Deb Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 I'm seriously ticked. I went to Hobby Lobby tonight intending to come home with a couple of Orchids. They've got them priced at $24.99, which is an excellent price so I thought I'd get two. Anyway, I go in, walk back to the mini department and look up on the top shelf........there's a pretty Orchid demo with the price tag on it that says "Available in box". They've got half a dozen other demos also with "Available in box" on them. So I caught a sales girl and told her I'd like two Orchids please. She shook her head and said "We aren't selling them right now." I asked why not. She said that they have them in stock, but they're waiting till closer to the holidays before they'll sell any. I pointed out that the sign says "available in box", not "available in box three months from now". She said I could call tomorrow and ask a manager if they'd break into the christmas stash to sell me one or two but she didn't think they would. <growling> This does NOT make me happy at all. If they aren't gonna sell them, why do they leave the demo up with the "available" sign on them? I'll be calling the manager tomorrow and raising heck six ways to sunday about it and after I hear what the manager has to say, I'll send feedback on the Hobby Lobby website. It takes a lot to torque my crank, but that really annoyed me. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kato_411 Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Deb I am much like you in this matter... if it's not for sale don't display it. Dang what do they expect.. people are going to want to buy what is shown on the shelves much like if an item is mispriced you expect to get the displayed price. I would definately argue this with the manager... but if they still say its for Xmas... then get the stuff off the shelves until they are meant to be sold... don't confuse and frustrate your clients. GO GET 'EM Deb!!! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 If they still refuse even after they have the display up.. I would ask for a raincheck good for when they will be selling them. :lol: Cause you know what happens when the holiday comes. If they refuse that or you just want your darn dhs... Ask for the name and number of the managers boss. Then ask for the number to the store (not phone # but the store`s number) .Also ask for that manager`s full name When they ask why, tell them you are going to contact corporate and the better business bureau about unfair business practice. If that dont get them running in the back to get you those boxes, I would do it. You cannot display something that isnt for sale unless it says "not for sale" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 The HLs I've been to lately have been really coy about their miniatures sections, I'd be interested to see what they & the other big craft stores would do if the entire miniature community raised corporate heck over the lack of decent mini supplies & kits & component availability. I still want to see HL start carrying the rest of the Corona & Greenleaf kits, and for Michael's, Jo-Ann's, etc, to start carrying minis. Jeannie, maybe you & I could set up to meet at HL the next time we're in Valdosta & see if things are better there, & if not, have our own chat with the store manager... Something about squeaky wheels... Deb, please keep us posted on the outcome, it makes absolutely no kind of sense to display something as "available" & not sell it. If the company has decided to hold their dollhouse kits "for Christmas" their discriminating against (and alienating) the serious hobbyist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilpyrogirl Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 I don't know if this is the route you want to take but it's worked for me before. I had a similar situation with buying electronics. They said they had them in stock and they were advertised for a really low price and even a sign in the store but then I was told that they weren't selling anymore stock of that item. I pointed out that because they DO actually have tehm and that they still have the sign up in the store and the sales flier said "while supplies last" and obviously, they still have supplies, that they could either bring me one from the stock room or deal with the better business bureau. If they have it advertised at a specific price AND they say that they have them available, unless they're out of stock they HAVE to sell it to you. This was a very long time ago so you may want to call the BBB before you go threatening but sometimes that's mor than enough to motivate a manager. Their 'wait until Christmas' policy is rediculous. I'd also explain that they don't need the bad publicity that you can cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Also you may want to go to the Hobby Lobby website and click this link to contact them: http://www.hobbylobby.com/site3/company/company.cfm I would complaine to the office. I know all three HB in my area have basically NOTHING when it comes to miniatures now. I have no dollhouse shop by me now either so I am doing mail order because the stuff HB used to carry, they don't now. They have only the stuff I normally don't buy from them anyway The email stating that they are restocking there miniature section just has not happened and it has been 2 months since they said that :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hydroped Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Hey Deb, Gotta say you're a much more patient person than I am. I'd have been writing to corperate offices that afternoon! And I'm with Lilpyrogirl on this one. I know out here if the shelf tag says one price and it rings up higher - no matter what the righ price is they HAVE to sell it at the shelf tag or advertized price - it's the law. They can change the shelf tag immediately and sell the rest at the higher price but as long as the sign is up that's the price of the item. Seems to me there may be something simular like that about advertising an item for sale, having it in stock and then saying sorry we wont' sell you any even though it's advertized and we have them. Yes I'd be royally ticked off! Also it doesn't make much sense to me.. are they trying to imply that they can't order more dollhouses in before Christmas?? It's not like their store is located in the Antarctic. Hmph :lol: -David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Cal Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Deb Send someone else in to buy one for you as well. Dont tell your friend why so it doesnt look like a set up. When she gets refused as well, you now have 2 upset customers for corporate office to deal with Corporate offices do not like to get complaints about local stores THe way it works in corporate America is very much akin to what the plumber's apprentice learns his first day of work 1. STUFF FLOWS DOWNHILL 2. PAYDAY IS FRIDAY 3. I AM THE BOSS Ed Deb Send someone else in to buy one for you as well. Dont tell your friend why so it doesnt look like a set up. When she gets refused as well, you now have 2 upset customers for corporate office to deal with Corporate offices do not like to get complaints about local stores THe way it works in corporate America is very much akin to what the plumber's apprentice learns his first day of work 1. STUFF FLOWS DOWNHILL 2. PAYDAY IS FRIDAY 3. I AM THE BOSS Ed This local store forgot the 2 rules of customer service 1. The customer is always right 2. When the customer is wrong see rule #1 Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAK Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 I don't get it?? What's the difference if they sell it now or Christmas? Isn't it JUNE now? Are they that hard to get? Sell now and order more for the Christmas holidays. If not then keep the merchandise in the back room til then. I'm sure if you make a stink they would sell it to you. Maybe not 2 but at least 1. Remember "the squeeky wheel gets the oil" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvDylan&Holly Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 I'd be really torked as well. They can be accused of trying to lure the customer by having items on display that they refuse to sell. I was in the Parker Hobby Lobby this last weekend, and I was dismayed at their sparse mini aisle. They only had a few houses left on display, although the Orchid was one, and their selection of other items was really picked over. It is almost like they have no interest in selling the stuff anymore. Like you, I didn't see any sign telling people that the Orchid was just for show. Now if we scrapped our beautiful dollhouses in favor of scapbooking, we'd all be like kids in a candy store whenever we stepped out of the house. :lol: Stacey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 if we scrapped our beautiful dollhouses in favor of scapbooking When you look that one over, Stacey, you'll go quietly wash out your mental mouth with soap! Actually I think that's what corporate big-box hobby shops assume is happening, one-brush-stroke painting, tole, scrapbook, beading, candlemaking, whatever the big fad craft is, and they can't seem to get it through their heads that there are serious hobbyists and artisans who actually need reliable sources for supplies, whther it's minis or dollmaking or pottery... Oops, I'm hopping off the lectern now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairymom Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 okay, i just can't get over the fact that they are selling them for 24.99! i don't have a dollhouse store near me and i live near a very heavily populated area(i'm directly between san diego and LA) mott's miniatures is about 1 1/2 hours north of me but their prices are, i feel, on the higher side, their orchid is about $45. plus gas is $4 a gallon or shipping is $$ :lol: ! if i ever can find a dollhouse under $50 i am still paying $$ for shipping! how great to be able to walk into a hobby shop, plop down 24.99 + tx and walk out with a dollhouse. you'll get it because it is illegal to advertise and not sell it if it is in stock according to BBB. -Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted June 20, 2006 Author Share Posted June 20, 2006 I just got off the phone with two managers there. The first one didn't know what I was talking about so I got handed off to someone else. She said that they do have the Orchids in stock and didn't know why the sales staff had told me they wouldn't sell them. I told her that I had doublechecked with the check out girl on my way out and she had told me the same thing the other salesgirl had said. The manager couldn't explain why they were refusing to sell the Orchids to me but she'd pass along the information about it to their department head. Hmm. Kinda sounds like a blow-off to me, but the important thing is that she said she'd put two Orchids back for me to pick up later this week. I'm sending feedback to Hobby Lobby on their website about it. I'm seriously less than impressed with this situation. If it were one person on the staff, I'd figure it was just the "one bad apple". Two of them telling me the same thing is an indication that they need to evaluate their staffing in that store. If I have to talk to two managers and use the words "misrepresentation" and "false advertising" before they'll sell me a product, there's a serious problem there. