friday 24th of june 2011 i was visiting a charlotte russe store, and when i was there i felt very uncomfortable one of the employees an asian american woman mid to early 20's was very rude, and not welcoming at all, seem to be this way to numerous people, doesnt seem like the type of person that should be representing any kind of retail enviornment, has been in this store plenty of times and the attitude this young lady displays has not change rude and unfriendly, this has me second guessing myself about shopping at charlotte russe, other wise my time there was pleasent due to the other friendly employees who seem to be working that day.

The organization of the Store Charlotte Russe can be slightly improved. Often times it is difficult to find the necessary size of an item. In addition, items that are similar should be placed near each other because it is sometimes hard to find them. When I go to Charlotte Russe I have trouble finding the sizes I need because of this disorganization.

Hello is what I am going to start by saying. I have so many other words I will say about my current experience with Charlotte Russe. It all started with a very much unprofessional group interview with about 5 shy girls… The Store Manager did not even know how to conduct it in, I asked all the questions. She seemed intimidated and lacking confidence… She hardly provided us with information, basically just said she needed people for the holliday season to start tomorrow----PERFECT FOR MY SITUATION… She seemed sweet and nice…
I was so happy when I got the call back, but not surprised since I was the center of attention of the interview like I said. Every day we were very busy because it was mid December and every shift I was placed in the fitting room… While this period I enjoyed the job, the co workers and the plenty of hours I was getting… I had to accept minimum wage ($7.25 hr) and I have never worked for that low, because my bills are so high, I am bilingual and have a lot of sales experiences. But I figured after the holidays I would get a raise for my hard work…
It seemed like girls called in every day and I was the one covering the shifts… but I was happy to since I am a hard worker and need the money desperately. All these shifts I STILL spent in the fitting room and occasionally in shoes… Those 2 departments are day and night. In the fitting room I spent hours repeating the same few things, opening doors and taking ENDLESS hangers with messed up clothes what they didn’t want. Shoes was heaven, I admired the “Shoe Expert!” . Like I previously mentioned I enjoy to sell, and (I am good at it selling over $50, 000 worth of jewelry for Friedman’s Jewelers in 2007) the girl that would always do shoes did not shine at it like I felt like I did… She ended up never coming in for her shift couple weeks later… guess who came in for her.
Time kept passing and for “Check in” I would keep getting placed in the fitting room… I started to wonder if I was not considered good enough for the sales floor, register, greeter, ANYTHING but the fitting room!!!
The store manager did not care about anything but how she looked when HER bosses came in. She started literally FREAKING OUT ABOUT IT days before, everything and anything was about whoever they were that were coming in… she seemed very scared, apprehensive and nervous. One of the 2 different days the “big bosses” came in I worked for somebody (go figure) in the morning, which I go to school and had never done before. It was akward and weird, before the “big bosses” got there, the Store Manager threaten myself and the other seasonal that if SHE got in trouble, WE got in trouble!!! Well, they came in, and of course I couldn’t wait to introduce myself in hopes of a future advancement or even, raise. The store manager acted like a puppy the whole time they were there. It was pathetic. Few days later another girl needed me to work for her, of course I called my GM to ask her… she denied it because another set of big bosses/owners were going to be there… and that SHE needed to work. Wow, stab in the heart. I represent Charlotte Russe in every shape and form but she didn’t want me to work?! Of course she had to cover her as* and have somebody there and she let me stay until 3 since they wouldn’t be there until 4…. Couple days later there is a note on the board, about how apparently the employees did not meet the customer service level that the “big boss” wanted, and that she would be hiring. I was mad, happy and shocked. I felt like she chose the other girl over me because of her looks, (even though I look damn good myself!) and it backfired on her so it was a “HA!”… but more hiring?! ment less hours… Which this was after Christmas and I still could not make ends meet… Since I am a student, DHS requires 20 working hours a week to qualify… not very much to ask for at a job, and I have always worked over 40 at other places. So when I told her about this and asked her for those 20 guaranteed hours a week, which, with how well I performed and how I thought I proved myself by constantly coming in for others, did not think would get absolutely denied, she got very nervous and said she could not guarantee them. weird enough the next day, I walked to the back as another co worker asked her the SAME thing… and her child-like reply was… “I want food stamps!” over and over again… well, she is very much overweight so it was akward, and rude since it is obviously not by choice that I can’t even afford food. By her acting this way she got off the topic… I looked at my situation: I am foreign with no family help, going to school full time and working somewhere where seems like I am the only person who wants the hours, but the only one not getting them. I figured it was so when others called in I would be available… But the hours on my paychecks never added up to being 20 a week, and I still am not able to get that little bit of help from the government… there is a lot of anger in this. If I am doing something for my future how could DHS have such a harsh and strict rule to help? How could a my Store Manager deny me of that too? All my other jobs I admit that I had attitude with my bosses, all males, but come to find out my Manager is my friend’s sister and boyfriend’s dad’s former deceased Mother. Wow. Well, to make my life harder, my hours the past few weeks and on the current and next schedule are: 9. WOW… what? the only person who cares to come in, who by this time joked to my boyfriend and called myself the “fitting room expert” and who had to put pride aside and ask for more hours because I cant even afford a coke. Is life unfair or am I being taken advantage of? Or does she see how good of an employee I am and is jelouse and does not want me to