Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft

This place is ridiculously slow, and the customer service is a complete joke! I came here for 1 item, and they didn’t have it, so, I asked for f’n satin sheet. I got the wrong one, after they allow other customers to cut in front of the other ticketed customers. They can’t even get shit together at the fabric department! Must be all bunch of Trump voters, cause they all look and act like his comb over!
Do I need to go on? How do I even get this across to the management if they can’t even work the customer service?
#failedservice #service #fnjoke #slowservice #omfg

I went there on a Saturday around noon. I could not find a sales associate on the floor. I wish they had more staff on hand. –_​_​_​_​_​_​–

Worst customer service I have ever experienced. I approached one of the employees to find out where the buttons were, I was given a cold glare at «excuse me?», at which point she proceeded to ignore me and continue on hanging items on the shelves while I stood there. The only person that seemed cheerful and helpful was the person at checkout. I interacted with at least 3 other employees who were very rude and unhelpful to say the least.

If I could give one suggestion to this location it would be to «sign your workers up for personality classes». When I originally called to see if something was on sale I the lady wanted me to look it up on the internet. When I told her I was actually on the internet and was just checking if store prices matched online prices she was annoyed that she’d have to check something in the store.
To be fair, the gal cutting my fabric (Rue) was nice. The lady cutting the fabric with her however was not pleasant. She was crotchety with her customer and with the gal cutting my fabric — her own coworker! The gal cutting my fabric mentioned I could pull up a coupon on my phone to get 50% off. Great! I mentioned this to the lady at the front saying I needed to go get my phone out of the car and she gave me attitude about possibly not coming back. Seriously lady — I just spent 15 mins waiting for fabric to leave it here on the counter and leave forever. When I did finally get my phone the lady was having trouble scanning the coupon and the only thing she said to me was «can you make it lighter?» No «please», or «thank you» or «have a nice day».
They did have a bunch of fleece though which I appreciated. I was able to find what I wanted and thanks to the coupon I was able to get a decent deal on it.
Oh, they do have a bunch of Starwars and Seahawks fleece options so if you’re looking for that, JAF may be the place just for you!
Tips:
Print your coupon before hand
Take a number at the fabric counter BEFORE looking for fabric (if there are more than two people in line)
Don’t expect the majority of people working there to be friendly

I really love sewing and this location is my go-​to for fabrics and notions because its local and also because of the decent selection this store has compared to the Renton location. However, it does have quite a few issues.
This place is waaay understaffed. It takes about 20 – 30 minutes to get your fabric cut on a non-​busy day. (Don’t get me started on the super-​busy holiday sale days.) That being said, I advise anyone whos shopping for fabric to get their number BEFORE browsing the fabrics. Unless you’re going to spend a ton of time looking around, getting the number first will save you a LOT of time. Most of the time, theres two staff at the cutting counters with one just around the store willing to help anyone who asks and the rest are cashiers. Since theres such little staff and also because the store is so big, I had to wander around for around 10 – 20 minutes just so I could find an employee to help me. Great, more time being wasted.
On the bright side, the staff are fairly knowledgeable about crafts and sewing and they know where everything in the store is. Most of the time, the staff will guide you to the item when you ask where it is but there are some times where they are too busy to help (this has only happened to me once out of the many times I’ve been there so it isn’t an often occurrence)
The prices here are kind of steep, but you can get them down to a reasonable price with the coupons available on their website. Prices are pretty good during holiday seasons (black friday, labor day sales etc) and fleece and flannel are SUPER cheap during these times but like I said before, it takes a lot of time to get fabric cut, especially during the holidays (1 – 2 hours) so I would only suggest going if you’re patient.
The selection of fabric here is quite nice. Lots of flannel, fleece and quilting cottons to chose from. I’m really disappointed with the apparel fabrics though. They only have around 5 different kind of knit fabrics and not that many types of high quality cottons for dressmaking. Their quilting section of fabrics is so large, it makes me quite sad. However, I get by just fine by using their thicker quilting cottons for dressmaking so it doesn’t bother me that much.
In short: JoAnns is only for the patient but the knowledgeable staff and fairly large selection of fabrics makes up for waiting time!

I am very unimpressed and disappointed in the quality of this store. Upon walking in, I was immediately greeted by an unpleasant stench– hard to describe but it smelled kind of like old wet laundry, blegh. Additionally, unlike other JoAnn’s I’ve been to that is lit with bright white lights, this store is lit with dim and yellow light, giving the appearance that everything looks old.
I came in with a list of items I was looking for, pretty basic, nothing weird or unique. I was unfamiliar with the store, so once I was able to flag someone down (It took forever to find someone), she pointed me toward a general area where she «thought» my items were and quickly went on to do whatever she was doing. I proceeded to said general area and was still unable to find my item. I then spoke to another associate who was cold and unhelpful. At the end, I decided to just try to find these things on my own with little success since the shelves seemed to be lacking product.

