Michaels

I just had the most horrible customer experience at Michaels store on 11 William Kitchener road in the Kennedy Commons plaza. I do not suggest anyone going there or supporting Michaels stores if they are going to treat valued customers like that.
My friend and I traveled very far to visit this Michaels because it is the closest one to us. I had 2 returns and many other purchases we wanted to make before leaving. We had to get a spray paint that was locked away and had to find a sales associate which delayed us a little. They close at 9:00pm and we arrived at the cash at 9:02pm. When I told Valerie I wanted to make a return, she told me that she cannot make a return because the store was closed. I apologized to her first before letting her know that we wanted to do both return and purchase together, and was unaware that returns were not allowed after the store was closed.
After speaking for a bit, I discovered that it wasn’t because she was not ALLOWED to do the returns, but because she did not WANT to do it. As she was on the process of the return, she asked her manager who shook her head no to turn me away. I explained that if she told me she was going to do it for me this one time, she can just process it quickly so everyone can go home.
Long story short, Valerie had such a bad attitude when helping me. She told my barcode would not scan and she just wanted to go home because she has other things to do. At closer inspection of my receipt, she ripped a piece of the bar code off so of course it would not scan. When I was speaking to her, she told me to «shut up, I have a long barcode to type up» and she cannot do it when I am talking.
I looked at my friend in shock as she looked at me in shock as well. I questioned their customer service skills and state that i wanted to call customer service to voice my frustration, to which the manager said, «do it then, ill even give you their number». She never gave me the number. Valerie looked at her manager and she «I can’t fucking do this» and then left. This whole time her manager did not speak up about her horrible attitude nor foul language towards me. The manager actually told her, «its OK you can just leave them, I’ll do it but they will have to wait». The manager then purposely made us stand there to wait.
Obviously we did not stay there to wait any longer than we did. I cannot believe this just happened. I work in retail as well and know how they feel, but I have never experienced another company nor personally refuse customers while they were in the store. Valerie repeated stated aggressively that it was «common sense» as if I had none. I honestly cannot believe I apologized and thanked them for their service.

Very knowledgeable staffs. The (mens) washroom is super clean! I can still smell the paint.

You want to roll around in glue and a bagful of glitter? Well say you did… this is where you want to get your supplies from! No matter if you are a serious crafter (you can spot them a mile away here) or an amateur, Michaels doesn’t judge. Everything from painting supplies to needlework (knitting/​crochetin), frames (they also do custom frames), jewelry making to kids crafts to all sorts of supplies (fabric pieces, glitter, markers etc) to holiday décor is under one huge store.
Well lit so you can actually see what you are getting is a plus! So are the wide aisles so you need not brush past people to get what you want. This store is always clean and everything is where it should be. None of that getting up to the cash to have it ring at a different price b/​c someone has moved the item t a different location from where it should have been.
The staff are always friendly and if they can’t locate what you want they walkie-​talkie over to someone who can further assist.
The fact that they always have coupons to use — even on sale items is great! There are always sales going on so really your craft dream can become a reality in a snap! The only minor complaint is that I wish there was more staff on the actual floor. Sometimes it can be a bit difficult to find one — but once you do they are helpful.
Michaels always has classes — kids and adults. I’ve done the jewelry making one and the beginner crocheting one. Check their calendar — some classes are free (+ cost of supplies) and the rest are $ 25 plus supplies. The one thing with the classes are that you can’t register online — must be done in store.
Two glued thumbs up!

The staff are super nice here. Lots of products. Good sales.
I got custom framing done and Christine was kind and took her time and explained all the options. She didn’t force certain types of frames and colors on me like other sales people do at other stores. She respected my opinion and wishes.
Even the manager was very nice.
Lots of stuff for all ages.
I recommend this place

You can find almost anything you can think of if you’re a hobbyist or artist. It’s not the cheapest place to get supplies, but they try to make it worth your while by luring you in with coupons for large discounts. The coupons are usually for 40% or even 50% off a single item, or in a certain category of products. These are sent out regularly on a weekly basis, and also given with your purchase if you come back to make a future purchase.
However, a coupon is not worth the paper it’s printed on (or the space it takes on your smart phone) if it can’t be used. Michaels is not the first and won’t be the last business to (conveniently) put on sale items during the exact period of the sale, so as to make the product (s) ineligible for use with any coupon. However, they’ve perfected the art; it’s amazing to see how many items and category of products are slated to be on sale starting when the coupon starts, and ending when the coupon expires.
Textbook move, and as I stated to them, chalk up one point for their marketing department, even as they lose disappointed customers. It’s like a loss leader, except they won’t even take the loss since the coupon can’t be used. And the second coupon is just completely unusable, for reasons that only the Michaels cashier knows, which can’t even be explained by their overflowing fine print.
My complaint letter starts below. Full text at
(For those of us who have worked in CS for large companies, we know that whenever an CS agent offers to «pass on» your comments to a higher-​up, don’t believe it unless you actually do get a subsequent response from the higher-​up, or see actual changes in policy. This stock phrase is provided in order to placate the customer, and the comments in general do not get passed on any further.)
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Dear Michaels Customer Service,
I have two comments/​complaints about my recent in-​store experience regarding coupons. I don’t want to be the type of person to just go on-​line and start posting about my Michaels experience for others to read, before giving you at Michael’s a chance to respond first, so here it is:
1) I tried to use the «50% off Any One Regular Price Item» coupon to buy a product from the paper crafting tools section. I was dismayed to find that these items, conveniently, were put on sale at a discount of 25%, to start and end during the exact period of the sale, thus voiding the use of the coupon. Okay, I get it – savvy business practice to put a large number of products (in almost every department) on sale at a lower discount. This still allows for plenty of room for your profit margin, without having to give the customer the full 50% discount that you like to advertise in big, bold letters.
Of course, the customer doesn’t know until actually arriving at the store which exact/​specific brands may or may not be included/​excluded from the sale (even on your web site, it’s not detailed, so a visit to the store is necessary). So the customer is forced to go into the store first, with coupon in hand and thinking that she can use it, only to find out that a large number of items are ineligible. For you, it’s a good use of the loss leader, except that you don’t even have to take that big of a loss when the product can’t be sold for the advertised discount. Not pleasant, but the customer can’t change this, and has to accept it. Yay. One point for Michaels’ clever marketing team.

I first decided to call the store to ask about a product and price to compare it with online store prices, but I was afraid that they would be too busy. Someone actually answered the phone rather quickly and the lady who answered my questions was also very friendly. I ended up visiting the store and wandered around till I found the product that I wanted. I still had some more questions but I was afraid that the staff wouldn’t be very knowledgeable. The young lady at the cash register not only answered my questions but took the trouble to walk down to the aisle and verified that my product was indeed on sale. I had a coupon that I wasn’t sure was going to work but she scanned it anyway and it did. I ended up with a really good deal and the cashier was very friendly throughout and even after the transaction. I hope that this location can maintain this level of service. For now I am very impressed.