patricej

venting and flaming here might make you feel better in the short term but it won't fix anything in the longrun. it also stands to reason that a store will go under if the majority of its customers are unhappy enough to never go back. soooo each of the surviving stores must be doing something right in addition to any mistakes made along the way.

Joann's has a website. they provide corporate and customer service contact information.

use the contact information. let them know what you like about shopping there and what you don't like about shopping there. be specific and constructive when providing information they can use to sustain what works and fix what doesn't. make sure to send two copies of your comments: (1) to the managers of the store you shopped in and (2) to corporate headquarters.

if there's a problem, be part of the solution.

brwnntwn

Most of the ladies at the Joannes by me are wonderful. If I happen to need help & the person I talk to can't help - I can usually find someone who can. I think the store is just too bug though and does not have NEARLY enough fabric! Too much emphasis on the do dads and gee gaws

brwnntwn

Sorry hum, Joannes is a "craft" store not a quilt shop. Though the one by me does have quilting thread. Joannes is a store for the masses and the bored house wife. It serves it's purpose. If you want "fine" goods you all need to go to "Fine Goods" store. I'm just saying. You get what you pay for.

AnnT

I've had both good and bad experiences with Joann's. I go there frequently as our choices of fabric stores is amazingly limited for this area. Before they closed the one here in town, it was great. The staff knowledgable or at least willing to to try or go ask someone else. The one that's left in a larger city...it's mixed. Just depends on who's working that shift but most are helpful even if they don't have any fabric/etc knowledge.

Sometimes a tad over-helpful as when my dtr & I were looking at fabric and she asked me "How much is it?" meaning what's the width and a sales clerk busy with another customer a few feet away took the fabric out of her hands without so much as a 'excuse me' and said "It's $9.99 a yard." My dtr said thanks but I was asking Mom how wide this is. Last time we went the person cutting fabric admitted up front she didn't cut fabric, she had been called in due to another's illness. At least she was honest about it.

It seems to me that the selection at our Joann's has become more and more limited - colors, fabrics...just about everything. Writing to the company sounds like a good idea to me - both positive and negative experiences. Maybe it'll help, certainly won't hurt.

jean knapp

JA. the one I go to in florida does not have younger people working there. Most of the ruid employees are retired ladies. Once in the middle of cuting she just walked away to go to the cash register no excuse me for a moment just walked away. But then again I was at the QS and they were busy with theri friends chating so I think it just depends. Like they say walk in my shoes and see how it is. Love Jeannie

sweetburkhart

I have two Joannes within a half hour of me. The service varies with the size of the store meaning the smaller the better. As for the coupons, ech!! Too many restrictions and the signage of specials sales etc have many times not been removed in a timely fashion. One time I got so upset about the signage I removed all the signs and walked over to the cashier counter and placed them on the counter. Telling them to regroup and try again.

sewcrafty

I've seen the quilting thread in the reg. thread area. Its not in the quilting section. I know it would make things easier if it was. Maybe that's where your store has it?

JS

Rose of Sharon. To some degree you are correct. I worked in retail for many years before I stopped working altogether. I was a clerk on the floor at a family owned bunch of nursery stores with a turf dept and home accents dept. They are well known in the Lititz, York,Pa. area. They pride their company with customer service being the number one priority. I also worked in the home office in Lititz in the training dept. I taught the new employees customer service for our stores. It can be hard sometimes I know putting on that smile when your day is not the best etc. What I think these women are trying to say is it costs nothing to give a smile or just be pleasant to another human being. We here in America have grown to expect just the opposite I hate to say. We are amazed when someone smiles at us be they providing a service or passing us on the street. When we are treated with respect and yes that is what we are talking about here .. we remember that and pass it on to others we meet in our day. It also "makes our day" to be treated that way.There were many days I did not feel well or had an overloaded day before it began. People would come in and ask me the same question a thousand times. The point being each person that asked me that question did not know they were not the first one to ask me that same question that day. Even that morning. Yes. it is hard and we are all human,but common courtsey to another human being is never out of date and when you are treated with that respect we all deserve you can sometimes overlook the fact that that clerk waiting on you does not know ziltch about what you are asking. There should however, always be someone in the store at any given time during business hours that can answer any question asked by their buying customers. Even if it is only the manager and she is busy at the moment. You tend to wait and not mind if you are being treated correctly. Oh, I know not all customers are nice or respectful either. I have faced that many times over in my working years in retail. You would like to smack them,strangle them or just walk away. I know it goes both ways. But, you are providing the service and that should mean something no matter what. Why this long diatribe? I guess like many Americans I am tired of the gross disrespect we all give each other here in America for many years now. Just being kind to one another is not the rule anymore. This business with JoAnne's stores has just been brought to the board and aired and I guess I have had enough and felt this is my way to speak out.I truely think a lot of the complaints here are symptoms and not the real problem. If you notice most of these quilters start out with how they are being treated and go on to bad fabric etc.I think that so many people in so many states saying the very same thing states JoAnne's Stores have a problem period. I have experienced this in my store also.
My Best to all my fellow quilters on the board.
JS

JS

Brwnntwn, Yes JoAnne's is a craft store,but if you are selling a product then you need to have someone in that store who has an understanding for the products they are selling. Even if it is only the manager or a clerk in that dept. Ho hum, common sense and common business sense. If you notice many of the quilters are saying they do not have a choice as to where they can buy their quilting needs. If I go into a grocery store and end up in a dept. that is not "groceries" it is still a dept. in that store and someone should be able to answer any question that arises regarding the products sold in that dept.
Hope my fellow board members are having a great day!

JS

Brwnntwn, Yes JoAnne's is a craft store,but if you are selling a product then you need to have someone in that store who has an understanding for the products they are selling. Even if it is only the manager or a clerk in that dept. Ho hum, common sense and common business sense. If you notice many of the quilters are saying they do not have a choice as to where they can buy their quilting needs. If I go into a grocery store and end up in a dept. that is not "groceries" it is still a dept. in that store and someone should be able to answer any question that arises regarding the products sold in that dept.
Hope my fellow board members are having a great day!