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Mood: Shocked ]
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Currently: Working on Peach Fondue Jam ]
So the husband unit and I went clothes shopping for him on Friday. (He’s a bit of a clothes horse.) We went to the Rideau Centre here in Ottawa to do our shopping. As we went from store to store, we found some of what we were looking for, but were still missing a few pieces. So I suggested Tip Top. My husband had rented a tux from the store when we attended a dinner on Parliament Hill a year or so ago, so he was amenable to the suggestion. Apparently this was also the store where my husband rented the tux for our wedding.
How wrong I was to suggest that store.
When we entered the store, there were two employees standing behind the cash counter. A man and a woman. Neither of them made any effort to come over and serve us. In fact, we were not even greeted, nor did either of them make eye contact. In fact, both of them made a hasty retreat to the other side of the store to rearrange the ties almost as soon as we entered.
My husband and I found several shirts that might look good on him. Once again the two employees made no effort to help us. We managed to find the change rooms and my husband started to try on the shirts. At this point I started to look for a place to sit while this happened. Once again, I was on my own, even though the woman noticed me looking, but quickly ducked her head to avoid having to speak to me.
As my husband came out wearing the first shirt, the most interesting event of the evening happened. Two slightly older couples couples came in and made a be-line for the suits. As I watched, the two employees stopped working with the ties and hustled over to them. Another middle-aged gentleman came in, also to look at suits. The female employee quickly went to help him. They couldn’t have be more helpful to these customers.
I have tried to figure out why this happened. Admittedly, neither my husband nor I were dressed up, it had been a warm summer day, but neither were these two couples. They were in shorts and t-shirts, as we we. Both my husband and I had showered that day, and wore deodorant, so that also wasn’t it. The two couples did however, have full heads of grey hair. My husband and I do not.
We may not look like it on the outside, but we have money to spend. My husband also owns his own business.
When my husband came out of the change room with the shirts, he and I had a brief conversation. There was at least one shirt he liked, but given that neither he nor I were feeling the warm fuzzies about the store, we simply put the shirts on the counter and left.
After this experience, I am not returning to any of Tip Top stores again. Which is a shame, because I make it a point of buying some nice sweaters or shirts for my husband at Christmas every year. Also, given our charity work, we attend several formal dinners a year, so my husband occasionally needs a new suit or to rent a tux.
They have lost at least one customer with the very poor behaviour of the staff at the Rideau Centre. I wonder how many more have also been treated this way and have not taken the time to write a letter to Tip Top like I did.
We’ll see what they say.