LOFT

I had a hilariously bad and weird experience here 2 days ago while shopping with a girl friend. After scouring the sales racks, I picked out a pink shirt. A nearby associate — let’s call her Esmeralda — happened to be wearing the same shirt and said «That one is $ 10.» I was surprised because I didn’t see any signs advertising an additional % discount on sale items. «Really? It says $ 14.99.» She offered to check the price for me and returned saying «Nevermind, it’s $ 14.99.» I joked that she had said $ 10, but apparently you can’t haggle in a Carmel Ann Taylor.
After I picked out some more things, Esmeralda offered to start a fitting room for me. As she took my items, she asked my name. «Kara,» I said. «Karen, or Kara?» she asked to verify. «Kara,» I enunciated. She asked for the spelling — «C-​A-​R-​A?» I get that all the time and corrected «K-​A-​R-​A,» but she waved her hand dismissively as she walked away, as if to say «whatever.»
When we were done shopping, we headed to the fitting rooms. Esmeralda directed me to mine, which had «Kara» written on a sticky note on the door, with the crossed-​out names of previous occupants. Classy. She didn’t notice my friend holding a skirt to try on until I pointed her out, even though she was standing right there.
My friend decided to buy the skirt and I liked two tops, so we headed to the counter, where our favorite associate was preoccupied with some receipts. When she didn’t look up for several moments, I announced cheerfully, «We’re ready to check out when you are!» Esmeralda replied, «I’m working.» Odd, how is ringing up customers *not* working? «Can you ring them up?» she called to the other employee in the store, who was with some shopping customers. «You can’t ring them up?» she asked, incredulous, but evidently didn’t want to lose a big sale with the other customers.
No joke, Esmeralda went back to her receipts! Eventually she huffed and gave up whatever the heck she was doing, and poked buttons until the computer woke up. She was hopeful that we would pay for our clothes together and seemed annoyed when I replied, «No, separate, if it’s not too inconvenient…» Who could blame her? Our demands were outrageous.
I plan to keep shopping at Ann Taylor, and actually look forward to returning to this particular location to see if Esmeralda has improved her customer service skills.