This Jo-Ann’s seems to be pretty understaffed. I came by for a yard of fabric and waited half an hour (with a ticket!) before I was served at the cutting counter. Clearly, I was not the only one. If I had known how busy they got (only 2 ppl at the counter), I would’ve pulled a ticket first and went browsing. The timing would’ve worked out much better.
It wasn’t that much better in the checkout line. Again, two checkers and only one did returns (which didn’t impact me). I was already starving so I grabbed a tube of mini M&Ms and nearly finished them waiting in the line.
I hope they get more staff, especially with the holiday rush!

These people seem so miserable and sad working here. It’s like where fabric, big boxes and customer service have gone to die. This is especially true at the front end and extremely prevalent in the bearded lady cashier.

There are not enough people working at this store. Clearly corporate has skimped. The staff was working hard and doing a good job, but they were totally overrun by customers.

The stories about the bad customer service are true. We came here on a Saturday afternoon, which, you would think, would be a really busy time for such a large store.
It was, but the severe understaffing meant that there were lines everywhere: at the fabric section where you can get your fabric cut to size, the line had at least 5 – 6 people in it. The checkout only had one register open and there were about 9 people in the line. And then the server there had a query about a customer’s purchase, and instead of calling for someone to come and help her, she got up and went to check the price, leaving an entire line of unserved customers. It was ridiculous how long it took, especially since I was just trying to buy a few fabric remnants.
I will give one star for the parking convenience and occasional sales that they have, but that’s about it.

I recently started learning how to sew and this store has quickly become my go to. I am leaving this review for the classes and the customer service.
Each time I have been here, I have needed help to locate what I need as the store is not intuitively set up. Not sure about the other reviews, but I have never received any attitude from the people here. The guy at the counter actually always mentions if there is a coupon online and helps you find it so you can get your 30−40% off! Saved a lot of money this way.
As for the classes, they are a price you cannot beat. A 3 hour 101 Sewing Basics class for $ 35 with materials provided that you can take home (needles, thread, scissors, cloth) is unbeatable. The classes I have been in have ranged from 2 – 5 people, so they are small and you get the individual attention you need to learn. All instructors I have had here were very helpful answering my multiple questions and providing little hints that grandma might give you– which brands are better, which threads to avoid, when certain things go on sale. I have loved all my classes so far and I will be singing up for many more. Maybe the cake decorating ones?
My only issue with this location is the long line at the counter. They do take their time cutting and sometimes forget to give you your receipt and I have to come back and track down the person who cut for me. Other than the counter, I love this place.

One of my go-​to craft stores. I buy a lot of my fabric here. Good selection. And the people there are usually very friendly. Sometimes the line for the fabric cutting counter gets really busy. And during holidays like Christmas & Halloween it’s super crazy.

They have been getting new blood in and they are sticking around which is good. They still have several long time sour faces that make dealing with the cutting counter a pain in the backside. Is it SO hard to find people who have a sense of customer service AND know about fabric and how to cut?!

I’m not sure why this place is rated so poorly! It is HUGE, especially compared to the Ballard location.
I was looking for yarn and basically got lost trying to find the baby yarn section. Sure, it’s a little dated, but every chain craft store is a little dated. I don’t mind it. It’s also in the middle of a mall, so it’s packed.
If you know what you’re looking for (and I did), this place is great. The selection is definitely better than any craft store in the Seattle city limits. Yes, I’d make the drive back to Bellevue to come here.

This Jo-​Ann location is actually in the Cross Roads Mall — attached at a prime location right in the middle of the chaos and right across from the heart of the food court.
This is actually one of the larger Jo-​Ann stores in the Seattle area, which is a nice surprise. Unfortunately it was also really messy, disorganized, poorly stocked and poorly staffed.
The aisles were filled with scattered merchandise, the hooks on many of the displays that I checked out were bare — and while it is a large store, you would think that their stock would also correlate with that fact. Unfortunately I do believe that the Tukwila location near Southcenter has a better selection of goods.
Now for the customer service and the staff. We ended up waiting around 20 minutes to do a return with a rather surly woman. There were about 5 customers in line before us, and when we finally made our way up to the front of the line about 10 minutes into our wait, THAT was the moment that they decided to call for more cashiers.
So we were there to do a return and a purchase — so we had to wait for the Cashier at register one. She was SUCH a nice cashier to the woman in line in front of us. They chit-​chatted. The cashier showed her how to access coupons on her smart phone. The customer was a little older so it took time to show her how to open up the browser, go to the page, access the coupons, etc. And then they talked about what she was buying, what she was going to do with them, etc.
All this was happening while we were visibly waiting — for the 10 – 15 minutes behind them returns in a bag in hand with receipt in the other hand.
When it was finally our turn, we were polite and courteous and the cashier was gruff, rude, surly, curt TO US!
It wasn’t that she was in a bad mood. She was jovial, pleasant and helpful to the customer right before us. Was it the fact that we are younger? Or was it the fact that we’re an interracial couple? Whatever the reason it was — because I don’t actually care, we will absolutely positively never come back to this location. What’s the point? The only perk is that it’s attached to a pretty legit food court.

