Michaels — Local services in South Riding

I was racially profiled at this store, yelled at by an employee and the store's response was to invite me to drive miles out of my way to another store to pick up a custom framing order since they did not terminate the employee and wanted me to avoid seeing him again as a "convenience" to me.

On 8/1, I went to this store to order Mat board for 2 art photos to match mat board I had previously purchased from them.

As we were still deciding on frames, we wanted to order the mat boards. I walked into the framing department with my Mat board and art photo I purchased, along with the two other art photos. I informed Connor we had not decided on frames but wanted to order 2 mat boards to match the one I purchased. He immediately asked had I paid for the mat I was holding. I replied yes and that I had purchased it from the Springfield store and invited him to look up my order in their system. He said he first wanted to make sure I had paid for the mat, in other words, that I had not stolen it. How exactly does one steal mat from Michael's since it's cut to custom order and they don't give it to you until you pay for it. I again invited him to look up my order. He then informed me that he would not sell me the mat boards unless I purchased custom frames. I must note here that when I arrived, I had to wait quite a bit of time while Connor worked with a couple ahead of me. They picked out their mat board but also hadn't decided on a frame. He had no problem with placing their order. I asked if that was a Michael's store policy as I had not purchased frames with other mat boards I had ordered. He said it was a store policy. I have since learned that Michael's does not have any such policy. I left the store.

I returned on 8/2 and wanted to speak with a manager. I explain to Josh about my experience and Connor's refusal to sell me mat boards. Connor becomes confrontational. Josh asks Connor to go to the back and he will handle it. Connor ignores Josh and continues. Josh asks Connor to go to the back again and points for him to step away from me. Connor ignores him again. I then say to Josh "Is this how Michael's employees are supposed to treat customers? What is he going to do to me here?" Connor then leaves and goes to the back.

Josh made excuses for Connor and took my order for the mats. In essence, Michael's still made me pay for frames to purchase the mat boards. I filed a complaint with Michael's customer service. They put me in contact with the district manager, Mark. Mark basically offers for me to not return to the store and have my custom items shipped to another store, which is not conveniently located near my home all for my "convenience". He tells me Store Manager Beth is going to call me to arrange for me to come and pick up my items and that they had issued me a refund. I later find all of that to not be the truth. A refund wasn't issued when Mark said it was nor did Beth call me. Mark indicated that Beth called. I reminded Mark of the technology of cell phones which capture missed calls and voicemails, of which I had neither.

Today I went to the store to pick up the order I paid for. I was given a frame with NO GLASS, NO BACKING AND NO HARDWARE. (SEE THE PHOTOS) with my photos still in their cardboard sleeves. Josh said he didn't know what happened. I immediately called the District Manager Mark who said he must have been lied to by the store manager because he was told that all of the custom work had been completed and assembled. They also handed me custom cut mat board 2 sizes too big for it's frame (SEE THE PHOTOS).

So Mark calls Josh who then offers to do what they had been paid to do the first time, which is custom frame my artwork. He again tells me he will have it shipped to me or sent to another store. I inform him that they have made it clear that I am not welcomed in their store because they didn't terminate Connor for abusing a customer.

Next step. I'm thanking the stars that Virginia is a one-party state and those conversations are all recorded if legal action...

Sadly, they lost a big customer today. Over the past year, I have spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars at Michael's as I made the entire decor for my daughter's wedding. Every bouquet, every table arrangement, every arch, every corsage. Also, I recently had pictures framed for a friend for $250!!!!!! I happen to be environmentally conscious, as well. So I took back four simple foam items that I didn't open or use. I had the receipt for a whopping total of $13.75. First they said that the receipt had expired. Okay. Then they added that they could give me a store credit. Great. But they "couldn't" use the prices on my receipt that I paid. They "had to" use the lowest price in the past two weeks on the item. Not true. So they wanted to give me a store credit for $7. Now, let's face it. This is not about $6 for me. It's about extremely poor corporate policies. Three stars for the two people I dealt with there. They were kind; just stuck in a corporate system of greed. This...

I just got back from Michael's where I was having two posters framed. I worked with Nick (manager of framing) and he's the most patient angel. :) I had previously gotten a poster framed and told him I wanted these two to match. As he laid out the matting for it, it just didn't look quite right, so I asked for his recommendations. He patiently went over everything with me even as I waffled back and forth because I wasn't expecting to have to think about this decision.

He listened to my concerns, questions, and didn't rush me or act like I was being the pain I was being. Nick also seemed to know quite a bit about the posters and I definitely trust him to do good work.

The previous poster I had framed there is absolutely perfect and I'm expecting these will match, in that regard. I'd recommend this place for framing and...