Bad quilt shop experiences
#51
I normally find that the ladies in quilt shops are wonderful, but there is always that one person who has to ruin it for the rest. I discovered that one person when I was on a Shop Hop. Our Shop Hop is done once a year (in May) and it used to cover 3 states; Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. The shop in Utah didn't sign up so we're down to 2 states now. It takes 2-3 days to cover all the stores & the driving covers about 1000 miles, or it did when I had my bad encounter. I live in Idaho and hit the LQS in Jackson, Wyoming. At every store they had something special on sale and it was my first time ever participating. I walked into the store and asked the gal working there what they had on sale for the Shop Hoppers. (We buy a passport so we can prove we're part of the special Hoppers & each store stamps them. This way someone just off the street doesn't come in and gobble up the special sales.) This lady went off on me, screaming at me and going on and on about how whatever they had on sale was listed and all I had to do was look. Needless to say, I didn't buy a thing and I refused to go to that store again for several years, except to get my passport stamped during the shop hop. Since then that lady has moved on and the new gals working there are all wonderful, but it took several years to remove the bad taste from my mouth.
Madquilter - the store lady was right, your quilt is a nightmare and you simply must send it to me so that you never have to look at it again! ;)
You men need to move here to Idaho Falls! Men are adored whenever they walk into a LQS and they tend to receive a lot of attention. Of course, we're used to having men belong in the quilt guild and John Flynn was giving classes here before he got famous, so we expect men who quilt to know what they are talking about. And men think differently from women, which makes their quilts interesting. Plus they come up with great ways to solve issues and problems that most of us women never think of. Come here and you'll get treated like you are famous!
:shock: I can't even imagine where to stuff a bolt of fabric! Good grief, how sad. If they're that worried, put in some video camera's. They aren't that expensive!
Madquilter - the store lady was right, your quilt is a nightmare and you simply must send it to me so that you never have to look at it again! ;)
You men need to move here to Idaho Falls! Men are adored whenever they walk into a LQS and they tend to receive a lot of attention. Of course, we're used to having men belong in the quilt guild and John Flynn was giving classes here before he got famous, so we expect men who quilt to know what they are talking about. And men think differently from women, which makes their quilts interesting. Plus they come up with great ways to solve issues and problems that most of us women never think of. Come here and you'll get treated like you are famous!
Originally Posted by JJs
Have you been to a quilt shop that the clerk follows you around because they just know you are out to rip them off?
Granted, this particular shop had been stolen from - whole bolts of fabric slipped off the boards - but it wasn't me, and I really resent turning around and the clerk is right in my face watching me like a hawk...
Yes, I spent money there, no, I will not go back....
Granted, this particular shop had been stolen from - whole bolts of fabric slipped off the boards - but it wasn't me, and I really resent turning around and the clerk is right in my face watching me like a hawk...
Yes, I spent money there, no, I will not go back....
#52
We had a wonderful LQS here and the owner was amazing. I took classes at her store and I received EXCELLENT service from everyone, everytime I went there. She helped me pick out fabric all the time. I was so sad when she closed. Her mother was ill. Anyway, now all the other stores I go to ignore me. When I ask for help I feel like I am intruding. The last time I went into one store two ladies were working & they were eating their lunch at the same table they had fabric on display. I was disgusted. I only go back because I love two of the instructors. DH got me a gift card from there for Christmas & signed me up for a class. I need 10 yards of fabric for the quilt but I will buy that online & save the gift card for another class.
On the other hand, when we went to West Virginia I visited a quilt store in Parkersburg and I was greeted like family. :D
On the other hand, when we went to West Virginia I visited a quilt store in Parkersburg and I was greeted like family. :D
#53
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: The Finger Lakes of upstate NY
Posts: 3,563
We are fortunate to have a condo in FL, on the west coast... Our someday retirement home. When we are there, as when I go ANYWHERE, lol, I like to visit a couple of local LQS. The first (and only) time I went to one of them, while I was browsing, the owner was on the phone. That didn't bother me - I wasn't ready to have anything cut or check out and didn't need help. What bothered me was her conversation. She hated having to accept credit cards or debit cards, as stores pay a percentage of those charges/debits. She carried on and on to the person on the other end about how unfair it was. :roll:
I LIVE by my debit card, whether on vacation or home. So I knew I would use my card. I did buy a few things, as I really liked them. And then I paid using my debit card, knowing full well it was ticking her off and that she'd have to pay the percentage. :twisted:
But I'll be dipped if I'll go back there again!
