swimmom

I agree - I have had bad experiences at yarn shops or should I say a shop. Treated like an intruder - will not go there again.

JLD

I wanted a specific fabric for the quilt I am making. I went into a store close to my home and they couldn't be bothered. They told me I could order all three fabrics but that I would have to buy the whole bolt of each. Then when I asked if they had any suggestions for fabrics that might work for what I wanted they told me I would just have to look around. Needless to say I went to a different store about 20 min away and spoke with a lady who worked there and explained what I wanted. She told me that she would find out if they could order the fabric and if it was something that they thought they could sell in the store she would order it and set it aside for me to come and get what I needed. She was a gem - and I love my fabric.

jigsymom

Well if the clerk doesn't know about something , they don't know. But an honest answer is always nice. Then a referal to someone in the store who might know is nice. A smile goes along way too. Its when they say I don't know and walk away that will make me walk out the door .

chris_quilts

[My husband I made a trip through New England last year - me with my quilt shop quide in hand. Most shops were very friendly, but there was a shop in NH that didn't even look up when I came in. It was a small shop, so I know they saw me. I bought at least $50 at each shop - but they didn't get a cent. And they had some interesting fabrics that I could have easliy purchased. As far as I'm concerned attitude is everything![/quote]

Quiltmom; Would you please tell me the name of the town for that store. Am planning on visiting my mom in NH this summer and want to avoid a store where I'm not welcome. Thanks. :)

Tiffany

That and the fact that calculators are allowed in math class. I think we've really done a disservice to our youth with that!


I believe you have misunderstood our complaints. The problem isn't whether a clerk knows the item we mention but how it is handled. There's nothing more rude then standing in line waiting for ten or twenty minutes while the person who should be cutting the fabric finishes up a personal phone call on their cell phone, or is too busy chatting with another clerk to bother to give the customers any attention. I don't expect the clerk to know everything about my particular hobby, especially in a store like Joanns or Michaels where they carry all sorts of things. What I do expect is to be treated with a bit of respect, which is how I treat them. I don't take time out of my day to go shop somewhere where I am ignored or treated as if I am 'interrupting' because I want to shop there and many others who have posted here feel the same. We don't get that mixed up with a clerk who is helpful but may not know everything.

deedles215

I am that daughter (in a sense!) in the LQS that is snubbed. My LQS is less than a mile away, and the lady there is so nasty to me, I refuse to go in anymore. I was asking her questions about different things, she told me I had to serge the edges of what I was doing at the time. I said, oh! my mom has a serger, I'll just do it at her house! She replied- does your mom sew? (yes) well maybe you should be asking HER these questions.
I guess I didn't know newbies weren't supposed to ask questions... we're just supposed to know. ?
As if this wasn't bad enough, her son (I think) was there too, and was going to give me a few ideas and he asked me if he could share them, to which I said, PLEASE do! She cut him off and would not let him talk. Literally told him, "no, you can't talk."
So. What it boils down to: Be nice. Be nice whether you're the customer or the LQS employee. If you don't know, it's fine, but I'd rather an 'I don't know, but ______ does, lets ask her' than a snotty remark about my supposed experience.
Rude.

Sabre3of4

Hm, If you're talking about Springfield, MO. , I would appreciate knowing the third quilt shop. There's two I know of and the older of the two, I've sworn to go to as little as possible....in 20 years, I've had one good experience there. After last Christmas and being ignored by several employees when I was in a spending mood, I went a bit east to the other one in town to what is fast becoming my favorite place to go. The new(er,lol) has always been a friendly place and the employees have always acknowledged me as soon as I walked in, been happy to answer my questions, the shop has a lot of classes. I'm going to be asking for GC to there from now on on B-days and Christmas.

Sabrina

jigsymom

My favorite shop here is out in the country . But the owner is very smart. She put directions to her shop on the back of her business card. I have given out a few of her cards to people that I have talked to about where to get good fabric and a nice place .

cindyg

Oh, good grief! The ladies at my quilt shops will make a comment only if asked. I often ask for their opinion if I'm not sure of something. It's no wonder that lady is out of business. BTW - I like your nightmare quilt.

cindyg

There is a quilt shop near me that is owned by a lady with cats. The cats live there in the shop and they walk and lay around on everything from the counter top to bolts of fabric to a quilt that's loaded and being quilted on their long arm. It doesn't smell pleasant and there is cat hair everywhere....it looks like she has never dusted or vacuumed and this applies even to the notions wall. I am very allergic to cats so I can't stay in that shop for more than 5 minutes. Needless to say I never go there.