Lights and More

Well… yep, 1 star. 1 star because if you can’t even greet your potential clients in your ritzy upscale store, you don’t deserve any better.
My aunt and I and partner decided to venture over to the store during the last weekend in August as we were traversing the lighting store scene in Tampa. I love lighting fixtures (I am a lighting designer) and because Home Depot and Lowe’s just don’t carry fixtures that are truly unique, I occasionally find myself searching online but at times love to check out local lighting stores.
There really aren’t that many in Tampa, so I decided that we should check out Lights and More.
To preface my post, my partner and I had returned from a recent trip to NY and the Bowery district where we visited New York Lighting and actually purchased a few fixtures and had them shipped home.
The service was impeccable, they actually took time to thumb through books with us, and to talk about each fixture that we noted that we were interested in.
When we walked into Lights and More, our presence did not seem to matter much… actually none at all. During the entire visit not a single associate greeted us, spoke to us or asked us if we needed help. We stayed in the store for at least 20 minutes… we walked the gallery and admired the many beautiful (and overpriced) fixtures. MUCH better deals in NYC. Now I know that most folks can’t just hop a plane to NY and buy lighting fixtures, but the costs are drastically different.
I will also note that as you approach the window gallery area, there is something horribly wrong with the floor. I recall that it seemed as though there was an issue with the support below the floor because it was «squishy». Hopefully and for the sake of lawsuits, I hope that they have attended to this issue. Maybe not, seeing as they can’t greet their customers it is quite possible that they didn’t notice the issue with the floor either.
Needless to say– I would rather take a trip to NY than to visit this store ever again. Customer service is a priority and EVERY customer matters, not matter how they dress, no matter how tall or short they are, no matter fat or skinny, white, black, purple, green– every customer matters and every customer has a wallet or a pocket book… it is really up to a business to determine if those $$$ will end up in their stores based on how they treat their customers.

Terrible customer service both over the phone and in the store. I called and left a message to which no one called back. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I called again with a basic question about exact location, as I am fairly new to the area. The person on the phone sounded like a kid, although it was probably the same adult I spoke with in the store, with no interest in his voice. Despite the poor phone presence, I decided to stop in to see their selection. They had two people on the floor, one who spoke no English. He went and got the English speaking employee for me, and from the sound of his voice, my guess it was the same person on the phone. I was looking for pendant lights and asked him if what he had on the floor was all they had, or if they had some books I could look through to order from. He made a «brush off» gesture with his hand, and said in an uninterested way, «Just go look on our website», and he walked away. Methinks I’ll take my business elsewhere.

I think this is a beautiful store where one can find «unique items». I have spent at least $ 3,500 in this store and never had a problem until my 4^th purchase (a floor lamp) which I had to return because it did not look good in my living room. I returned it within the allotted time and in excellent condition. I looked around and could not find another floor lamp that I could use, so I asked to get my money back. All of a sudden I got an attitude. This was extremely poor on their part. They even charged me $ 5 for the light bulb that goes in the lamp because I had thrown away the little box that it came in. I told them, «since I’m paying $ 5 for the bulb, give it to me, it is not staying with the product that I am returning.» The old man who works there brought me the bulb and didn’t even make eye contact. What? Did you think you were going to charge me and then keep it? Really? I call this being «PENNY WISE AND DOLLAR FOOLISH». I demand to be treated like a «valued customer» and since you aren’t able to do that I will shop elsewhere. Shame on you! There are times when an item just does not work for someone. Don’t be a jerk. Treat your customers with «respect».

Raul was very helpful and each employee in the store said hello and smiled while they worked. We shopped at a competitor in South Tampa first are were ignored for ten minutes. I would much rather spend my money here!

Just bought a light here from Raul. I included a picture of it. The entire process from start to finish could not have been easier. He showed me options for what I described as wanting, I considered the price of what I ended up choosing reasonable, I was given a bunch of bulb and color options, the purchase took a few minutes at most and they’re going to call me as soon as it’s ready. If anything comes up with that part I’ll come and update my review but I doubt there will be issues.
The reviewer «Dave B» who suggested go here to browse and then find the same thing online obviously has no concept of how business works and hopefully no one would follow such idiotic advice. It costs a lot to lease a building along a prominent highway, to advertise to the local market and to inventory merchandise that does not likely move all that quickly. Of course it costs more to purchase locally compared to a drop shipping internet site that does nothing other than place the order with the manufacturer on your behalf. People like that are what drives local businesses out of business, and then you’ll have nothing to go look at and will be left wondering if the picture you see on the web is an accurate representation of what you’re buying. I prefer to see lots of options in person so I know exactly what an item looks like, and if I have to pay a small premium for that privilege, I’m happy to.

The store did have a nice selection of contemporary fixtures and I found one I liked. I got it home and tried to check the price on line, but it was not given to me in the original box. When I did finally find it, the price was $ 125 at Amazon, shipping included and I paid $ 199. The return policy was 10 days with a 10% handling fee. I have not experienced a restocking fee in years.

Initially staff seemed knowledgeable, but the bottom line is that if there is a problem, it is apparent that they are anything but!
Although some efforts are made to resolve issues, ultimately, this store has high prices, and are not consumer-​friendly.
We have learned a difficult lesson, and I would not return to this store again. We have had better service from Home Depot and Amazon.