Learning Express Toys of Blue Bell, PA — Local services in Whitpain Township

On the morning of 8/31/21, I was in the store with my 5 year old granddaughter and purchased for her, a face mask. I paid the price of $10 in cash. This was the last face mask available in her size. I asked the sales person to show me quickly how to open the package and thought it was strange (and she was surprised) when it popped open without any effort. In retrospect, I think the package was likely previously opened. Upon getting my granddaughter settled in her car seat in the store's parking lot, I helped her on with the face mask. Immediately, she commented that the mask smelled "funny." Upon removing her new face mask, I took a whiff and it smelled like a previous wearer might have eaten something before putting the mask on. We immediately went back into the store and after confirming that the purchased face mask was the last available, I asked for a cash refund. The response from the sales clerk was that the store does not accept return/give refunds on face mask purchases. When the sales clerk saw that I was unhappy, she asked the store manager to intervene. The manager did not express a disagreement with our "strange smell" claim, and asked for my credit card (I assume her first thought was to give me a full credit against the charge). When the manager realized that I paid in cash, against my protest, she would only give me a store credit. Based on my belief that the store re-sold to me a previously opened and used face mask for a child's use, I don't intend to ever give this store my business. Based on the actions of the store employees, the culture indicates that the store's policy is dishonest with little regard for a...

I had a negative experience at the Collegeville location and left an honest review, however Caroline the owner can’t handle any sort of criticism or cares to help customers and would rather block me on social media pages out of spite. She blocked me from the blue bell page too which is just silly. If this is how she runs a business where customers are left disserviced/disappointed and her only solution is just to block the person then I highly urge everyone to stay away and look elsewhere. The overpriced squishmallows are not worth it, you get better treatment at Hallmark.

*My response to the owner is that I was not rude, accusatory, or false with my review (see for yourself on the collegeville page) I was expressing my dissatisfaction with how my situation was handled and suggested how it could have been prevented or handled accordingly. Had the owner been honest and willing to help from the start instead of reactive, I would have been forgiving of the situation as I know how it is working retail/customer service but unfortunately that was not the case therefore can only share my negative experiences and warn others to reconsider before shopping here.

Picture shows dm of our interaction where I was ignored then shortly blocked...

They are very unprofessional when it comes to their clientele. They did us collectors a solid by annoucing a drop, sure thats always great to know. I noticed they were responding the same thing to two different question (that I was also genuinely curious about) so I just pointed out the obvious and said they were being asked different questions and giving the same answer. I didnt want to ask the same question again seeing they didnt really respond it I didn't get any acknowledgment on the matter I just simply got blocked. I did not say anything mean or rude or what they claim is "blocked behavior" I don't live a small 10-30min drive from this location I'm 4-5 hours away. I wanted to use social media as a means of getting help by seeing if other asked similar or the same question but after this I'll stick to my local toy shops who don't block their customers for wanting clarification on things. Please don't respond if there's no accountability behind the...