I LIVE by my debit card, whether on vacation or home. So I knew I would use my card. I did buy a few things, as I really liked them. And then I paid using my debit card, knowing full well it was ticking her off and that she'd have to pay the percentage. :twisted:
But I'll be dipped if I'll go back there again!
#55
I have had awesome experiences in quilt stores and horrible ones.
I was in one in a small town up in Idaho (Glenn's Ferry, I believe) and the couple that ran the shop were the NICEST shop owners I have ever had the pleasure to meet. We had had vehicle trouble heading up to my grandmother's memorial service in northern Idaho, so my mom, sister, and I had time to kill while the guys dealt with a locked up brake on my parent's fifth-wheel. The store was tiny, but the gentleman was using a long-arm and let me pick his brain about how to use it for almost half an hour. I ended up buying several yards of fabric from them, even though I had no project in mind for it because they were such wonderful people. They seemed genuinely glad to have a "visitor" to their shop.
Where I live, I hate going to my LQS because I always feel like they don't have time to give me, see me as not a big spender (which is funny, considering my stash of fabric!) and not worthy of their quilting wisdom. My husband is gone quite a bit with the military, so my children often have had to go with me to the store. I think this is the reason they are so rude to me, even though my kids never have acted up or messed up or touched anything in the store. Not only that, but I have asked them several times to call me when they get in a certain type of muslin (that they keep selling out of), but then I've gone in to see if it is in, they tell me they just sold out of it and to get on the calling list. It doesn't seem to matter that I keep telling them I AM on the list and when they check, there I am!
I will drive an extra ten miles to the other quilt store because they have a play area for children and I don't see a look of sheer panic spread over their faces when my children walk in with me. My kids are VERY well behaved and have been taught to not touch anything, so it angers me when shop-owners assume that they are going to be terrors.
I was in one in a small town up in Idaho (Glenn's Ferry, I believe) and the couple that ran the shop were the NICEST shop owners I have ever had the pleasure to meet. We had had vehicle trouble heading up to my grandmother's memorial service in northern Idaho, so my mom, sister, and I had time to kill while the guys dealt with a locked up brake on my parent's fifth-wheel. The store was tiny, but the gentleman was using a long-arm and let me pick his brain about how to use it for almost half an hour. I ended up buying several yards of fabric from them, even though I had no project in mind for it because they were such wonderful people. They seemed genuinely glad to have a "visitor" to their shop.
Where I live, I hate going to my LQS because I always feel like they don't have time to give me, see me as not a big spender (which is funny, considering my stash of fabric!) and not worthy of their quilting wisdom. My husband is gone quite a bit with the military, so my children often have had to go with me to the store. I think this is the reason they are so rude to me, even though my kids never have acted up or messed up or touched anything in the store. Not only that, but I have asked them several times to call me when they get in a certain type of muslin (that they keep selling out of), but then I've gone in to see if it is in, they tell me they just sold out of it and to get on the calling list. It doesn't seem to matter that I keep telling them I AM on the list and when they check, there I am!
I will drive an extra ten miles to the other quilt store because they have a play area for children and I don't see a look of sheer panic spread over their faces when my children walk in with me. My kids are VERY well behaved and have been taught to not touch anything, so it angers me when shop-owners assume that they are going to be terrors.
#56
Originally Posted by MistyMarie
I have had awesome experiences in quilt stores and horrible ones.
I was in one in a small town up in Idaho (Glenn's Ferry, I believe) and the couple that ran the shop were the NICEST shop owners I have ever had the pleasure to meet. We had had vehicle trouble heading up to my grandmother's memorial service in northern Idaho, so my mom, sister, and I had time to kill while the guys dealt with a locked up brake on my parent's fifth-wheel. The store was tiny, but the gentleman was using a long-arm and let me pick his brain about how to use it for almost half an hour. I ended up buying several yards of fabric from them, even though I had no project in mind for it because they were such wonderful people. They seemed genuinely glad to have a "visitor" to their shop.
Where I live, I hate going to my LQS because I always feel like they don't have time to give me, see me as not a big spender (which is funny, considering my stash of fabric!) and not worthy of their quilting wisdom. My husband is gone quite a bit with the military, so my children often have had to go with me to the store. I think this is the reason they are so rude to me, even though my kids never have acted up or messed up or touched anything in the store. Not only that, but I have asked them several times to call me when they get in a certain type of muslin (that they keep selling out of), but then I've gone in to see if it is in, they tell me they just sold out of it and to get on the calling list. It doesn't seem to matter that I keep telling them I AM on the list and when they check, there I am!
