Penzeys Spices

I buy all my spices here... what a difference! I use the Vietnamese Cinnamon in my sangria and it's a huge hit!

I give them 2 stars because the quality of the product is great. The customer service is awful. I've had two bad experiences here. I blew off the first one, but after today 12/23, I will not shop there anymore and I will stop suggesting Penzeys to my friends. Liz, the manager was very rude and unapologetic. The store was not busy but I was clearly an inconvenience. They had a "Free Gift with $5 purchase" promotion via email that I wanted to take advantage of. The promo was released on 12/13, 4 days before I made my purchase on 12/17. I brought my receipt and the email print out but she wouldn't look at it. After asking why she wouldn't redeem it twice, she threw up her hands and said, "FINE FINE we will do it!" I had spent $30 on a gift set for my girlfriend but hadn't seen the email. My request to redeem it seemed logical. I've done this before at other businesses, big and small. It was two days before Christmas and the "leader" in the store had very little cheer. Its very unfortunate because I know this doesn't reflect the entire Penzeys organization, but both incidents left an awful taste in my mouth.

What I don't understand is why give a customer such hassle if you're giving something away for free? Why not look at the receipt? Who knows how much money we'd spent in that store already? I'm obviously a loyal customer if I receive the email promotions. Why risk losing a customer at all?

I own a small business and have worked in customer service for years. I was not rude and I kept my cool, but this kind of treatment is just awful.

After giving my girlfriend her gift, I told her what happened. She had already had a bad experience there herself so she's now decided to return the free gift and not shop there anymore. I hope Penzeys responds to the email I sent them.