Worth The Wait Consignment Boutique — Local services in Virginia Beach

I was a new consignor at this shop and my first visit in with garments to consign consisted of 5 coats. Because they were bulky, I had them on hangars (by luck!). Clarissa is the person who evaluates your submissions. She suggested I do a small spot clean on one of the coats and bring it back the next week for acceptance. She only took one of the other 4 coats that day. I did the additional spot laundering went back the following week. As per their 5 garments on walk-ins, I included 4 other garments which were freshly laundered and neatly folded in a large shopping bag. She proceeded to very curtly tell me they did not take anything unless it was on a hangar. I told her that I was never informed of that requirement and it was NOT on my consignment agreement that I signed the previous week. She rudely said it was on the website but I never saw it there as most of my information was received when I called the shop weeks before. I asked if she would make an exception since I was not aware and only had the 4 garments. I kid you not, she RUDELY said "No" and turned on her heels and walked away.....as if I had nothing left to contribute to the conversation. I was so taken-aback at her treatment of me, a NEW consignor who was trying to learn the ropes, that I left. My friend, who shops there a lot asked why I didn't ask for my 2 coats back but I was still in shock. I had many additional items to consign later in Dec and had an official appointment to do so since it was more than the walk-in 5 garments allowed once a week. I cancelled that appointment and all the clothes I put aside for Spring/Summer consignment were also, no longer going to WTW. Upon returning to the store to take back one of the coats as the other sold, literally the day before I went back in, I was handed my other coat, wadded up in a Food Lion grocery bag (SEE PICTURE). Seriously, they would NOT take 4 freshly washed and folded garments because they were not on hangars BUT they returned mine to me all balled up in a grocery bag. UNACCEPTABLE! And bad business practice. I asked to speak to the owner. We stepped aside and I told her of my experience with Clarissa and how rude and dismissive she was of me. I politely told the owner that as a result, I would no longer consign there and that I would want to know about my experience if I were the owner. She was very nice and apologetic and said she would address it with Clarissa. Unfortunately I totally forgot to speak about my coat being wadded up in a bag when returned to me. While the shop is very nice inside for customers making purchases, my experience consigning with them was the absolute worst. I always treat people with respect and courtesy and Clarissa lacked that in spades. She is a detriment to the...

I had a good experience as a consignor until it was time to pick up my items and cash out. I went a couple of days before the window opened because my stepdad was on hospice in Alabama and was only given a few days, I knew we would be going out of town. My own father lives with us and was scheduled for heart surgery. I just was trying to shorten my to-do list. I was told I had to wait but would have 7days after my date to pickup. So I would have to come right away after funeral trip. Then my daughter and I got Covid. I called the shop and she told me the final day I could pick up my items. So we went on the final day, an hour before closing. My daughter and I pulled the items that didn’t sell. Then the shop girl said I needed to show her my driver’s license. I had lost my driver’s somewhere with everything going on the week before( I had it at the hospital for the Covid test). I explained I had my driver’s license on my phone and I had my military ID. She was overjoyed to tell me she couldn’t give me my check and items I had pulled because she couldn’t accidentally give them to someone posing as me. She said, “ I know you are you, but the contract requires your physical ID. I told her I had picked up my RX from the Pharmacy with the picture of my driver’s license on my phone. But it is still not good enough for this little privately owned boutique. She is happy to charge me $1 per item to hold onto my stuff in case the DMV gets my new license in the mail to me before the 14 days is up. Otherwise, they consider all my items a donation and I have two years to pick up my check for the items that sold. I think what made it worse is that she couldn’t hide her smile and little snickers at my misfortune of losing my stepdad and driver’s license plus getting Covid all in this two week time frame. No reason to do business with these...

As both a customer and a consignor, I find myself very disappointed in their policies. To be fair, it is all laid out in the contract that you sign 90 days before, that you must pick up your items 7 days after that.

What I didn’t realize is that they won’t even send you any kind of reminder email or anything letting you know that that date is up (I could have sworn someone told me they did), nor do you get even one warning if you mess it up. They will just say that your items are now property of the store, even if you’ve already gone and pulled all of your available items and they’re clearly available. They’ll keep referring back to the contract.

I could understand if someone were a chronic offender, but the very first time?

It just feels like theft.

I completely understand the need to have policies in place, but being so rigid all the time means that a small business is going to lose business. Worth the Wait has certainly lost all of my business, both as a consignor and...