I will drive an extra ten miles to the other quilt store because they have a play area for children and I don't see a look of sheer panic spread over their faces when my children walk in with me. My kids are VERY well behaved and have been taught to not touch anything, so it angers me when shop-owners assume that they are going to be terrors.
I was in one in a small town up in Idaho (Glenn's Ferry, I believe) and the couple that ran the shop were the NICEST shop owners I have ever had the pleasure to meet. We had had vehicle trouble heading up to my grandmother's memorial service in northern Idaho, so my mom, sister, and I had time to kill while the guys dealt with a locked up brake on my parent's fifth-wheel. The store was tiny, but the gentleman was using a long-arm and let me pick his brain about how to use it for almost half an hour. I ended up buying several yards of fabric from them, even though I had no project in mind for it because they were such wonderful people. They seemed genuinely glad to have a "visitor" to their shop.
Where I live, I hate going to my LQS because I always feel like they don't have time to give me, see me as not a big spender (which is funny, considering my stash of fabric!) and not worthy of their quilting wisdom. My husband is gone quite a bit with the military, so my children often have had to go with me to the store. I think this is the reason they are so rude to me, even though my kids never have acted up or messed up or touched anything in the store. Not only that, but I have asked them several times to call me when they get in a certain type of muslin (that they keep selling out of), but then I've gone in to see if it is in, they tell me they just sold out of it and to get on the calling list. It doesn't seem to matter that I keep telling them I AM on the list and when they check, there I am!
I will drive an extra ten miles to the other quilt store because they have a play area for children and I don't see a look of sheer panic spread over their faces when my children walk in with me. My kids are VERY well behaved and have been taught to not touch anything, so it angers me when shop-owners assume that they are going to be terrors.
#58
Originally Posted by JJs
Have you been to a quilt shop that the clerk follows you around because they just know you are out to rip them off?
Granted, this particular shop had been stolen from - whole bolts of fabric slipped off the boards - but it wasn't me, and I really resent turning around and the clerk is right in my face watching me like a hawk...
Yes, I spent money there, no, I will not go back....
Granted, this particular shop had been stolen from - whole bolts of fabric slipped off the boards - but it wasn't me, and I really resent turning around and the clerk is right in my face watching me like a hawk...
Yes, I spent money there, no, I will not go back....
You know when you are new to quilting you just have to have everything. Well that was me last summer. Made one of my few and far between trips into Vegas. Was going to go to Hancocks for the first time since I have never been in one and hoping to find anything different then what Joanns carried. First thing I noticed when I walked in there was only one other person in the store. (On a Saturday) Second thing was it seemed dirty to me. Freight everywhere. Most of the fabric was ugly and looked like it was old. Didn't smell real nice in there either. Then a man appears and asks if I need help. Told him no just looking right now. Next thing I know everytime I turned around he was there watching. Made me real uncomfortable. Needless to say I left, didn't buy anything and will never go back.
#59
Originally Posted by MistyMarie
I think this is the reason they are so rude to me, even though my kids never have acted up or messed up or touched anything in the store.
I'll bet your children are involved in quilting at home, too, aren't they?
#60
Originally Posted by Leota
Originally Posted by MadQuilter
Thanks - contrary to its name, it has provided me with countless hours of uninterrupted sleep. lol
This is slightly off topic but related to the purchase of a sewing machine. The sales person was surprised that I wanted to "test drive" the machine which btw was without bobbin. I found a bobbin and was getting ready to thread the machine when he sort of pushed me away (excuse me Mam but that's my job). I still see him yanking out about 2 feet of bobbin thread. He licked the end and then he tried to PUSH the thread up the feed dogs. Externally I was watching with great interest. Internally I was howling. Even DH remembers that one.
This is slightly off topic but related to the purchase of a sewing machine. The sales person was surprised that I wanted to "test drive" the machine which btw was without bobbin. I found a bobbin and was getting ready to thread the machine when he sort of pushed me away (excuse me Mam but that's my job). I still see him yanking out about 2 feet of bobbin thread. He licked the end and then he tried to PUSH the thread up the feed dogs. Externally I was watching with great interest. Internally I was howling. Even DH remembers that one.
My question...did you purchase the machine? I think I would've walk out to "think about it" and the buy the machine somewhere else. What kind of support did they offer?
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