I visited Village Wines attempting to buy champagne in a certain price range. I understand from reading other reviews that this is a specialty wine store where people are usually comfortable spending more money, and come to seek the advice of a knowledgeable owner. However, I didn't know this at the time and was just looking for something simple on a budget.
When I entered the store, the only employee was on the phone (a personal call) and did not acknowledge me or make any attempt to help. I do not know if this was the owner or another employee. I did not find what I wanted, and beyond that noticed that the prices were higher than at other stores I had visited in the area for brands I was familiar with. So, I decided not to buy anything and left the store. During that time, I had no interaction at all with the employee because he was on the phone.
I then started walking to a store in the same strip mall that I needed to visit, at which point the employee emerged from the store, still on the phone, and proceeded to curse me out in the presence of my wife, calling me a ""Little S""it"" (I am a 25 year old graduate student) and making liberal use of the F-word. From reading other reviews, it does not appear he reserves this treatment for men. If I was a women visiting alone, I would have been particularly threatened.
Village Wines is in a popular part of town with limited parking, and apparently, they are VERY touchy about parking in front of the store if you aren't going to buy anything. I understand this in retrospect, but I still think being nice is a better way to handle things and I would have gladly moved my car if asked to do so. Beyond that, the lot in front of the store was not full at the time and there were at least 20 empty spaces - I wasn't keeping anyone from shopping at the store. I informed the employee in my defense that I was planning to buy something, but he didn't have it and I thought his prices were too high. This was very insulting to him. He thought I had come in as a ruse to use the parking space and shop elsewhere. If he hadn't been on the phone, he might have known better. He then yelled ""What did you say to me!?"" in a threatening manner. How dare I question him and his store, the ""best sommelier in Nashville!?""
I seriously thought, and still do, that this employee (or owner) is crazy enough to do something stupid, so I left. But I would NEVER GO HERE. Don't support a store that operates with this level of disrespect for its customers, particularly a wine store that depends on customer service.
Apparently this is a good store if you are willing to put up with the owner's B.S., but I'm not and I don't think it's right to support someone who operates that way. It seems there are enough wine snobs without sufficient respect for themselves to keep this guy in business. It's sad.
From reading some of the other reviews, it seems that employees are particularly rude and threatening to young people or people who don't look like they have the money or sophistication ""required"" to shop here. I'm not sure what this means, because I'm as clean cut as they come and visited with my wife who looks the same. In any event, this pisses me off. No matter how rich or ""sophisticated"" I become later in life, I am not going back to Village Wines.
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