Lost Cities Beads — Local services in San Diego

We just moved less than a mile from Lost Cities Beads. Went in with my daughter to get specific beads etc to make bracelets as a fun Sunday project. We spent $100 on beads (ugh). As soon as we walked in the door, a brunette woman with braces, aggressively told us they were closing soon. I told her we knew exactly what we wanted and would be fast (there were 3 other customers in the store, shopping). The poor young “man” who ended up helping us was doing their best to make this aggressive woman happy, but with each of the woman’s interruptions, you could see the “man’s” hands shaking from the stress this woman was causing as they tried to work with the beads and string. It was pretty f’d up to see someone under this much stress (in a BEAD STORE!). When we left the store, the first thing my daughter said was “I don’t want to go back there.”

No way I would support this business. Their communication with customers, treatment of staff and overall vibe, was...

Three experiences:

1. Many years ago, I bought a variety of beads but when it came time to use them most of the holes were too small. I was told "There's nothing we can do about it." "It's on the people who drill the beads." "You might want to consider getting smaller string." I was using 1mm string at the time so now I'm using 0.5mm. This seems to work for awhile...

2. A couple of months ago, I bought more beads and I run into the same problem. The Labradorite beads were drilled so small my 0.5mm string wouldn't go through. I'm not willing to size down on string again so now I have to look into getting a bead reamer set.

3. Same time as the Labradorite beads, I was looking into getting more Blue Lace Agate. Last time I bought them they were about $12. I found them under the name "Chalcedony" and they were charging $32. I asked them about it but never got an explaination as to why the price was nearly tripled.

I will be getting my beads...

I was fully prepared to spend a few hundred bucks in this store but after 15-20 min of looking around and none of the 2 or 3 people working in what is a pretty small store attempted to even greet me, say hello, let alone ask if I needed any help. There were only 2 other customers in the store and the couple who walked in 10min after me were immediately greeted and asked if they were visiting small talk etc while still not even acknowledging me. Not sure if they thought I wasn’t gonna spend money or what but no reason is justifiable for not greeting a potential customer or picking and choosing who you’re greeting based on some superficial disposition about the person. Won’t be coming back and don’t recommend especially if you’re a younger male that may not look like they typical jewelry...