Diddams Party & Toy Store — Local services in San Mateo

To celebrate my father's upcoming birthday, my sisters and I hatched a plan to throw a surprise party for him.

Typically, my sisters handle the bulk of the logistics related to decorations, but given the ample time afforded by my retired-bastard schedule, I offered to pick up a few of the requisite decorations in addition to my typical duty of simply procuring food and/or dessert (typically Mitchell's ice cream ).

My original plan involved simply obtaining the desired balloons and dessert plates from a local Party City store. My detachment from the party-setup scene was made evident by my sisters who informed me that the local Party City stores had been shut down a while ago.

My sisters informed me that I could go to the Diddams store located in San Mateo (a 20 minute drive from my home).

When I arrived, I was greeted by SEVERAL staff members with a VERY friendly "hello". While attempting to track down and consider options, I was assisted by two representatives working on the floor, Aricela (sp?) and Jairo (sp?).

Aricela was extremely PATIENT and KIND in providing assistance tracking down several items.

Jairo was FRIENDLY and HELPFUL in his numerous attempts to check the storage area for a couple of things that were unavailable on the display cases.

At the counter, Jose was very COURTEOUS and PROFESSIONAL in preparing the balloons that I purchased and in ringing me up to finalize my transaction.

Side Note: I ended up having side conversations with Aricela, Jairo, and Jose as they were all extremely FRIENDLY and, not surprisingly, very KIND in indulging my desire to practice my green-belt level of Spanish

EPILOGUE As things turned out, I returned home to find that the top layer of a stacked set of balloons I purchased completely deflated by the time I arrived home.

I ended up returning to the store to inquire about how the issue could be remedied. As luck would have it, the store manager, Jason, was present and he was able to quickly address the issue by allowing me to simply grab a pre-constructed version of the balloon stack without question.

The timing of my return was quite fortunate in that I was able to introduce myself to Jason and inform him, face-to-face, of the COURTESY, PATIENCE, and KINDNESS extended to me by several members of his team.

KUDOS to Aricela, Jairo, Jose, and Jason - keep up the great work in providing EXCELLENT and FRIENDLY service to all...

I have been a customer for quite some On August 23, 2024, at 11:45 am, I had a disappointing experience at the store. An employee named Claudia provided me with terrible customer service. When I asked her to take my order, she didn't acknowledge me. When I asked a second time, she rudely replied, "Can't you see I'm busy?" I was shocked by her response and told her that her customer service was horrible. Once again, her reply was confrontational, asking if I had a problem with it. I hope this message reaches the right people so that the company can provide better training for...

They have a good variety of candy. Previously, I've bought chocolate that looks like rocks and chocolate coins (they offer a variety of colors). I made a chocolate gingerbread house (minus the gingerbread) and found green and red candy melts, nerds rope, small white chocolate balls (snowballs), and maybe some other tidbits from the candy-by-the-pound options. They also have Balloons and baking utensils, games and puzzles. The owner seems nice. Staff, well, they do...