end athletic shoes per customer, per day and they didn't get to grab every pair and go through them and throw the rest on the floor or take them to the cashier's so they didn't go back on the rack instead of going to the back to be restocked. They picked 3 off the rack and that was it, and they were on the rack, not stashed behind long dresses and any other place they get them. It used to be so much fun to go and find "treasures" at such good prices. Not anymore. All that's left for those of us who are buying for personal use are extremely worn shoes, clothes with holes or the low end clothing they don't want, and never any of the high end home goods.

There was a time when we'd shop for hours and get really nice things,...