overshadow her? Around this time is when I realized… I am the only one running back and forth with fitting room bullshit while she stands around with the other lazy asses. I noticed how last weekend, I took somebody’s shift at 11 am and did not stop for one second until 5:30… Am I the only employee not allowed to have lunch?! Of course she ate… I noticed that day, that she has favorites and we were fairly busy… and she let one of her favorites get off… only so this girl could shop and try on clothes for about 2 hours which we were COMPLETELY slammed but she had the guts to get me to walky her and the other 5-yr-associate over to see how she looked in every outfit… WOW… does this make sense? I was supposed to work 11 am-3 pm for SOMEBODY ELSE, no problem but guess what... ANOTHER lame excuse came over the phone line and was asked to cover somebody else’s shift!! I was so angry inside, I need the money, I cant say no. Im exhausted and starving, fed up with people handing me tons and tons of clothes that I had to put up….. but I did not show any frustration. I realized that I could not show how weak I was at that moment and act like it was no big deal, that I didn’t notice I was the only one who did not get a break, for half a second, to breath. I got my 20 minute break 45 minutes before I was supposed to be off, only to call my boyfriend and all I wanted to do was to cry… is all this worth it? Like I said as soon as I came back I left but was back for the new girl at 7… come to find out she had a weak stomach earlier that day but she “pulled through” and I worked half her shift…. (I have to mention that I have severe GERD and gastiritis, a lot of acid, and not eating makes that acid burn, add bending over several times, I ended up dry-heaving horribly loud and painfully physicaly and embarrassing… this was at closing, when my body had had enough.) so when this girl told her that, again anger and just, disbelief came over me…. I am willing to put my health thru that with no complaints, to anybody, nonetheless call in… and here she is… leaving. I realized I am a total sucker and they got to the point where I was hurting myself when others didn’t care. But she has double the hours, and on her 2nd day already doing real nothing to do with the fitting room. Seeing her checking people out while I folded the rejected clothing made me open my eyes to…something aint right and aint fair!!!
Soon after this we had a meeting, “Does anybody besides the managers know what this meeting is about?” she asked. No answer, but I pay attention, and listen… CUSTOMER SERVICE, I confidently said. “Yes, our secret shopper points are down”… “And us the managers sat down and don’t think anybody here gives it their all, all the time, to not be replaceable. ----STAB TO THE HEART. I realized another thing at that moment, that nothing mattered to her but the outside view of the store, and management. She went on to say that when, and if, the store scores a 100% her and the other managers get $100 gift cards to spend. BUT SHE WOULD GIVE HERS UP TO THE PERSON WHO GETS 100!!!. I was so upset inside, first of all, why would managers that aren’t even working get $100 worth of something they had nothing to do with, and she is so fat she cant fit into anything we carry, so it doesn’t matter to her. She wants the score to have a non-existing image of a perfect customer friendly retail store. I was shocked when she pretty much trained us on how we were supposed to act to customers EVERY time in order to get that perfect score. I realized this was the first and only training I ever got from her. I guess fitting room work is self explanatory.
Well, I realize this is extremely long, and I appologize. Today I had enough. I looked at the schedule wrong and was scheduled 12-5 but thought I worked 3-7. I got a call followed by a text from her demanding explanation to why I was not there!!!. I immediately called her, turns out I looked at next week’s schedule… both weeks 9 hours. She was rude and said I had to be there “ASAP!”. I was angry at the whole situation. If I had any hours instead of blanks maybe I would have a copy at home, but by this time its me only working Friday and Saturday. My boyfriend was there when she called, and he tried to tell me again how can I let her use me like this… But $80 a week is better than no dollars a week, I kept telling myself. I was very scared to go in, I thought she would be so mad because I got there at 1:30, mainly on purpose. She checked me in and was the sweetest person ever, calling me babe and everything. By the way, we weren’t busy. I was extremely relieved that she wasn’t mad, and the shift was going GREAT until little things caught my attention… I had had enough when 5 O clock came, she left and nobody informed me if I had to stay or not. I went and asked. Answer was that I had to stay an hr and a half extra since I was late. THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME KEEP THE 9, but there was no communication from my boss that was long-gone. The new manager was eating in the back, and I brought up this up. Conversation led to my GM not liking that I “TAKE MORE DRINKS FROM THE WATER FOUNTAIN THAN ANYBODY ELSE”, that it “GETS ON HER NERVS THAT I DON’T SPEAK LOUD ENOUGH ON THE WALKIE” and that “BEING LATE IS THE WORST THING EVER TO HER”. I had my mouth open but no words came out because I could not believe that all my hard work was not appreciated, me covering was not appreciated, me suffering from being broke not realized. I can not help I get thirsty cause I run back and forth, unlike anybody else. I had a feeling this was happening so I would make myself go longer periods of time with horrible thirst and dry mouth until I couldn’t take it anymore… how is this normal? Nodody taught me how loud or far to speak into the walky, didn’t even know it was “annoying” and such a big issue. And the tardiness is exaggerated by 1 minute being automatically late.
I went back to the sales floor and thought about this and got even more heated. I told the manager on duty I still needed to talk to her. I told her I cant let anything out because I don’t even understand how they think this is acceptable. well, im done with this story. She couldn’t understand why I was so upset. she told me to go home, 10 minutes early, but I stayed and tried to explain my frustration to the other “right hand” that is actually a very nice girl. I left after appreciating her for always being professional and nice and I left. I got home and told my boyfriend. I realize that none of this matters. to anybody but me, because its my life, my income, my job. I am replaceable and they don’t care about any of this. Im scheduled tomorrow at 3. I don’t know if I will go in or not.

