I should be packing for DC, but this made me so mad, I had to rant about it.

AJB and I ventured out to The Men’s Wearhouse to pick up 2 new suits, some shirts, ties, pocket squares, a belt, and braces. The suits were chosen, but needed to be tailored and were ready tonight. First off, let me say, I understand that The Men’s Wearhouse is not the height of men’s fashion. If you have the means, I would suggest going elsewhere for better quality. In fact, The Men’s Wearhouse is the Burlington Coat Factory of suit stores. That said, AJB needed a suit and we’re on a budget. You can get a nice enough suit at discount prices. At least, you won’t look like you bought your suit at an outdoor swap meet. Since we were picking up the suits, we thought we’d kill a few more birds with a few more stones and get the remainder of his accessories at the same place.

In an effort to bust through the shopping, I hit the tie table first thing. JCS was with me so I picked out ties quickly and handed them to him. We took them over to the table. I thought I’d lay them out with the jackets to see if they worked. Anthony, the assistant manager, whisked the coat from the table as I was trying out ties and quickly came back with shirt and tie selections. He laid them out ignoring the ties I’d chosen. Now, I’m a very observant person. I know when people are throwing attitude, no matter how subtle they think they’re being. Every time I disagreed with this guy, he gave a sour expression and once or twice tossed in a condescending laugh as if to say “yeah right, purple tie with a yellow pocket square? You must be joking.” I explained my color choosing methods and how I was using the color wheel to determine eye pleasing combinations. It’s a fact that colors that are opposites on the color wheel just go well together. They just do.

So this guy didn’t get it. No matter what I did, he kept coming back with blue on blue, red on red, purple on purple. Everything was colored coordinated to a tee. Fine. I get that most people want to match, but AJB is an artist and he specifically told me he wanted to stand out. I also think that when you’re an artist, the rules don’t apply. You can have a purple tie, a blue shirt, and a red pocket square. Go for it. Be bold! The new rules of fashion are: There are no rules. And as an artist, it’s your job to push the fashion envelope whenever possible. So while AJB wants to look professional, he also wants to make a statement about his creative capabilities.

Mr. Red on Red scoffed, huffed, gave looks, and laughed whenever I disagreed with him; like I was some stupid kid. He tried to put AJB in burgundy loafers and when I said “hell to the no” he seemed annoyed, as though I was cock blocking his fashion sense. I was, in fact, cock blocking his fashion sense, but that’s only because he follows a strict set of rules that AJB doesn’t have to adhere to. I suppose you don’t make it to Men’s Wearhouse Assistant Manager if you don’t know your shit, but in this case…because I wasn’t taking his word for it, we were treated like Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts, Pretty Woman) on Rodeo Drive; like dullards, like lower class citizens. He continued to bring his color choices to us even after we’d made a final decision. It felt as though he were saying, “you couldn’t possibly want that, here, try this”.

We did our best to high tail it out of there. As we brought AJB’s items to the counter, Anthony attempted to up-sell AJB on some socks. Being the smart go-getter that he is, AJB noted that it was a better deal to buy 3 socks at $5 each rather than the set of 3 for $20. Anthony was shocked that AJB couldn’t see the logic in his deal and aggressively pushed the socks sale. AJB bought some socks, but not the ones Anthony wanted.

All I know is, Anthony was annoyed with us from the get go. I don’t appreciate being scoffed at. And he scoffed! He sure as hell did. He was annoyed with us, made us feel unwanted, was far too aggressive, and did not provide us with excellent customer service. And I hate that. I’ve worked on the other side of the counter and I know what great customer service looks like…and that wasn’t it. He hardly smiled and he made us feel like a joke. Worst of all, he made us feel uncomfortable. He acted as though I was disagreeing with him just to be contrary or aggravating.

One thing you learn in retail is to leave your shit at the door. I don’t care if your mom died. If your problems are that bad, stay home. Don’t dump your baggage on unwitting customers. It doesn’t matter how much you get paid or how much shit you’ve taken from customers that day…THIS IS YOUR JOB! This is what you do and this is what Men’s Wearhouse pays you do to. They don’t pay you to show up, treat customers poorly, and then collect a paycheck. I repeat, this is your job. You chose it. You do the work that is required of you for however many hours you’re there. You do it, because you’re not the boss and you don’t own the company. You get hired to sell suits with a smile and entice customers to return again. And hey, check this out: You don’t work at Armani. Get a grip.

Playing Devil’s Advocate for a moment, it could be that Anthony is trained to get customers to leave with matching ensembles. It’s what he knows and it’s what usually works. However, has he never heard the saying, “the customer is always right”? If that’s not a Men’s Wearhouse policy, George Zimmer can stand by his suits, but not his employees…and that sucks. Their website reads: Great service is about building relationships. At Men’s Wearhouse, we want to be your clothier for life. Apparently, Anthony didn’t read the employee handbook.

I’m so annoyed with Anthony’s lack of courtesy that I hereby place Men’s Wearhouse on boycott until further notice. I made sure Anthony saw me write down his manager’s name. I will be calling to complain. This is simply unacceptable. In financially difficult times, when sales are down, you need to be as sweet as pie to make sure your customers return. If nothing else, customer service is the foundation of any business. It doesn’t matter what your product is. If you’re an asshole, you won’t be selling any of it.

FYI: I don’t choose AJB’s clothes for him. As a woman, it’s my job to provide perspective, advice, and common sense. AJB always has the final say. Don’t you, baby? *kiss*