Why I don’t think I’ll be back to The Children’s Place in Philadelphia
The Children’s Place is decidedly not a place for children. Or adults.
You all know me by now. I never write about anything negative. If I have a really positive experience somewhere I’ll share it (like our classes at Nest), but if I have something bad to say I probably just won’t say anything at all.
That has now changed. My experience at The Children’s Place today left me fuming and needing to vent to all of you.
My stroller hardly fit through the store. I was constantly bumping into things which was annoying and made it difficult to shop. I couldn’t get to half the areas I needed to get within the store. It was ridiculous. Even the checkout line was too narrow.
That’s not a big deal though, right? I managed.
Here’s where I became quite unhappy.
I saw all of the baby girl snow clothes but none of the ones for baby boy. I asked a sales associate about them and she said they were still in the back. I then asked her if she could get me a pair in size 12-18 months in black. She growled and then left without saying anything nice – not even a “sure”. As she was entering the back room I heard her complaining about me.
Then when she brought the ski overalls to me, I asked her if she thought the size would work for Raffi all winter. I explained that I wanted to have enough room to put a sweater underneath and that he is a year old and has been in the correct age sized clothing all along. She said in a very nasty voice that she wouldn’t know and then turned her back to me.
I ended up asking another mom who was shopping and had been through a winter with an active child already. Then I left the store without anything.
I was shocked. I am not even explaining to you how rude she was because I can’t find the right words to describe what happened. I am a very pleasant and respectful person and I couldn’t believe the service I received there. I asked to see an item that should have been on the floor since the girls’ ones were. I then asked about the item wanting to know more information. She could have said she wasn’t sure and brought me the bigger size to compare. She could have asked a fellow sales associate. She could have nicely said she doesn’t know and maybe shared the return policy. There were plenty of ways she could have reacted that would have been appropriate and respectful. But she didn’t. She was rude and disrespectful as was one of her colleagues.
So that’s why I don’t think I’ll be back to The Children’s Place. I know it’s only one experience and maybe I just found two sales associates on a bad day, but it really left me unhappy. I ended up leaving the store and finding ski overalls down the street at another shop.
They just lost a customer.
28 Responses to “Why I don’t think I’ll be back to The Children’s Place in Philadelphia”
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That is terrible, especially when those outings with a toddler are already overwhelming. I would email the company, assuming they don’t somehow see this post. I usually have luck with “my” Children’s Place, so I’m sorry to hear this.
Im gathering you were at the one in CC? That place is a zoo….i have gone in there a few times and have had to walk out….horrible!
@Angela, Yes I was at the one in CC. There were less than 10 other people shopping in the store and maybe 5 employees. I was really upset when I left. At least the security guard opened the door for me to leave. I definitely won’t be back.
ugh. I’m sorry. I was treated in a similar way at my local JCrew and it really is upsetting! My husband didn’t understand why I let it get to me so much but something about it is just unnerving…like, “what did I do to deserve THAT?!” it really is too bad for the company too.. my jcrew shopping took a major hit after that. even online didn’t sound good since i would have to return something that didn’t fit to the meanies in the store.
glad you found what you needed somewhere else!
Not sure of they have a PS Aerpostle by you or if Rafi is big enough, but their stuff is very affordable and they pride themselves on thier customer service. ๐
Yikes! That’s too bad. I haven’t always had AMAZING experiences there but nothing like that. And YES their setup SUCKS!
Hope you find somewhere new (and hopefully the sales girl does too!)
i’ve never had a desire to go in there- it always looks like chaos to me, and shopping with a baby is always interesting enough ๐
so sorry to hear you had such a bad experience.
hope you can find r a little snow outfit somewhere else (that has polite sales associates)
xoxo
I wouldn’t write off the whole company just yet. I’ve always had great CS there, but I’m across the country ๐ Call the manager and voice your concern. If she is rude or even apathetic, then don’t go back to that location. I can’t boycott The Children’s Place for you…it’s the only place that has pants that fit Bronwen!
I noticed that about the aisles and thought it was just me, so glad it wasn’t. It was ridiculous. As for the staff member I would Def mention it to.the manager that is ridiculous.
