Big Lot’s, Inc

Unbeatable prices, but customer services leaves a lot to be desired. Having worked retail before, I know how much it sucks. One thing to remember is that the majority of people working at Big Lots are just trying to get their rent paid; they aren’t interested in making a career out of it, so low expectations are the best approach. So I’m really not suggesting cashiers should automatically know whether or not a certain big-​ticket item is in stock, but it would be great if their apathy didn’t get in the way of communication and I’ve seen that a lot with this store.
For example, I recently went in to order some furniture. They had to put a few pieces on back order. I did not have a problem with this, and understood why they could not sell me the floor models. But when I was up at the cash register paying, the cashier had an attitude that clearly reflected she didn’t want to be there. Fine by me – I am not a consumer who feels like cashiers owe me a smile when they ring me up, and because I hated working retail so much when I had to do it, I really don’t expect employees to pretend like waiting on me is the best part of their day. She wasn’t talkative, cool. No issue.
The problem came in when I was trying to talk to her about the arrival date of my products. It was a complicated situation because one piece of furniture had arrived, but I could not collect it with my vehicle, whereas the other had to be ordered outright. I tried to explain to her, «Hey, Furniture A is here, but I can’t take it. You need to order Furniture B.» She kept trying to tell me she could not order Furniture A because it was already in the store, and wasn’t hearing me when I told her, «Yes, I know it’s in the store, but it won’t fit in my car.» During that same time, a co-​worker asked her for help and she shrugged it off by saying she didn’t know, go call someone else. Like I said, it was obvious she just didn’t want to be there that day.
We ended up having to call the furniture manager over to explain to her the situation, because I apparently was speaking in a foreign language. I didn’t appreciate her treating me like an idiot and condescending to me, including the expression of, «Dude, are you serious right now?» when I asked whether the return policy’s period began at time of purchase or at time of receipt for the products themselves.
As I said, the unbeatable prices are the winner here. Don’t avoid Big Lots just because their customer service leaves a lot to be desired, but be aware of what you’re dealing with ahead of time!

Always a good place to get stuff on sale — and a more tolerable crowd than Wal-​Mart. (It’s kind of an in between Wal-​Mart and Target as far as price/​quality goes). They always have seasonal stuff like holiday decorations and yard art that you can find at a steal, as well as other home stuff like dishes/​throw pillows/​lamps/​etc. Their furniture is surprisingly good quality too — my brother bought his couch here a few years ago for a few hundred dollars and that thing is way better than mine that cost me over a grand. My boyfriend and I came here this weekend to couch shop when another store had already closed, and we found the best sectional ever! It’s made by Ashley, and has way more room than the couch/​loveseat we wanted at another store — for even less money! The customer service was great, and the employees helped us load it all into our truck too. I’ll definitely be back for other stuff to decorate with :)