I am forced to give this store the worst possible rating. The reasons why are nothing short of bizarre.
The end result is that the store owner called the cops on a customer when the customer did nothing illegal.
HUH? Read on, if you wish.
The back story for this is boring, but dealt with battery swapping of the display models of Hallmark Ornaments (I needed to test if a display model for sale worked or not). The owner of the store took offense to this and started saying really rude things to me and really started going off the deep end (at least in my opinion: my daughter naturally
agrees with me). It was sort of like those toy stores where the owner is really grumpy and hates kids (you've been to one of those before, I'm sure).
After a few minutes of confrontation (it REALLY got weird), I went to pay at the front. There, I asked if he was an employee, and mentioned that he was really being a jerk. Uh oh, he was the owner...and the woman I complained to was his wife. She essentially called ME a jerk (fair's fair; I'll accept that), I paid and left.
This is where it gets WEIRDER.
The owner FOLLOWED ME OUT OF THE STORE DOWN THE BLOCK, stopped me, and said something like ""buddy, don't ever come back"", or something equally weird. I was actually quite scared; I didn't know what was going to happen next and felt the need to protect my child. To protect my kid, I yelled at him (loudly) to ""get the F_ away from me"" to bring attention to us...this is what they train you to do when you feel threatened. He kind-a smirked and went back in...I think he was ENJOYING this.
So I was not allowed back: no big, there's no way I would ever go back anyway.
This is where it gets EVEN WEIRDER
My daughter and I were walking around town, enjoying the noontime, when a cop stopped me on the sidewalk. Simultaneously, another one walked up in that ""cop on one side, cop on the other side"" way that cops confront people. I was weirded out: my daughter was freaking out silently. Later that day, she broke down in tears over the
event.
Turns out the store owner had called dispatch and wanted the cops to stop me and tell me that any further contact with the store would be considered trespassing, and would result in my arrest (SAY WHAT?!?). We talked for awhile: the cop did his best Joe Friday, and I just rambled on in confusion.
As if this isn't weird enough, it gets EVEN MORE WEIRD!
The store owner was across the street, watching the events. Why was he there? I have absolutely no idea. But both me and my child were incredibly creeped out by this.
The fact that he CALLED THE COPS on a customer and TRAUMATIZED my child makes me furious. HE MADE HER CRY.
How could he do something like this? We are now removing the Hallmark Ornaments from our tree, as the sight of Hallmark Ornaments frankly weirds us out now. I hope to God that he isn't a typical face of the Hallmark organization!
There are many other Hallmark stores in the area (Bishop in Hillsdale, and a Hallmark-owned store in Fashion Island)...in fact, THEY told me to go to Bishops from now on. I will definitely take their advice from now on (after all, I cannot go back there anyway!)...whether or not you also take their advice is your business.
But the way he treated a long-standing and high-paying customer (I've probably dropped several hundreds of dollars there over the years) is beyond the pale. From some of the other reviews here,
it appears that the owners of this store have a history of treating customers strangely. This is probably the apex of that.
For their sake, I hope they chill out a bit.
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