Hobby Lobby — Local services in Waukesha

Dear Hobby Lobby, Tonight is the last night I will ever spend money in your store. In most cases following corporate policy is the safe and correct thing to do and in other cases bending the rules slightly to rectify a situation that is completely the fault and misunderstanding of your employee is the right thing to do.

A brief overview of the situation: I was at the register with my items. I pointed out to the cashier that the last 4 items I had were from the clearance section. A sign in that section stated that all remaining Fall items were 90% off. The items I brought to the register were clearly marked Fall. The cashier told me that the price on the sticker was the correct price ($3.24). I kindly refuted this saying that $3.24 was not 90% off of $12.99. I have bought lots of clearance from Hobby Lobby in the past, this is not my first rodeo. I know that clearance is always 90% off the original price. The cashier still said the price on the tag was 90% off. I wasn't going to argue so I told her I wasn't going to buy the items. There was another lady standing nearby who came to the register and said "Are these takebacks?". Obviously, she had been listening to the conversation so perhaps she didn't know the correct way to ring it up either or I would assume she would have corrected the cashier. After leaving the store I called and asked for the manager. I asked if clearance that is 90% off is supposed to be 90% of the original price of the item or if the sticker price is what should be rung up. She confirmed that what I thought and had experienced many times was correct. She apologized for the mishap. I told the manager who my cashier was so she could correct them.

Now that the misunderstanding was cleared up I told the manager I would come back tomorrow right away to buy the 4 items I left behind. She stated that she was sorry but it is corporate policy that clearance items cannot be placed on hold. In a normal circumstance I would not care; however, in this circumstance I really do care. Your employee(s) was misinformed, did not double-check with a supervisor and as a result I left without the merchandise. I call to ask the correct policy (which I am well-aware of already). I was very kind. The manager confirms that I am correct and apologizes for the situation. I say that I will come back tomorrow to get the items, which is already an unnecessary inconvenience. It was only 50 minutes prior to the store closing for the evening and I said I would come back right away the next morning and I am told they will not hold the items because they are clearance and that is corporate policy.

I have never been at a job where the manager was not able to make a judgement call and bend the rules slightly to rectify a situation, especially when the customer was not being unreasonable in their request and completely in the right and the employee wasn't. This is a situation where independent thinking skills and customer service should outweigh corporate policy.

I work in retail not far from the Hobby Lobby store in Brookfield. We go above and beyond to provide excellent customer service, sometimes even to people who are unreasonable and don't deserve it. I'm just very disappointed. They definitely dropped the ball at the very last second. Always make it right. Sorry is not always enough. Hiding behind corporate policy is not right in every situation either. Golden rule always applies above all others. I can't even count how many times I've referred customers to HL when we didn't have something they were looking for....

Hobby Lobby is my go-to for nearly all things crafts, aside from Amazon. I love all the quirky things and the variety of DIY stuff they have. However when I was last there and ready to check out, I went and got in a line. I didn't know they were closing that line until another customer finally informed me after waiting for a little bit already. With that one closing, it went down to only one lane, and then a lane for Returns and Exchanges. That wouldn't have been an issue for me, except it was awfully busy! Someone eventually opened up another lane which was nice. Despite that, I'm usually always happy when I go there, and wind up spending more...

I came in with a print and I worked with Greg in the framing department. Greg was not only patient with me, he was the perfect mix of providing good suggestions while being mindful of my budget. He showed me some frames and mats that I hadn't thought of and it really looked like a great combo, so I trusted in him. Cut to me picking up the framed print and IT IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. His recommendation not only looked good with my print but enhanced it.

Greg, I hope this gets you some KUDOS at work. Your suggestions were...