NEVER POKE A MAMA BEAR!

For as long as anyone can remember word of mouth has been THE SINGLE MOST POWERFUL form of advertising.  Couple that with the social media craze that has taken over the world and you simply cannot afford to deliver poor customer service.  I experienced the worst customer service at Rooster's Antique Market in Lafayette, LA on 9/26 and 9/27 and was flat-out lied to by the owner.  Read on to learn more and by all means, avoid blessing this establishment with your patronage.  Service (that term is used extremely loosely) like this doesn't deserve your business. 

I found a piece I wanted from Refurnish on Sunday.  I posted a comment on the photo of the piece at Refurnish's FB page on Sunday and their owner got back to me; we spoke on Monday and I was told that I could see the piece at Rooster's Antique Market but that they did not open until Wednesday.  I was prepared to pay for the piece as soon as I saw it; was ready to see it Sunday but had to wait until Rooster's opened.  I went to Rooster's yesterday afternoon around 3:45, saw the piece, went to the counter to pay for it.  The worker put my name down for the sale, had me fill out a red "SOLD" tag with my name and phone number.  I proceeded to pay for it with my debit card but was told there would be a 3% fee for using a debit/credit card.  I told the worker I would be back with a check but that if I wasn't back by 5 (they close at 5pm) to please call me and would give my debit card over the phone and pay the 3% fee. 

At 4:42 the owner, Leslie, called me to ask who told me the piece was held for me.  I told that I had inquired about it over the weekend via Refurnish's FB page, etc.  She seemed confused about everything so I told her that this was getting out of hand and to ensure that I got the piece let me just give her my debit card right then and there so as to secure the piece.  She told me not to worry about it and that I could just bring the check by closing (5pm) on Tuesday. 

At 6:25pm last night, Leslie sent me a text that read:

"Hi Stacy.  This is Leslie at Roosters.  After all that concussion (think she meant discussion) before I hung up with you, another customer came in and purchased it.  I'm very sorry but we are bring (she meant bringing) in a lot of new items & we can paint another one for you.  Very sorry, Leslie." 

I texted her back:

"I am thoroughly confused; I filled out a SOLD tag and was prepared to give you my credit card information." 

She texted back:

"I must say I am 2 But before I could hang up w/u it sold to another customer  Very sorry." 

At this point I tried to call Leslie at the number from which I was receiving her texts; there was no answer. 

I texted Leslie the following: 

"How could it sell to another customer if there was a SOLD tag on it that was filled out with my name?  I was made aware that another customer was looking at the piece; your worker told me this when I was there today.  She wrote down the (my) sale in your log book and said I could either come back by closing with a check or call with credit card.  You then called me and told me I could bring a check tomorrow so naturally, I opted for that to avoid the 3% fee you pass on to your customers paying with debit cards.  Had I know your worker was lying to me I would have paid with my card when I was in the store.  This was a piece of furniture that my daughter selected and was her birthday gift."  (Quite a lengthy text, I know.)

Leslie then replied:

 "I can only text because of the area I'm in I'll call you first thing in the morning when I leave & get service I'm out of town picking up order & I had 2 people working for me today & that's where the concussion (again, I think she meant confusion) can n to play I apologize this has never happened before". 

Lie #1: She has yet to call me back this morning, as promised. 

Lie #2: I went in at 3:30ish and they close at 5pm, there was only 1 worker there so unless there was a shift change during the last 90 minutes of operation, I doubt confusion amongst worker is to blame. 

This morning I spoke with Martha, one of the owners of Refurnish and she told me that Rooster’s called her yesterday afternoon to say there was a customer that came in and saw the piece but did not buy it (she’s thought was me).  Then they told her another person came in/was there and wanted the piece but they wanted Refurnish to come down on the price.  After consulting with her business partner, Martha gave the approval for a price reduction.  Given that Martha is under the impression that  I was the one that came in earlier in the day and didn’t buy it she is no longer feeling obliged to “hold” it for me.  Martha tells me that Refurnish keeps items for about 2 weeks and tried to sell via Facebook; if after two weeks a piece doesn’t sell, they put it in their booth at Rooster’s and that once it’s there they (Refurnish) have no control over it’s sale.  Martha told me that the person that bought the piece after I “bought” the piece was a frequent customer.  So, I’m left to believe that Rooster’s plays favorites and choose to undercut their booth renters profit margin in favor of appeasing customers that are personal friends of the owner of Rooster’s.   Martha told me that they went to Rooster’s this morning to move the piece and that the red SOLD tag with my name was still on the piece.  Martha was very apologetic and was adamant about ensuring that they (Refurnish) had nothing to do with this.  I do not hold Refurnish responsible and wish them all the luck in the world; I hold Rooster’s owner, Leslie entirely responsible.

I went to Rooster’s this morning and spoke with the worker that was there yesterday (and yes, I recorded the conversation).  Here’s what I gathered from the conversation:

First, the worker told me that Leslie (Rooster’s owner) called her and said that they don’t “HOLD” things anymore.  This seems to have been before she called me at 4:42.  Then apparently, after she called me at 4:42 and told me I could wait until today to bring my check for the piece, the worker said that Leslie decided to sell it to someone that came into the store and was ready to pay.  This had to have been between 4:42 and 5pm.  Now, please remember that I was ready to pay as well during out phone conversation at 4:42.  I’m led to believe that this “someone else” is a personal friend of Leslie. 

The worker then told me that the piece sold this morning, that the customer paid for it this morning and that it was picked up this morning.  Lie #3 lies in there somewhere but I can’t quite figure it out. 

I’ll be posting the conversation to You Tube so you can get a sense of the calamity that is the communication skills beheld by Rooster’s workers. 

I’ll be calling Leslie, the owner of Rooster’s, shortly and will let you know how that goes.   

This is a piece of furniture that my 3 year old daughter is so excited about getting for her 4th birthday; next month. When we there yesterday she said as we were leaving "Mommy, why can't we take it home? No one else is going to take, right Mommy?" I said "No sweetie, we're going to come back with our check and we'll take it home on Friday." The shadiness and lies of Leslie at Rooster's has broken my daughter's heart.

Word to the wise: Don't ever poke a Mama Bear.