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvDylan&Holly Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Hee hee. I was kidding about the scrapbooking. But I am jealous that the scrapbooking hobby gets so many aisles devoted to it in every store. Deb, glad you got it sort of worked out. That is a really bizarre situation. Stacey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annamommynous Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 I have so many issues with this! Are they holding them until Christmas so children can be presented with an unassembled dollhouse in a box!!! Don't these things take time to put together? (I was given an 8-room dollhouse in a box when I was about 8. It was finally assembled about 5 years later by my uncle - bless him!) About the misrepresentation thing - I worked in a fabric store under the best manager ever. One Saturday, an employee mistakenly told a customer that the store was open until 8 o'clock when the store actually closed at 6 on Saturdays. The customer was driving in from the boondocks and the manager and employee stayed until the customer came and opened the store just for her. THAT is customer service! About scrapbooking...love the paper for cheap dollhouse wallcoverings. But all the craft stores dropped minis for scrapbook acreage - it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairymom Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Huzzah! you are getting your houses! what an odd situation :lol: but Huzzah! houses!!-Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniMadWoman Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Deb, I'm glad you're getting your dollhouses after all that! What a load of $*%(^)%^)_!! I went to HL one day to buy some advertised mini sales items. They even had the signs posted on the shelves everything 50% off! I went to check out and the lady at the till told me they weren't on sale anymore! I told her that was a crock because the signs were still up. I took her all the way back there just to prove my point. She sold me the items, but I practically had to drag her by the hair to do it. I wonder about HL!! They don't seem to be very customer oriented there (that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it)!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nameless1 Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 The whole Hobby Lobby attitude baffles me. It's in the store. Why refuse to sell it to a real customer in case you have hypothetical customers in the fall? I'll bet Corona Concepts would sell them some more inventory if they asked nicely (and paid their bills, of course). Glad you got it resolved, Deb, but sheesh! You shouldn't have had to. I wish I knew how to start a riot to get hobby stores to stock miniatures. I doubt carrying a modest selection of basic supplies -- similar to what Michael's had 10 or 15 years ago -- would significantly hurt miniature shops. Any lost sales would probably be made up by attracting more people to the hobby by making it more accessible. Last weekend, we stumbled into a new Hobbytown USA in Fremont, and I told the owner it was absolutely great to see an old-style hobby shop where a newbie could say, "Gee, that looks interesting!" and try a hobby without having to make a whompus financial commitment or a special trip to an out-of-the-way specialty shop. It was also a very child-friendly store -- I NEVER see children at single-purpose dollhouse or train shops. They carried GL and CC dollhouse kits but NOTHING with which to furnish or customize them. Sigh. The model train section was a lot more promising... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 buI doubt carrying a modest selection of basic supplies -- similar to what Michael's had 10 or 15 years ago -- would significantly hurt miniature shops. It truly wouldn't, if you look at the merchandise. Miniature shops carry kits to make really over-the-top quality items for dhs in various scales, artisan pieces, kits from many different manufacturers in a variety of price ranges, all sorts of components, and absolutely everything you'd need to build, decorate and furnish a house, and most also offer space to hold classes, or to show a customer how to roblem-solve. The merchandise carried in hobby stores is bare bones mass-produced stuff that doubles for people making shadow boxes & terrariums, etc. I love Hobbytown USA because even though ours no longer carries minis (what they had was Concord & Handley House, with a token rack of Houseworks similar to Hobby Lobby's), tey have basswood in the thicknesses I need for furniture-making & will order me anything I want (except I can get a lot of things online from Micro-Mark & Widget Supply). I wish HL would begin carrying Greenleaf & Corona kits in addition to the Orchid. I wish they carried the 1-pound blocks of translucent polymer clay. Their doll-making section is even more blitzed (if possible!) than their mini section, which is down to less than in aisle. But if you want scrapbook supplies.