The Wrath of Letter Writing

Treat me like crap or disappoint me in the quality of your service-I'll write you a letter...just ask Corona and Nabisco. And now-Francesca's Collections.

To Whom it May Concern,

I live in Austin, Texas and Francesca's is one of my favorite stores. I have bought many gifts for friends and myself at the Arboretum location and recently bought a cute grey dress at the N. Lamar location. I love the jewelry selection, birthday cake candles, and the reasonably priced clothes. I take friends shopping at Francesca's when they are visiting me in Austin.

I have noticed, however, a significant difference between the two locations where I shop, the Arboretum and N. Lamar locations, when it comes to customer service and feeling welcome. I never quite feel welcome or appreciated as a customer at the Arboretum location due to a variety of reasons. So far my experiences at N. Lamar have been positive.

I visited the Arboretum location last night, Monday, October 8th. I walked in not knowing what time it was and asked what time they close. A woman wearing a colorful dress and glasses if I remember correctly, said they close at 8:00 and that I had 30 minutes. Already I felt unwelcome by her tone and time limit. I would never stay past closing time. I picked up an item of clothing and another girl started a dressing room for me. I picked up a couple of more items and the woman who first told me the time took them from me to take them to the dressing room while saying, "You have 15 minutes," again in a not so friendly tone. This statement made me feel extremely uncomfortable so I said, "You know what, I'll just try them on some other time." Her response was, "Are you sure?" In my mind, if Francesca's practices good customer service, her response should have been, no, please try them on. I answered with, "I would hate to hold you guys up." and I walked out. This was disappointing as I was excited about what I had found and would have purchased several items.

I have worked retail before and understand wanting to clean the store and to get out as soon as possible, but this is no excuse for poor customer service and making good, friendly customers feel unappreciated, unwelcome, and uncomfortable. I will continue to shop at the N. Lamar location as long as their customer service is good but I never intend on returning to the Arboretum location. I hope this issue is addressed in some way as you do have a good store, but unfortunately when people are working with poor customer service skills-this no longer matters.

Sincerely,