Brookstone

Was recently in this store browsing and found the manager (his tag said store manager) to be putting on a friendly front, but behind that friendly front was a condescending sort of passive aggressive way of selling me things and making me feel small. I felt as though any question I asked was responded to in a manner that made me feel stupid. He was even somewhat nasty to his fellow sales associate, who was assisting in answering my questions. I didn’t appreciate it at all, but there were a couple of items in the store I was interested in purchasing and did purchase them anyway. I will not go in that store again. I will find another Brookstone to go to.

I came here with my mother to browse the merchandise. My mother decided to sit in a massage chair, so a saleslady came over to help her. I tried to sit in a massage chair as well. The saleslady said to me in the most condescending voice, «You’re not exactly an adult yet so you can’t use the massage chair.» I told her I was 24, and she was clearly embarrassed by her miscalculation of my age (6 years off!) There are much better ways of confirming somebody’s age: for example, she could have asked me how old I was. Or she could have said «you have to be X years old to use the chairs». Really, anything would have been better than how she responded to the situation. There was no sign in the store to indicate the minimum age one has to be to try out the chairs. I have honestly never felt so belittled by a salesperson. In this kind of store, customer service skills are essential, and I am very disappointed in this borderline discriminatory interaction.

Manager was very friendly even though I had told them that i own a massage chair already. She even set me up in a chair and chatted with me when i was trying out their massage chair… Very Friendly employees there!

I really want to like Brookstone for its innovative and tech-​y products but find that the quality is unreliable, which is not so bad if the store stood behind its name. That being said, store staff is always very nice but could be more knowledgeable about their products and more customer service oriented.
The returns process is uncomfortable. I had to return a present that Mom really wanted for Christmas. Unfortunately, the first Brookstone I-​scanner was defective and the second one given to her was an older model (exchange done in the Rockaway store). My mom didn’t want to go back to the salesperson so I made the return at the Brookstone nearest me. While friendly, the store salesperson was not happy at having to make the return.
With Brookstone product now being distributed through Bed Bath and Staples, I would probably buy that product through those channels, as these stores’ customer service policy is much more buyer friendly.