My wife has been a loyal customer of Soma for several years, and not once has she ever been mistreated or denied excellent customer service until the past two days. Whenever she would go shopping, I would find a seat and wait patiently while she searched for her sizes. She’s petite, and it takes some time for her to see what she’s looking for. She also does her research by going online and ordering and finding what is available at her local Soma store.
She returned an online order for a different size Friday evening at Soma Store 5318 in Trenholm Plaza, Forest Acres, South Carolina. Her salesperson never greeted her, and she appeared unwilling to help her find her sizes for the exchange. After interrogating my wife when the purchase was made, the salesperson stopped the process after she was shown the online documents. This never stopped the salesperson from her rude behavior because she pointed to where the items might be located but never lifted a finger to assist her. It was at this time my wife decided to leave. Only two customers with a baby were together, being helped, it seemed, by the store manager or supervisor who wore pajamas. She was too emotional to finish the shopping.
We returned Saturday morning, and the same salesperson was there, hanging some clothing on a rack by the registers. She avoided us when she saw us and walked off the sales floor. My wife went to the area where she was told to look last evening and found her items. E, another salesperson, greeted us and assisted my wife. The manager or supervisor was helping another customer while we were there.
My wife did not want me to address this issue. However, my explanation was and still is that ignoring customers and being rude is not beneficial to any organization serving the people regardless of who they are. If a salesperson is reluctant to help the people contributing to the growth of any business, they are stunting the growth of said business. What matters is that we felt unwanted by that salesperson who had no intention to assist us and did not want to be bothered by us. Being rude and inconsiderate is acceptable lately. People aren’t apologetic or concerned about addressing current social issues.
I am not asking that this salesperson be penalized; no one knows what is going through another person’s mind or what she may have encountered before we arrived. But, repeating the same attitude the next morning does not convince me she was having “a bad day” the day before. I respectfully request that someone with diplomacy and tact speak with her about improving her customer service and people skills. My wife will continue to shop with Soma. She enjoys their products.
Still, I contacted their corporate office, which is somewhere overseas. I explained the same situation to them. I also read this store's reviews, which confirmed my suspicions about the store’s staff. I read the store’s reviews. It seems that the one or 2-star reviews came from People of Color, and it does not appear that anything has been done about the staff’s negative behavior. I also saw that negative reviewers were to call 866-768-7662 for “opportunities for resolution.” The opportunities may exist for resolutions, but not followed through. I felt obligated to inform corporate that good customer service is for all customers regardless of skin color. The latest one-star review was three weeks ago regarding a similar situation. After reading several other reviews, it seems to be a trend at this location of how some people are treated, valuable customers or not. My intuition told me not to write a review but to go directly to the source. I did and it was a disappointment.
During this weekend’s experience, I realized that the corporate office would never be informed or even hear of any negative experiences from their customers. They are being shielded by these “contact operators” and not going further than the phone or email. They will find an excuse, especially when money is involved. One consultant even went as far as to tell us, “Don’t go back to the store.” 2023, same institutionalized racism, different people. The years only have changed.
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