1 /5 Haley Kiefer: So here’s my message to the owners: I came in twice, ready to spend money. Your employee wouldn’t offer help, ignored customers including myself, left the fitting rooms a mess, and then falsely accused me of stealing. I was treated with suspicion instead of basic respect. If this is how you run your business, you might want to rethink who you trust to represent it.
I visited this store at the end of January ‘25 while on vacation. The young woman working the register was on her phone the entire time. In my first interaction with her, I asked for help finding a swimsuit in an otherwise empty store, and she flat-out refused—rudely saying what’s there is there. So I decided I could come back when I had more time and just bought a few bottles of sunscreen, a bracelet, and left.
I went back two days later while my friend was taking a 90-minute online college exam across the street. I was determined to find some swimsuits that fit my budget and style, and a couple for my friend’s birthday week and to celebrate her getting the exam over with. Again, the same employee was there—still glued to her phone and ignoring everyone in the store. I tried multiple times to get her attention but she wouldn’t even look up, let alone offer help or check on the fitting room. There were tourists speaking French trying on layers of clothes without her noticing, and I translated, “ma’am I think they’d like a fitting room.” Those women left without buying anything.
When the door opened I noticed there was a massive pile of clothing in the fitting area that had not been returned to the front, and the sales associate didn’t even bother to put any of it away. It was even larger when it was my turn to try things on. After a good 45 minutes of trying to decide on a good fit for myself and my friend, I found a few things I liked and was prepared to splurge $200-$300 on the item I brought up— then i went back to grab the the abandoned clothes/swimsuits from previous people, trying to be helpful.
Instead of saying thanks, she rifled through the pile and suddenly asked, “Are you going to tell me where my other swimsuit is?” I was confused and offered to help her look, even told her I used to work retail so I relate to the pressure of keeping track of inventory, making small talk as we looked. I didn’t realize that she was actually accusing me of stealing.
When she said, “I know you have them,” I calmly apologized that she was mistaken, and I said she could go through my purse. She did—and found nothing. I was also wearing a sheer cover-up and the swimsuit I’d walked in with, too, so I was clearly hiding nothing. I even asked, “Is the swim suit I have on maybe the same color as one you’re missing? This one is kind of old and worn out you can take a look”. She says, “it’s black and i need to know what you did with it”. I still genuinely wanted to help. I stillI had 30 minutes left to spare before my friend was finished with her exam and didn’t mind taking time to look. Maybe the swimsuit had been tossed by the french speaking ladies? It was probably not even my size (my breasts are tiny!)
My nonchalant demeanor and interest in assisting her changed when she snatched the swimsuits off the counter and said she was no longer interested in selling to me. And she said she was calling the cops. I gladly agreed to wait for them. I did not want to have had wasted the last hour of my vacation time in a store, finding things I finally liked, and buying nothing. This is when she completely lost her temper and screamed, “I NEED YOU TO LEAVE.” Wow this woman is full of ugly and hateful energy (sadly, maybe even drugs). I said “yes maam, I hope your day gets better,” and left the store. Then I cried.
I hope she saw the cameras that proved I had nothing to hide and zero interest in stealing. I am all about supporting a local business, but this is no way to treat an individual, especially a paying customer. Maybe this employee was going through a rough time, after all, she had opened the store at least fifteen minutes late on two occasions.
