Zak
I’ve been a really loyal Hobbs customer for years, both online and in store, and I’ve repeatedly felt that the in-store atmosphere is unwelcoming. To the point where I feel I need to mention this because my friends have had the same experience. We take pride in how we present ourselves and we all work in successful, demanding careers, yet the staff often treat us in a way that feels dismissive and overly judgmental where they have no grounds to be. I’ve also noticed this behaviour toward other customers. The level of warmth and respect seems to shift depending on who walks in, which creates an uncomfortable impression of selective treatment. The whole dynamic feels out of place for a modern, supposedly inclusive brand. There was also a situation where I brought in a parcel for a refund, and instead of processing it-as I know they are able to-the staff told me to take it to a post office. It felt unnecessarily obstructive and added to the sense that some customers are treated with less consideration than others. I felt patronised and belittled because the manager was involved in telling me they couldn’t help me. Even when staff do approach you, the interaction can come across as insincere, almost as though people are being quietly evaluated on background or appearance. It gives the store an atmosphere that feels unnecessarily snobbish and exclusionary. Hobbs would benefit from staff who genuinely treat everyone with the same level of courtesy and openness. No customer should feel sized up or subtly dismissed when they step through the door. If I were the owner, I would run a secret-shopper audit to understand what customers are experiencing and to address the inconsistencies in how people are treated-unless this atmosphere is being shaped from higher up within the company. The store is Birmingham Grand Central. Also, I am not sure why CHAT GPT has responded to my review. It doesn’t seem a sincere and genuine customer service response.
