This spring, I had the absolute worst experience I’ve ever had at a hobby shop. It occurred at the Iron Lion in Colorado Springs. I had driven up from Denver with my two sons, both of whom are autistic. This detail will become very important later on in the story.
A few weeks prior, I had dropped off some sports cards for them to look at. It was a very nice lot valued at over $4,000; however, they were not interested in them. It took me a few weeks to get back down to the Springs, since I am very busy. I’m sure that this upset Shelby, the co-owner of the store.
The last time we visited the shop, we had mixed feelings about Shelby. My wife wanted to leave a negative review that very same day. I decided to give her a chance. As usual, my wife was correct.
Shelby brought out my two boxes pretty quickly. She even tried to give me a third box that belonged to someone else. Unfortunately for me, I am too honest and couldn’t accept it. I told her that I had a small box of Funko Pop Vinyls that I was interested in trading. There were only four items in the box, so it shouldn’t have taken long. Shelby acknowledged me and proceeded to help several other customers.
Remember those two sons of mine? Here is where they come into play. My oldest, Parker, was looking at the Funko Pops, deciding on what to buy. He was very well behaved. Beans, whose Christian name is Sawyer, began to have a difficult time.
Beans’ autism is more severe than his brother’s. He didn’t speak much for the first three years of his life. While he has made a ton of progress, he still has a long way to go. Beans wanted to play with the “toys” in the store. Apparently, he doesn’t understand the concept of “collector’s items” at this stage in his young life.
I had to keep my eyes on Beans at all times, so he wouldn’t destroy anything in the store. That task became more and more difficult as time dragged on. He was getting cranky and began crying loudly. All the while, I kept hoping that Shelby would finally get to me. She knew I was waiting, but she kept assisting other customers instead.
Perhaps Shelby doesn’t have children, but she should have been able to sense my frustration. The tone in my voice was growing more desperate by the minute. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally asked Shelby what was going on. Her answer still chills me to the bone.
Shelby proceeds to inform me that she wasn’t buying or trading at the moment. Unfortunately, for me, she never communicated this to me.
At this point, I’m pretty angry. In fact, I’ve never been angrier at a retail establishment. If she wasn’t buying or trading, then why didn’t she just tell me to begin with? She told me that she had decided to “look them over anyway.” Great, but that still didn’t explain why she let me suffer that whole time. Her response to that was equally discouraging. She thought I was simply “browsing.”
Talk about a poor reading of a situation. Yet, things could have been still been patched up. She had several options that would have placated me at the time.
· She could have offered store credit for the items that I had brought.
· She could have offered a discount on a future purchase. (After all, Parker had wanted to purchase an item.)
Either one of those options would have justified the long drive to and from Colorado Springs. Sadly, Shelby did not offer any type of restitution. In fact, like President Trump, she “doubled-down” and made the situation even worse. Much, much worse. As I walked out, completely empty-handed and having wasted my Saturday afternoon, she told me to “have a nice day” in the snarkiest of all voices imaginable.
“Have a nice day?” I almost blew my top like Mount St. Helens did in 1980. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed, and I did not do something that I would have regretted later on. Needless to say, Parker did not purchase his Funko Pop. Nor have I ever returned to the Iron Lion and even Colorado Springs for that matter. That’s right; my experience with the Iron Lion was so disastrous that it had ruined an entire city for me! Be wary when dealing with this store. They know nothing about customer service and treating people with dignity and respect. Who knows. Perhaps Shelby is practicing for a future position with the Trump administration!
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