Romantix — Local services in Richmond

EDIT 8/27: Management have publicly accused me of being an ex-employee in their response and in the process have completely ignored my criticism of their commission-based sales, product organization changes, and their reduction in product selection. This really shows that they can’t even begin to understand that all of the changes they’ve made abruptly would upset long-time, loyal customers of Taboo. Has the new management even considered that regulars actually ENJOYED the shopping experience on a level deeper than a simple financial transaction? Deflecting actual criticism and trying to blame it on YOUR former staff who have been gone for over 2 months now, and on top of that, trying to paint a former regular customer that shopped at the Patterson location for over 3 years and begrudgingly gave this new corporation a chance as an ex-employee rather than a customer with genuine concerns is absolutely insulting, especially when former employees have been VERY transparent with their online presence when they have made comments upon spaces that discuss Taboo. You may have a wonderful reputation across the country, but it definitely leaves much to be desired in Richmond.

ORIGINAL TEXT, 8/26: A sad example of a true homegrown local company getting bought out by a corporation and completely and utterly losing their soul. All of the prior staff who genuinely cared about your budget, boundaries, and how they presented the store are all gone. All that’s left is a new staff that have been trained into subservient workers being paid less than they deserve (as far as base pay goes) to pressure you into buying products out of your budget so they can get commission. Organization that used to be catered to the customer has been replaced with organization that only caters to the salesperson. Their former great selection of trans-affirming products has been reduced to a wasteland and management has gone out of their way to refer to trans people as crossdressers. In the process, they also completely went scorched earth on Taboo’s mostly trans staff during the buyout process, who would’ve probably given pushback on those policies, and cut all of those employees, they were a truly great team that made your experience better than any corporate store ever could. Make no mistake, Romantix doesn’t care about you, and the staff in this soulless zombified husk that used to be Taboo do not...

So I just had an interesting experience here and as I drive home it bothered me even more. I just went into this store, where I have shopped before, to buy a gift for some friends. I’m the only person in the store I get my purchases and leave. .(I didn’t want to open the items in the store cause given the pandemic).As I’m driving down the down I decide to look at the items and notice one of the items doesn’t seem to be the best fit for a gift so I immediately turn around and head back to the store. No more than 5 minutes tops. I go to the counter and explain my issue. The girl takes it out of the box as well as out of the packaging and then says let me ask my associate. The other young lady that was in the shop came to the counter and tells me they can’t let me return it (to buy something else) b/c of their adult novelty policy. Even though I literally just left the store. So I’m bummed but I say ok and leave. It then crosses my mind as I’m driving home that this lady touched the toy with her hands that she was handling everything else at the counter, money included. So now I have a non refundable toy that has been handled by someone I’m not buying it for or cleaned. I didn’t even take the item out of the packaging when I realized it wasn’t what I wanted. Had this not happened I could understand you saying I can’t return something that I just brought. But for the same reason you have the policy you have now contaminated a product that I or the person the gift was for hasn’t used. For future encounters with customer’s products should be kept in packaging. Especially if you know your policy is no returns, there shouldn’t have been a reason to open the item in the...

I have visited a few times since the change of ownership and this place is an absolute mess. Do NOT listen to the employees recommendations at this store. The employees get commission, so instead of them being honest about their products, they push the more expensive products and products that the company has deals with. I used to adore this store and loved that the old staff went out of their way to recommend items that fully fit MY needs and budget. The upcharge for their products is ridiculous. Everything is cheaper online. Their product layout makes no sense and I found it really difficult to see all of my options when shopping. I also overheard staff a few weeks ago discussing their AI intensive video and audio recording systems. I'm not a big fan of my conversations in an adult toy store being audio recorded, but maybe that's just me. I wasn't thrilled when I heard about the change of ownership but still decided to give this location multiple chances. However I was just extremely disappointed. Overall this location has strange and pushy staff, confusing product placement, and just a general lack of authenticity. Take your...