I went into Charlotte Russe several times and purchased several items for Christmas. One trip was to buy my daughter and daughter in law each a pair of boots. The sales clerk was very helpful and made several trips back and forth until we got the boots I wanted. I did have to take a display boot in order to get one of the pairs I wanted. I wrapped them up and both were delighted, except that my daughters boots were too big. Well, when she went to return the boots the sales lady was not even close to being as nice as the one who helped me before Christmas. She would not take the boots back and TOLD my daughter she had worn the boots. I called and tried to tell the lady that they had not been worn but was a display boot. My daughter was in the store when I was speaking to her when she proceeded to put the phone down on the counter. My daughter asked if I had hung up on her and her reply was: "No, I am just tired of listening to her." I have never been treated like this before by a sales clerk, being called a liar, and telling me the shoes have been worn. I will do everything I can to get this complaint to someone who cares enough about this store and its so called ethics. I really don't think they can not take merchandise back and tell me I am a liar, and that my daughter is a liar. I did not get the clerks name although she said she was the store manager. This all occured on the evening of Dec. 30, 2009 at the Mall of La. in Baton Rouge, La. approximately around 8:15pm. My name is Linda and I would appreciate some response that this will be looked into and that I can exchange my daughters boots. Ph# 225-663-0138 or 225-622-4766

I had the worst customer service experience of my life yesterday at Charlotte Russe store in Westminster, CA. I made an order online on 11/27/2009. My order just arrived yesterday on 12/05/2009 (free ground shipping). I didn't like most of my items so I decided to return the majority of them on the same day.

12/05/2009 at 7:00 PM
When I came to the store to return the items, as soon as the sale associate saw that it was online order, she gave me this annoyed look. After she rudely asked for my ID and credit card, then hrew them aside, she immediately called the store manager over. While the manager started to scrutinize my online receipt, the sale rep began to sniff the clothes and toss them around like they were pieces of trash. The sniffing and tossing of clothes went on for a long time. It didn't seem like they wanted to process the return so they took their time to sniff and toss the clothes. They asked me if I wanted to exchange for something in the store. I gave them a firm answer that I only wanted a refund of the unwanted items. They then asked me why I was returning the items, I said because they didn't look good on me. They didn't know what else to say, so they told me that I won't get my shipping & handling money back. I told them that it wasn't applied because I got free shipping. They didn't know what else to say so they continued to sniff the clothes. The sales rep was counting each one as she sniffed and said, "this one is good", she sniffed on, "this is good..."..and then continue on to sniff some more...Smirks were all over her face, she looked as if she was having fun sniffing and wasting my time.

I didn't understand it would be such a hassle to return items. I couldn't take it anymore so I asked them, "Is there a problem with returning online items to store? You guys seem to have a hard time processing the return." The sales rep gave me her answer in a rudely sarcastic tone of voice, "Oh, we're just doing our job. We had some problems with returns before so now we need to do this." I then told her that I just received the clothes today she can check the receipt. She said, again, giving me the smirk and the sarcastic pretentious voice, " we believe you" then continue sniffing. While they were still sniffing, I was told to write down the my Driver License number on the return slip along with the rest of my address, phone number etc. I asked them why I need to write down my DL #, they told me it's the store new policy.

So much for "easy return" as the online website stated. Instead of processing the return, they were acting like they were on a mission to investigate a crime and I was the criminal, and I was treated like one. I was standing there watching them sniffing, tossing, giving me dirty attitude, talking to me with a sarcastic tone of voice, giving me smirks while I was patiently waiting their for them to process my return.

Of course, I gave them some good rant about my problems with their attitude and their treatment of customer who returns items. After I started giving them some treatment in return, they suddenly remembered how to process the return and their atttitudes changed dramatically. I also managed to ask for their names. So here are their names:

Day of return is Friday 12/04/2009
Name of sale associate: PALAMA
Name of manager: GABRIELA

I don't understand why it has to be much a hassle/drama to return items to a store where the store policy clearly says all you need is the sale receipt & sale tags to get your refund. I'll be writing a nice, long letter to their corporate office about this incident. Customers don't need to take this kind of treatment when they return something to the store.