1 /5 JH “Jane”: Terrible customer service; deeply disappointing experience.
We went to Party City to have a few birthday balloons re-filled that had gone soft (turned out to have been damaged eventually) immediately after purchase. Despite spending over $500 on the party and over 1500 a year, staff demanded I pay again: first $17 (the amount one pays for the new balloon) then $12 per big balloon absurdly claiming “you don’t pay for the balloons here, you pay for the helium.”
When I called out the manager: Emily Lato, she was utmost cold, rude and dismissive, clearly lacking maturity and basic customer service and problem-solving skills. Rather than addressing the issue, she told us to either pay or leave the store, effectively kicking us out of the store. My children, who had been excited to celebrate their birthday, left distraught and in tears!
I later contacted upper management through Canadian Tire, under which Party City apparently operates. While they offered a partial credit toward future purchases, the damage had been done; the experience was humiliating, upsetting, and completely unnecessary!
After spending over $500 on this birthday event with Party City, (1500 a year) we expected a small measure of kindness and accountability, not hostility!
We sincerely hope senior management takes note of how distressing and unprofessional this encounter was for a family simply trying to make a child’s birthday special.
A disappointed parent and loyal customer…
