An aside...

So normally I stick to the point of this blog: Miss C. But tonight I must deviate; I've had rather an unfortunate occurrence and need you all to take note and weigh in, especially if you live in my corner of the world.
So the other day Chloe and I made a trip over to Tyrone (about 25 minutes from our house) to go to our favorite consignment shop: Red Door Consignment Co. I am all about the deals and with as fast as Miss C is growing, consignment is the way to go for jammies and day-to-day outfits. When we got there, I headed straight to the restroom. I drank a huge Diet Coke on the way and had to go. Bad.
The following email explains what happened:

To Whom it May Concern:

Let me say first that I love your store. I have been a repeat shopper there for over a year now. I have told many of my friends with small children about the great deals, selection, and quality to be found in your store. I have never had a poor shopping experience at Red Door until today:

My six month old daughter and I drove over from Newnan this afternoon to shop at Red Door. When we entered the store (my child in her stroller) I thought it would be best to use the restroom and change her diaper before starting our shopping. As you are well aware, the bathroom is in clear sight of the cashiers' area, and they saw me walk in the door with my daughter and go straight to the restroom door.

As I was trying to navigate the stroller into the restroom, I heard one of the cashiers yell "Ma'am! Ma'am!" across the store front. I turned to look at her and she informed me that I could not take my stroller into the restroom. She went on to tell me that "people have been using their strollers to steal things so we don't allow that anymore." I was so taken aback that she had basically just accused me of shoplifting, loudly, in front of several other customers. I tried to explain to her that I had just walked in the door and hadn't even begun to shop yet--there was nothing in my stroller. She just simply said "no" and that "she be happy to watch my little one for me" while I used the restroom. I told her "absolutely not" and that I would take my business elsewhere. So we left.

Can I just say how absurd the whole incident was? First the woman alludes that she thinks I am stealing, then offers to watch my child for me. Aside from the fact that she would not let me and my child use the restroom and insinuated that I was stealing, I would never allow any stranger to watch my child for me for any given amount of time.

I find it so bizarre that your store considers it more of a liability to allow strollers in the restroom than it is for your employees to watch customers' children. Can you imagine the ramifications if something were to happen to a customer's child under one of your employee's watch?

Regardless of whether it is discriminatory to deny restroom access to a man or woman shopping alone with a minor child simply because the child is in a stroller, it is simply poor store policy. And because of that policy, you lost a dedicated customer today.

I am not sure if the woman who accused me of shoplifting and denied my child restroom access is the owner, manager, or just an employee. But for me, it doesn't matter. I am so disappointed by the way my daughter and I were treated that I will not be shopping at your store anymore. I hope this email, at the very least, makes you reconsider your policy.

Sincerely,

Charlotte King

Ok, so I was sooo hoping to get an apology from the store so we could keep shopping there. Instead this is the response that I got: (first indication that this isn't going to go my way: notice that my name is "Catherine")

Hi Catherine:

Thanks for your feedback. I want to address two things

First to apologize for the way in which you were advised of our policy. The employee should have come out from behind the counter and talked with you one on one. She’s been advised that the manner in which she engaged you wasn’t correct. That said, we put the policy about strollers in place for two reasons.

In the first five months of this year we’ve had to write off $10,000 in merchandise. In our seven year history, I don’t think we’ve lost that much to customer theft. But in tough economic times people made do things that they may not do in different circumstances. So we’ve had to institute some policies that we believe are helping us keep the shoplifting down. One area that we have targeted is strollers. We’ve actually caught customers leaving our store with merchandise in the strollers. We’ve also found tickets removed from merchandise in our bathrooms. It’s unfortunate, but the reality is that the steps we’ve had to take are helping us minimize theft.

The overwhelming majority of our customers are great and wouldn’t think about stealing. But some do. And we’ve become more vigilant about it, because the merchandise on the floor isn’t ours. It belongs to the people who consign with us. So to keep our consignors confidence, we’ve found it necessary to take these steps. Over the course of a year, we have in excess of 40,000 transactions. Many are to regular customers, but when you think about the number of different people in the store on any given day, It’s difficult to monitor where people are in the store and what they are doing.

I’m sorry that you feel that the policy is inappropriate and that it’s caused you to decide not to return. But, the circumstances that we’re facing this year require us and other retailers and resellers to handle things differently than we have in the past.

Jim DeVos

President

Red Door Consignment Co.

Ok, so first off, he addressed me as "Catherine." Then, I only got an apology for being yelled at across the store. No apology for being accused of shoplifting, no apology for being denied the use of the restroom, no explanation for why it is ok for the employee to watch my child for me, and absolutely no remorse for the fact that any of this happened at all. Hard economic times or not, an apology was in order, and I did not get one. I get where they are coming from, I really do. Everyone has to make money. But come on.

So because of what happened and the response that I got from the President of the company, I felt compelled to share it with all of you. And with the Better Business Bureau.

This store makes the bulk of its money off of moms with small children. My advice to you is don't shop there unless you've got a buddy with you or you are willing to hold it until you get home.

Hope you all had a better shopping experience this weekend than I did! ~C