Belk Department Store

Lots of negative reviews for this Belk, but I’ve never really had a problem with it. The store is usually fairly cleaned and well stocked, and I’ve had friendly service at the counter where the lady’s dresses are.
Negatives I’ve seen:
Lady’s dresses area dressing rooms aren’t the nicest. Disorderly, clothes strewn about, cheap doors, that ugly carpet and blinding light, no full length mirrors outside the dressing room.
Some of the racks of clothes can get messy. But for a store with so much space and product, that’s understandable.
Some of the employees are pretty loud phone talkers, which is annoying when shopping on the floor near them.
My biggest pet peeve though? Full Christmas decorations out at the end of October. Why? Why?! It’s 75 degrees outside, not even daylight savings time yet, and I’m trying to survive Halloween and you’ve got your dang Christmas trees up?
Retail stores: just say «no» to Christmas decorations and music before the end of November!
Poor thanksgiving always gets overlooked. The Pluto of American holidays.

I made a return from an online purchase. The cashier asked another how to do the tax. The helper told her online does not charge tax. I have been every time! I explained that and she asked for my credit card that I paid with. She said it came up as me paying tax at the 10% I told her I paid. I signed and walked away. I was still in the same dept when I looked at the receipt and noticed it was taxed at 9%. I saw the lady walking around and she told me to go to the lady who helped her. That person was on the very opposite side of the store. She told me as the customer to go to the cashier. That to me was wrong all together. I walked to her and the lady listened to me, looked at me with disgust and then got on the phone. She called management with an extreme attitude in her voice all about that’s what the computer told her I paid. Management came out and asked where I paid from. I paid from home. She asked the same question again. I paid from home, snotty management lady. Then she got on the phone and learned in fact that I paid 10% tax. She did not say a word to let me know that was what she found out. She did not say a word to me at all. She handed me the receipt to sign. Belk management and staff could use plenty of customer service training! The Belk staff are in fact a pain to deal with. Belk advertises being Southern. Their Southern definition has no clue what Southern Hospitality is all about!

I have come to truly loathe Belk. For one, the way they cram clothes into the store it has started to look like a thrift store. There may be high end items there, but good luck if you can find them. The sales associates are less than helpful, if you can find one to assist you. I once asked a shoe department rep to call another store to see if they had a particular shoe in stock. He sighed, rolled his eyes, and wrote down the number on a piece of paper. «Here» he said, «You can call them yourself.» I think not.
The store is also quite messy, if not dirty. If they are having a good sale, the shoe department is frequently littered with dozens if not hundreds of empty shoe boxes which have not been returned to the back room. I once ventured into the lingerie department and asked where the sale items were. The salesperson pointed to a plastic tote of underwear on the floor and said I could dig through them if I wanted to find a sale. The bathrooms are stale and unclean. The dressing rooms are a disaster.
They often seem to advertise good sales, but the logistics of using the coupons is quite complicated as they exclude all kinds of items. Because of the ever present coupon and daily deals there is no real conception of what things cost there. Items always seem to be «marked down» or «couponed down» to a certain price, therefore justifying the ridiculous markup on the price tags for what often amounts to sub part clothing.
Are there any managers at all at Belk? Who is running this place? I really don’t see how it has lasted this long. Thank God Von Maur has moved in to the Galleria– it is breath of fresh air.

Interesting that it’s been recently announced that Belk may be for sale. I do find some reasonable deals there and they have a couple of brands I like but we all know that this is no Parisians. That said, my low rating is more based on the cleanliness, or lack thereof. The place was filthy. Specifically the men’s dressing rooms which have tile floors covered in dust bunnies and hundreds of pins. No way that placed has been cleaned in months. Come on, guys, having someone sweep the floors is pretty basic.

Belk is typically understaffed but there are generally bargains to be had if you’re willing to do a bit of shopping. The overworked staff is friendly and works at a quick pace to keep up with customers.
I’ve never changed my review while still in a store but there is a first for everything. I just witnessed a clerk refuse to help my wife «because we work on commission». Stupid, arrogant fool. She’s here to buy two pairs of high end shoes and this dude is too busy straightening merchandise and acting important to pull a pair of shoes. That’s madness.

Belk is probably the worst department store in the world. I have a gift card with this horrid place and tried to place an order online. However, every time I try to use my gift card the order gets rejected. I also spent so much time on the phone with a customer rep who also tried to place an order over the phone but to no success. Is Belk running a scam by preventing consumers to use their gift cards? Horrible, horrible, horrible.

The bathrooms are spectacular. Most of the store counters are ok. Bobbi Brown leaves much to be desired as far as customer service, as does the MAC counter.

Southern Charm at it’s best on the part of the salesfolk. And a HUUUGE selection of nightgowns, jammies, and robes I will no doubt long for when I hit the big 6 – 0. BIG points, however, for scoring my much-​longed-​after Bonnie Cashin Coach tote at the ridiculously marked down from $ 300 price of $ 75. Which I will pretend I paid fill price for. I also got several gifts (not purchased there) beautifully wrapped for a very reasonable price (around $ 7 per large-​ish package) by a gift wrapper who was sweet as pecan pie and destined for Santa’s elf-​hood.
All in all, it’s not a bad place. There’s a decent selection of Seven jeans, Rock and Republic, Paper Denim, Free People (very big in the south), and a bunch of other standard designers in case you forgot to pack your favorite skinny jeans or fly-​away top for hot nights out at the clubs in Atlanta (ummm…yeah).
This is the equivalent of Macy’s East (and there is one in the same shopping center). I prefer Macy’s but Belk has some amazing sales, especially around the holidays. Plus, if it’s good enough for a girl from the big city (moi), it’s good enough for you!