Art of Steel Ltd. — Local services in Pittsburgh

My wife saw a metal giraffe planter here that she really liked, so 2 weeks ago, I decided to get that for her as a birthday present. When I went into the store, I found 1 giraffe and it had some significant scratches to the paintwork. I asked one of the employees if they had any other giraffes because of the damage on the one I found, and she stated "that's how they all are" and she didn't offer to see if there were any others. Looking through the store more on my own, I came across another giraffe which was a little hidden and in much better condition. I purchased that and a set of earrings, and I was on my way.

My wife was excited about the gift, and she left the giraffe sit in a corner until she was ready to buy a plant to put in it. This morning, she picked up the planter and noticed the head was unstable, and as she inspected it, it snapped off at the base of the neck. She took the planter down to the store today to see if they could repair or exchange it, and the owner was extremely rude. She stated it was store policy that she have the receipt. The receipt was a typical small business receipt that was not itemized beyond listing the dollar amounts of the 2 items I purchased, so I did not keep it since I purchased via AMEX. I spoke with the owner over the phone and tried to ask her what about that receipt would be different from the information I could provide from AMEX showing that I made the purchase there, and she replied with 'It's store policy' and gave the phone back to my wife without saying anything else.

After I got off the phone with my wife, they berated her saying that they had no way of knowing if she purchased it, walked out of the store, and then dropped it. I'm not sure what the store receipt proves against that scenario. My wife tried to show them how poor the weld points on the planter were to no avail.

I wish I had read the reviews online and also better respected the red flag of poor service when I first went there to purchase the planter. They do not stand behind their product, they do not accept meaningful proof of purchase for their product, and they have no sense of customer service

EDIT: This review was originally posted three years ago but was only visible to me for some reason. A friend indicated they could not see it when looking at their reviews since I was recounting how horrible their service was. Editing the review appears to have triggered it to be publicly visible.

2nd EDIT: It is evident from this business owner's replies to every other negative review that they have no interest in appeasing any situation, and this review was not written in an attempt to get any resolution. Its purpose is to serve as a warning to other potential customers, as many other reviewers have done. My review history of having (2) 1-star reviews and (1) 2-star review is in no way aligned with their statement that I am trying to trash...

The worst service ever in my entire life of travel. I invited some new friends to see this store and an employee and the owner managed to be rude to both of us, separately, in a matter of 3 minutes. All I wanted was to have a pair of earrings handed to me (30 seconds). The owner was serving a couple who was trying different bracelets. I asked her once and she just said "I can't right now. Just a moment." So I waited about 3 minutes and the couple continued to try different things. I think she didn't want to leave them alone because she was afraid they might steal something if she took 30 seconds to hand me my earrings (couple was of color). Since my friends had left, I asked again if she could just hand them to me so I could proceed to the cashier. She got nasty and said "no, you have to wait your turn." So I went to the cashier and asked if she would be able to take out the earring for me. She said yes and I followed her. When we got there, the same lady (the owner), took charge. She told me I needed to be patient. I told her that I was, but my friends were waiting outside and I was running out of time. I also told her she wasn't nice to me. Rather than using the opportunity to apologize and please a customer who has purchased wedding gifts in that store, she got totally pissed and said she would not SELL ANYTHING TO ME. When I walked outside my friend told me they left because the salesperson was very rude to them as well. I assume that it must be a really bad work environment if everyone is grumpy. So I do not recommend this establishment to anyone because it is not an example of the nice Pittsburgh hospitality and...

A very interesting way to treat people who are funding your livelihood. I see the owners trying to accuse customers of being pushy or rude in their replies so I’ll spell this out as clearly as possible. I observed the woman in front of me purchasing magnets and she asked for a piece of tissue paper to separate the magnets (standard). The man behind the counter replied “you don’t need that” and stuck them all together. She then said “I’m traveling, I don’t want them to scratch” he said “they’ll be fine”. She was then forced to KINDLY request for a sheet of paper she could see behind the counter and he gave the most audible childlike sigh and grabbed it. She said “I’ll even pay you for it…” Never in my life have I seen a customer service interaction like this. The second hand embarrassment of seeing an old man behave like an 12 year old…. and my heart hurts for this woman because she still had to pay him after all of that. I, on the other hand, put all of my items back and walked out of the store :) Good luck with that attitude,...