Thursday, December 2, 2010

Hey Kohl’s, Discrimination is not OK!

The following post is the odyssey my family has had recently with the Kohl’s corporation. As far as shopping goes, Kohl’s has left us with a bad taste in our mouths. After contacting the BBB we were left with a generic ‘copy and paste’ apology. And that’s not any more ok than the way my family was treated.
Here’s what happened (these are my husband’s Better Business Bureau complaints and responses):
11/29/2010
My Complaint

On three different occasions in two different states, my wife and I shopped at Kohl's department store. On all three occasions, we were treated badly by store employees. We were treated as though we weren't classy enough to shop at Kohl's. On one occasion, a store employee yelled at my daughter for being on one of the display beds after my wife and I had already taken her off and fixed the bed in question.
In a second store, my wife and I went shopping with gift cards. When we tried to use them, the employees and the manager again treated us like low class people. We liked shopping at Kohl's before and were willing to overlook the first transgression. But after being treated like low class people at three separate stores in two separate states, it has become apparent that this is a Kohl's policy to treat certain people like this and that only the elite are allowed to shop at Kohl's. Consequently, my wife and I will not be purchasing any more items at either a Kohl's store or online. Also, my wife runs a blog where she will be relaying her experience for all of her 400 followers to read about.
For the record, these are the locations where we were treated this way:
3115 Niagara Falls Blvd.
Buffalo, NY 14228

909 S. 72nd St.
Omaha, NE 68114

13550 West Maple Rd.
Omaha, NE 68164

I will give Kohl's a chance to respond before I bring this matter to the attention of local newspaper and media outlets in both states. Thank you for your time.  
Desired Outcome: 
I would like to be compensated for the way we were treated by Kohl's and would like a formal apology issued by Kohl's for their treatment of my family.
 
12/2/2010
Kohl's Response

We regret the service Mr. Russell and his family received did not meet our mutual expectations. Customer service is a priority at Kohl’s, and we expect our associates to accommodate our customers in a courteous and professional manner. Mr. Russell's feedback is important to us and we appreciate the time he took to share his concerns. We are sorry that Mr. Russell did not receive the service he deserved. While we empathize with Mr. Russell’s frustration regarding his recent shopping experiences, we politely decline his request for compensation.
My Response
The response received from the business in this case is not accepted. This is a canned, copy-and-paste apology that means nothing to this corporation. If anything, it further shows the kind of attitude prevalent throughout Kohl's and reinforces our belief that the way we were treated is a company policy. Further measures against this corporation will be taken. We will be contacting media outlets in both states with our story and will be publishing all information on my wife's blog for her followers to read about. Thank you for your time.
Better Business Bureau Response
The BBB, in reviewing the complaint that you submitted to us about Kohl's Corporation, has closed the case. The outcome of this complaint will be included in the business's Reliability Report for 3 years.
If you wish to further pursue the issue, you might contact a legal advisor or the Attorney General's office. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us - we are happy to assist you.
In other words, the BBB is washing their hands of it, and Kohl’s thinks a copy-and-paste apology is all they need to give. We need to stand up for our rights, and I personally am SICK of being treated poorly at stores like Kohl's. Last time I checked my money looks the same as every other Americans. It isn't stamped with the word poor, or fat. There isn't a list of places its not accepted  because of my race or suture, etc.... So why does kohl's think its right to have their employees treat me and my family like trash??

Edited to add specifics: In both Nebraska stores I was followed around by store employees, spoken rudely to and was given dirty looks by store employees. In the second Nebraska store I was told I could not use my Kohl’s gift card even though it was not expired nor did I violate the terms of the card. I would have overlooked these issues because frankly being fat is the only thing that is still PC to discriminate against. Sadly I’m used to it, but when a Kohl’s employee verbally abused my child it was the last straw. All I asked for was a sincere apology and yet they couldn’t even do that. In the North Amherst, NY location, the store employee grossly overstepped her rights when she attacked my then 2 ½ year old child.
I’m am appalled mostly by the treatment my child and I received at the North Amheart, NY Kohl's! It is never ok for an employee of a store to take it upon themselves to approach my then 2 1/2 year old child and yell at them! As a mother I wanted to slap that woman, and she for one is lucky that at least I have the tact that Kohl's obviously lacks.

Let me ask you my readers as parents would you stand by and let some stranger discipline your child?? I’m not even going to get into the fact that my husband and I both already had the situation under control and fixed any disorder my child may have made, but that this woman had the nerve to yell at my TODDLER and reduce her to tears.

Stand up and ask yourselves this holiday season do you want to shop at a store who discriminates against people?? Maybe tomorrow they wont like the way you look, or your siblings, children, or parents!
Where does it stop Kohl's Corporation? Do you have to be a size 2 and/or have a 6 figure income to shop in your stores? Let us know!

4 comments:

  1. What did they do in the other circumstances to make you feel low class??

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  2. In both Nebraska stores I was followed around by store employees, spoken rudely to and was given dirty looks by store employees. In the second Nebraska store I was told I could not use my Kohl’s gift card even though it was not expired nor did I violate the terms of the card. I would have overlooked these issues because frankly being fat is the only thing that is still PC to discriminate against. Sadly I’m used to it, but when a Kohl’s employee verbally abused my child it was the last straw. All I asked for was a sincere apology and yet they couldn’t even do that. In the North Amherst, NY location, the store employee grossly overstepped her rights when she attacked my then 2 ½ year old child.

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  3. I'm sorry you felt discriminated against, but I feel like you are over reacting just a bit. If my children were out of line and making a mess of the store I would not have a problem with someone telling them to stop. Using the word "Attack" is a bit overboard for someone yelling at your child. I have many plus sized friends who shop at Kohls who have never had a problem at any of the locations.

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  4. Anon. - While you are entitled to your opinion I am as well. I took this issue to the BBB and was not happy with my response and generic apology so If Kohl's has a problem with my post then they should have taken a better approach to fixing this issue when it was brought to them, or possibly hired people who were better at customer service.
    As for your comments about letting some stranger yell at your child, good for you if you want to let other people raise your kids, BUT I do not take that approach to parenting. And for the record my child was not 'out of line and making a mess of the store' she sat on one bed display and barely made a wrinkle in the bedding which I promptly fixed. My children are exceptionally well behaved in stores and she wouldn’t even have noticed the bed display in question except for the fact that we have been talking to her recently about her move from the crib to a “big Girl” bed. And the sales person didn’t not merely tell my child to stop, she approached my child AFTER the fact and yelled at her saying she was a bad child and ect…
    BTW only proves that I was singled out from the second my family walked through the door to be followed by an employee.

    ReplyDelete

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