Loom on 7th ave sucks

Subject: Re: Loom response

bklynmom wrote: Maybe they were having a bad day. I have seen and heard the stuff they have to put up with and retailers really do take A LOT from customers. Once there was a woman who bought a wallet, left the store, came back 30 min later, said she didnt have the wallet and insisted they give her another one (she claimed they never gave it to her). They then replayed her the security tape showing the employee putting the wallet in a bag and the customer putting the wallet in her purse and walking out. She still stayed and contested the video and wouldnt leave without a wallet.

There are always two sides to every story and I think both need to be heard. If everyone who had a bad experience shopping posted on here and people rallied behind them to not shop there, we wouldnt have any stores left. There are bad employees everywhere (who really wants to be paid minimum wage?!?) and people have bad days.

A few comments:

- In any customer service environment, an employee and/or owner's "bad day" should be invisible to the customer.

- There is a way for an owner/manager to deal with bad employees - fire them. New York State is an employment at will state, meaning you can fire anyone at anytime with or without cause. People will tolerate poor employee behavior rather than deal with it and move on. Business is business, not social service.

- A manager should also take the blame and apologize for the employee's poor service -- ultimately they are responsible for what occurs in their place of business.

- Minimum wage definitely needs to be dealt with (sure to be another big tyopic somewhere else), but attitude and attention has less to do with pay than with leadership and management. I've had crappy service from well-paid people and incredible service from poorly paid people. It ain't the money, it's the attitude.

- Business owners do take a lot from customers -- that is what they are in business for: customers. My father, a small business owner, has a sign that says: "Customers are the reason our business exists."

I am perpetually shocked at the culture that allows the level of disservice that has crept into customer service in just about every part of life. There is no "two sides to the story" (except in clearly criminal cases, in which case the "customer" should receive a relentless shithammer of prosecution).

For a business owner there is only one side: the customer.

i gotta be honest, something about this story just doesn't add up

so funny! I guess some people use natural deodorants, maybe those don't come in the clear gel?

sounds good. i bought some BB moisturizer that was orange scented & irritated my skin (citrus = citric acid, should have realized in a moisturizer that's probably not a good thing)--never tried anything else of theirs. i might just try the spray though.

i'm really wasting bucketloads of time today...getting a bit off topic.

So this thread just fizzled out in a discussion of organic deodorant? I'm a little disappointed this never got resolved.

Subject: politics of governments and stores...

I know this thread isn't about politics but Michael Moore has a great section in one of his books - stupid white men, most likely - with all these horrible legislative things that happened during a president's term. it's not until you get to the end where he asks... who did this? and then you find out it was all under clinton/gore. for all their talk, more trees were cut down during their administration than any other. gore could have signed the kyoto protocol for all his talk. I'm sort over both of them and have no hope for the democrats gaining some backbone.

But yes i think we can all make impacts by what we buy... i'm sorry to hear this about anthropologie and urban outfitters. once in a blue moon, i shop at anthropologie. but i don't think costco is any great place - i'm sure they have their problems too. i guess you just have to make the decisions you feel comfortable with.

I don't buy any procter & gamble products because they do animal testing, I don't buy any leather or fur products, etc. Old Navy and the Gap and Banana Republic (all owned by the same company) do clear cutting of forests ; I don't shop there.

To original poster - the story does seem crazy . I didn't think you said there was an actual stain oh maybe that's what you meant by the deodorant thing. that could be dry cleaned out, that's true. the owner should have taken you aside -although still how awkward! - and said she wouldn't have returned it because of that but she's going to honor it now. Even that is probably unnecessary. what's done is done!

I think you should write her a letter... maybe compile some of the comments here anonymously ...

cat.

kensingtonmom wrote: [quote=brooklynpotter]true. but boycotting big retailers--like target, which i also boycott--doesn't do much. but smaller retailers, like UO--and places like loom, where people could be treated poorly--makes a larger impact.

you do what you can. i can't boycott everyone, but i believe small steps can affect change..

I agree. There is a list that comes out each year with the amount/percentage the big companies give to each party. Some are worse than others. Target gives ALOT to the republicans and I am not even sure if they donated to the democrats. Now Costco is a GREAT company. They do minimal mark-up, the CEO pays himself something like $150,000/year, and they are huge supporters of Democrats (say what you want about the Democrats but at least they are a party that has some decent human values left like working for the environment and education and Gore would not have gotten us mired in the mess in Iraq.

Although it feels useless, you gotta START somewhere and at least make a minimal effort to change the world.

Well, I'd rather not shop at Loom!

Subject: too expensive

I went in there today and saw the cutest cotton dress by Ella Moss or Splendid, or one of those and it was $198.00. I don't get it. Are women in PS really paying this much for these little cotton things? And, why are they so much. I never did understand marketing.

Rose wrote: I've always wondered that about Bird. I had to stop going in there because I'd see something cute and then look at the price tag and it would be like $400. It was too depressing.

i was about to say the exact same thing.

and baby bird? hello? the whole crazy $$ on the kid's clothes makes me insane. then again, i buy most of my clothes at the salvation army. (which i couldn't get to the other day, btw, because the whole area in clinton hill was cordoned off like waco, to quote the newspaper, to remove the owners from broken angel in handcuffs. but that's another thread...)

but for kids? who grow out of things? dang. i once found a 95 prada dress at the thrift store. doesn't get much better than that.

i have a friend (one who's broke, btw) who will only wear "7" jeans and american apparel tops. she has one pair of jeans right now, which are falling apart, and like 3 t-shirts.

for the $$ spent to buy one pair of 7s i can buy at least 15 pairs of diesels/luckys, etc., at the salvation army. plus cashmere sweaters from bendel's.

do you actually come on the board to look for reasons to be nasty?

Oops, I just saw this thread after spending too much money on a flimsy knit piece at Loom! I know it was overpriced but I had a really hard day with 2 little kids and it was a total impulse buy (and, yes, did make me feel better). The woman there (owner) was very nice and helpful to me, by the way. Before I get flamed I definitely do NOT look like I have a lot of money and kids were not in tow.

I am actually in the mindset now of BrooklynPotter's friend. I plan to buy a few really nice (not necessarily expensive, but if it is, so be it) things and wear them out. I am getting rid of all the excess clothing I have which I bought for less money (and never wear). I justified stuffing my closet full of clothes b/c I was shopping at cheaper stores like Old Navy or J.Crew. Yes, 7 jeans were trendy but maybe they looked great on her. I would rather pay $300 for one pair of really great fitting jeans rather than buy 5 pairs for $60. Less consumption, and I usually end up wearing the favorite pair mostly anyway.