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted June 20, 2006 Author Share Posted June 20, 2006 Since two people at the store told me the same thing, I'm betting it was a communication problem with that department, but who knows. At least a manager was able to figure out that they do actually sell the stuff they have in stock. That's why she gets paid the big bucks. :lol: I don't mean to bash on Hobby Lobby, but I know for sure I won't be going back to that store. Actually, I'm about ready to just give up on HL altogether just because of the overall experience and the way they're dropping the ball on minis. I've been to three HL stores in Denver and each one was a negative experience overall. The small selection of minis they do have in stock are usually broken. Even Bruce has noticed that about every other item on the shelves is broken or damaged. Even if I order from them online at Craft's Etc, most of the stuff is out of stock. I think I'll stick with online shopping for my supplies and furnishings and I'm turning more and more to Joann's for kits. With the last two half-off sales they had, I got a Buttercup and a Sugarplum for around $15 and $20 each. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Deb, I know at the 2 hobby Lobby store, they have been out of stock of the Orchid and the furniture kits and several of the light fixtures I used to buy from them. Ohh and the working grandfather clocks too. I am sure I would not notice it much if it wasn't for the fact that I used to buy it there all of the time (And there are no more shops close by). Maybe they are restocking and are waiting for a more favorable season. Boo Hoo Hoo for us though who celebrate the hobby all year long :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nameless1 Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Oh boy, do I miss A.C. Moore! Their dollhouse section carries enough stuff that a newbie can completely build and furnish a kit house, with shingles, siding, brick for the fireplace, basic wall and floor treatments, and rooms of Town Square furniture. It puts the hobby within reach of a bright 12-year-old or a panicked parent who needs to finish a dollhouse for Christmas. None of their stock is really out-there original, but when you need a sheet of wood flooring on Sunday afternoon, they'll have something. I shudder at the thought of trying to find a simple sheet of oak flooring here, these days. Pearl Art has eviscerated their dollhouse section. Hobby Company of San Francisco has always been erratic. I now have to make a 40-mile round trip car journey to a mini shop for stuff that is boring and basic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovecats Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Glad that you will get the house, but what a load of dookey they are holding them for the holidays....sounds like management etc has different infor from the little people working the floor. Not good for business to make customers irritated or angry when the particular store has so much competition with other business for crafty items. Anyway, I don't know if that made any sense...lol... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogster Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Since two people at the store told me the same thing, I'm betting it was a communication problem with that department, but who knows. At least a manager was able to figure out that they do actually sell the stuff they have in stock. That's why she gets paid the big bucks. :lol: Deb Don't forget you backed them into a corner, those 2 sales reps, prolly 16 and 17 years old, may have just been telling you what the managers had told them to tell you. Of course when you put the vice grips to their sensitivities those managers will back down faster than you can see. I have, on numerous occasions, bought things sale priced before or after a sale because the sign was up. The underlings only know what they're told, the managers know that they HAVE to let you have the item as advertised. Unless they want to go to court. The big buck making managers just leave the underlings out to take the fallout for their foul ups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted June 21, 2006 Author Share Posted June 21, 2006 I wish I knew how to start a riot to get hobby stores to stock miniatures. Boy, I'd join you in that riot in a heartbeat. The only craft stores to speak of in the Denver metro area are Hobby Lobby, Joanns and Michaels. (well, there's Colpar but they only carry HO and RC stuff) Joanns carries houses (the full GL/CC line bless their hearts) but no minis, and Michaels has great craft supplies overall but no minis at all. Hobby Lobby is the only place that carries minis but fewer and fewer all the time. I'd be in heaven if another craft store moved in that carried both houses and minis--or if Joanns would expand to more than just kits. I don't mind shopping online (with my hours it's convenient) but I like going to a store to see what I'm buying before I buy it. Mini-ists are *so* under appreciated in the retail world. That's why I love Ernie so much. At least he understands us. :lol: Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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