re: Picking up fabric
Wife is a huge fan of this particular store in that it’s had both everything she needs and no wait times (on help or waiting for a cashier to make a purchase.) As many times as I’ve been to this store throughout different parts of the day, I’ve always seen adequate staff standing around and never too busy. Will be returning.

This place is trash. Would give 0 stars if I could.
I went in to pick up one thing. A small piece of leather for $ 5. I ended up getting other things and my total came to nearly $ 60.
When i got to the register I was told by both the rude plastic surgery monster at the front and a manager that there was no record of the leather in their system. I pointed to the display 10 feet away with the price in clear view. They told me I couldn’t buy it.
I said if they refused to sell it to me I wouldn’t buy the rest of the things I had either and just leave.
They were completely ok with this.
Got a better deal on a better product next door at Michael’s.
Let this place go under and fail.

The worst customer service I ever had in Seattle! Sales associates are rude, ignorant and are not helpful! There is nobody to answer a single simple question. For several times I had to wait for 15 or more minutes just to get an attention of a sales lady, who would say: I do not know, or ask someone else, or just simply ignore you. I never ever would go to that store!

The employees here are racist assholes that do not deserve their salaries. Highly unpleasant atmosphere, and unless you have hours to browse through the shelves, nobody will help you in a timely manner.
Go someplace else and you’ll be a happy camper, really.

There is a wide selection of fabric and yarn. The fabric cutting wait is sometimes insane!!! But the staff is generally friendly and helpful.
The bathrooms are GROSS. Do not use them. Do not look at them. Pretend they don’t exist.

It never fails, every single trip to the Bellevue Store is the most unpleasant customer service experience ever! Sadly, I was so happy to see the other reviews online that had same/​similar experiences. It’s a great store, with tons of product, but not one employee there is helpful, friendly or polite. I am completely at a loss for words at how it is allowed to continue to be run stay this way. I can’t imagine what these «happy» employees will be like come the holiday rush.
If you can, shop at the Renton or Southcenter stores. They are always so helpful and friendly!

This place has just about everything you might need to start or continue crafting!
I have done just about all the different kinds of crafts you can imagine from knitting and crocheting, sewing and quilting, scrap booking, beading, jewelry making, flower arrangements, needlework, and much more. This place has a little bit of everything so if you’re coming for multiple projects, this is the place to go!
They have coupons on your mobile smartphone which is nice, and they have paper coupons to save you a bundle! The only thing is I would recommend having a lot of patience if you go in on the weekends. As usual, weekends at a mall are crowded and busy. The fabric cutting counter can get backed up and staff isn’t as helpful as they could be. Overall, I am a fan and I’ll be coming here for a lot of my crafting needs!

I am always branching into new crafts. My first husband said it was because I loved buying tools, and well, there’s a little bit of truth in that. LOL Over the past year, I’ve gotten into decorating cakes with fondant. This is not something that one normally teaches oneself; usually, you go to a Wilton-​sponsored class, but I can’t be bothered with that because I’m not interested in making roses and pretty fluted borders.
Jo-​Ann has a pretty broad variety of Wilton cake-​decorating stuff, including bulk fondant, templates, tools, gel food coloring, turntables, flower nails, greaseproof cake boards, and all the rest.
When I first started buying the equipment a year ago, there was a staffer here who was knowledgeable and helpful. She was excellent and got me started the right way. On Friday, I knew what I needed for the next cake (see the stack of pancakes photo here… that’s a cake I made, not pancakes!)
I have to say, the employees working in that section were less than professional. One was complaining about his sore back and how he was sure someone at work (there) had stolen his last few painkillers, and the other was trying to tell him that things would be OK, he should just go to the doctor, which got a bitter rant out of employee #1… this place is way too cheap to give us health insurance and I can’t AFFORD to go to the doctor. They both studiously ignored me as I looked at products on the shelves a few feet away from them. Minus one star… though it does suck that they don’t get health insurance, it’s minimum-​wage retail and you can’t expect it. You still have to be nice to the customers and conversations like that really should happen in the breakroom, not on the sales floor.
I got what I needed anyway. A few months ago, a kind cashier told me about their Android app which always offers at least a 40% off coupon… and waited while I downloaded it… this time, I got 60% off my $ 22.50 5-​lb box of white fondant. Excellent. That alone will keep me coming back!