What gets me about the stroller-aisle thing isn’t so much that the strollers don’t fit in a kids store (although that is baffling enough)… it’s that if the strollers don’t fit, how do people in wheelchairs or those needing other special assistance?
@Emily, That didn’t cross my mind but what did was what if there was a fire? There is no way the store was up to fire code. There was hardly any room to move and getting to an exit would have been difficult from several locations in the store.
I worked at The Children’s Place for a summer a few years ago and my fellow employees were extremely friendly and helpful. I know you’re upset, but maybe you could revise your review title to be a bit more specific to your particular location – it would be a shame to discourage people from a chain based on your one-time experience at a poorly-staffed store. Just food for thought…I do know how frustrating a bad customer service experience can be. (Hello Comcast!)
Personally their sleepers (stretchies) are pretty much my favorite thing to buy for my nieces/nephews ever. But in your case perhaps online shopping would be your best bet. ๐ On another note, I can’t believe you’re buying snow pants already! Raffi has one prepared mama!
@Paige, Just updated it. You make a good point.
Everyone keeps saying I’m silly for buying snow pants, but last winter when I looked in November (I think) they were already all gone. Luckily it never got too cold and we didn’t get any snow so Raffi didn’t need any.
@RhodeyGirlTests, No judgement here! I’m guilty of already looking at festive Christmas pajamas for my nieces and nephews. ๐
@RhodeyGirlTests, Not at all! I was just LOOKING for snow pants, and my son wore his fairly often last year (he’s 1.5 now, we’re in Philly, too). The Columbia outlet in Limerick was running a pretty good sale this past weekend, but I didn’t get pants, just a coat.
I’m so sorry you had such a bad experience! You don’t deserve that. I hope you and Raffi can find a better place to shop.
Don’t feel bad about expressing your feelings, you’re the customer and as a blogger and a mom you have a right to be upset and write about it.
Does the company have a national Twitter account? I would blast this review over to them…I would bet they contact you pretty quickly to make amends.
Sorry you had such horrible service…I hate when that happens.
I’d definitely send a message to the store manager to alert her of your unpleasant experience… or even a step further and contact the district manager.
Hopefully, you’ll have a better experience next time.
@Paige – I work for Comcast. What happened on your last interaction with Comcast? Is there anything I can help you with. Feel free to contact me.
Mark Casem
Comcast Corp.
National Customer Operations
We_can_help@cable.comcast.com
Wow, that’s horrendous! I work in retail so I understand that sometimes all the clothes don’t get on the floor in a timely manner, but getting something from the back is never a big deal. And it bugs the crap out of me when stores aren’t stroller/wheelchair friendly. Not only does that make shopping for that person difficult, but it usually means that stuff gets knocked on the ground as they’re trying to maneuver around, which is unpleasant for both people.
I get that the sales people could have been having a bad day, but that seems more like they just don’t like their job or kids.
Ehhhg!
Good for you. I feel like so many people now just accept bad customer service and i think it is unacceptable. More people need to demand better service. Otherwise amazon will take over the world. Ha!
I hate poor customer service and it seems to be everywhere these days. I am sorry that you had to deal with that. Bad day or not the representative should have been professional. There is no excuse for bad service to a customer who is nice.
two words: baby Gap ๐ though i don’t know if they have snow pants [at least, not yet!]
I agree with the aisles in CP… I don’t understand why they make it so difficult to get through the store and actually shop?! And maybe you could try contacting the company through facebook or Twitter? I had a bad experience with zulily.com and posted on facebook not thinking that they would respond, but they did, and were very kind. Just a thought… I don’t understand why some people work in jobs requiring customer interaction if they truly dislike it so much!
H&M has amazing snowsuits online. The quality is absolutely fab
The quality of Children’s Place clothes is crap anyway, so you aren’t missing out on anything.
I don’t know, it seems like a bit of an overreaction to me. You couldn’t have patiently waited and come back in a day or two until they finished resetting their displays and everything was properly merchandised? And how would a retail worker be able to predict if a size will fit your son in a few months if you can’t either? They aren’t psychic.
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