Michaels

This place is so weird for a retailer! Every time I go it’s a 50 – 50 chance that I will make it out with the items I want to buy.
Usually there are 2 – 3 cashiers, but for some reason the line just doesn’t move. 1 Cashier will have a problem and pull the rest of them in to solve it (regardless of how many people are in line) or the phone will ring and one of the cashiers will just take care of the phone call (regardless of how many people are in line).
The credit card system was down for several days so they only took cash.
There always seem to be enough employees, but they never seem to be working efficiently.
I complained to the manager yesterday when one of the only 2 cashiers was on the phone checking to see if some beads could be put on hold for a customer although there were 6+ customers in line. During the 7 minutes I was waiting only 1 person had gone through the line and they were still getting rung up when I finally complained. 2 Customers walked out audibly complaining that the line was too long.
In the past I have had to put my full basket down and walk away because my 15 minute trip to Michaels was getting doubled in time by my 15 – 20 minute wait in line.
It’s bizarre to me that other locations are fine and I never have an issue with getting through the checkout.

I have lived all across the US in the past ten years and this is the worst Michael’s for customer service. Driving the extra six miles to shop at the Michael’s in Rockville is worth it to me to avoid the mismanagement found at this Michael’s in Laurel. (I have spent thousands of dollars over the years at fabric and craft stores. Some women buy jewelry, I buy craft supplies). At this Michaels’ there is a line of ten customers and one guy is the only employee checking out a customer with some kind of problem with her return. Finally after about ten minutes with this same problem customer, another customer in the growing line got vocal and asked that the manager be called to handle things. The guy told us he WAS the manager and «no one else working that day had cash register skills». About ten minutes later another employee showed up to check, so the line could finally start moving. Waiting in line for over a half hour is not acceptable when the manager uses all his employees to stock shelves even when the store gets busy. This tells me that this particular store does not value customers as much as they do having the shelves fully stocked for future customers (who they will never have if they don’t take care of the ones they DO have). I must add that there IS one female employee who works there who DOES do a good job when she is there. SHE should be promoted to manager.

I agree to all the negative and positive reviews. Depends who works there that day or night.
Register staffing seems unreliable. Days need more cashiers they have 2 open… days not busy they have 3 – 4 registers open???

The manager sucks at simple customer service & the checkout will take you at least 10 min to get through on a good day. Staff seems to really not know too much. Maybe train them perhaps? The manager I’ve dealt with on multiple occasions is not very nice and I’ve avoided this store based on that alone. The long lines or slow service would’ve been bearable if the customer service was right. Go to Ellicott City!

Honest to the Unilocal heavens this location has the worst service all around. Between the staff not knowing about their products, to staff not offering their assistance just boggles my mind. They took the cake on my last visit (had to return something) the line was was ridiculously long. There was only one cashier and two other staff members on the side talking to eachother. At some point people began to leave their stuff and just walk out. CRAZY! That was my last visit. Will just drive to Columbia from now on.

Very clean and organized but you been in one michaels you’ve been in them all.
Staff is usually very nice but I like to get there early before there’s a crowd or lines.

I actually went back to see if I had reviewed this before. I am surprised I had not. I was so mad at this store that I even wrote a note to corporate. There was an employee who made me so mad.
But not anymore! This place has a wonderful vibe. We go there way too often and we love it. The ladies who work there are so nice to us! We love it! Sunflowers all over the place and at a discount is what we came for but we left with so much more. I will happily go there forevermore.

3 Strikes and you’re out!
Let me premise this review by saying that this review is focused entirely on the framing department and general management.
I recently took a large print of a wedding photo in to be custom framed here. We picked the matting and frame with no issues, and were told we would be contacted within 1 – 2 weeks to pick up our finished product.
After 3 weeks and no calls, I phoned the store for a status update. At which time I was told that my picture had never been sent out for framing. (Strike #1) I was of course a little upset and was promised over the phone that it would go out immediately and I could expect a discount upon pick-​up. Oh well.
After a couple more weeks and no phone calls, I decided to visit the store myself. Turns out my frame had been there for about a week, but they had forgotten to call me. «Oops I’m sorry.» was all i got from the framing manager. (Strike #2) The framing manager helped me unwrap it to examine the work. I was shocked to see a couple inch long scrapes down the one side of the frame. She suggested I use a marker to color in the scratch marks and you might not be able to tell that it was scratched. I couldn’t believe she was actually expecting me to go along with this ridiculous idea! — I refused to pay for it and ask to see the manager of the store. Conveniently he wasn’t in. So we wrapped it back up and she sent it back out to be re-​framed. This time I was really upset and after getting home I promptly emailed their customer support and made them aware of my troubles at this store.
To my surprise I was contacted by the local District Manager and was assured that she would contact the in-​store manager to make it right with a considerable discount. I thought to myself, awesome I can live with that.
About a week later I get the call to pick up the final product. The framing manager told me that she had heard about my complaint from the district manager and was VERY apologetic, and blamed all the problems on a certain employee who had recently been let go. I wasn’t really in the mood to hear excuses, and politely ask to speak to the store manager about my discount. She ran off to fetch him while I waited. After about 10 minutes she returned and told me I would get 15% off my total. I was really expecting them to do a little better than that. I said; «Only 15% for all that heart-​ache? Where’s the manager?» «He’s in his office» she said. «And he doesn’t want to speak to me?» I asked. «He just told me to give you 15% off» she replied. (Strike #3)
So basically they messed around with a simple photo framing job for about 2−½ months and all I got was a brush off from the store manager and a 15% discount.
I can assure you I will NEVER return to any Michaels Framing dept. again!
~The Guru

This Michaels is basically the same as the rest of them; big, bright store, full of just about anything your crafting heart could desire. I’m pretty sure I’d never been inside a Michaels until my now wife came into my life. While I’m much more likely to go to Best Buy to «look around» than Michaels, this Michaels has proven useful on many occasions, especially when we needed frames to help decorate our new apartment.
They have a custom framing section that compares to every place else, but the thing that sets them apart is their staff. They were great when we needed a matte custom cut for a frame we bought from the store (they can do custom-​made frames, but that gets really expensive). The finished product looks great.
Later we ordered another custom matte and mounting project. This is where the staff really shined. Due to circumstances totally beyond her control our order took way more time to be completed than it should have. Leisa, the framing manager made everything right, even going so far as to give me her personal cell phone number and taking mine so she could update us on the progress.
We were very frustrated that it was taking so long, but after I went in and spoke with Leisa, got the whole story, and exchanged phone numbers, it made us feel much better to know the whole story and have open communication about the issue. Even though this project was so delayed, we will definately go back for our next framing project because we know Leisa understands customer service and customer experience and will take care of us.
Leisa gets 5 starts; I give the whole store 4 because if their corporate people hadn’t screwed everything up and then not taken care to fix it, Leisa wouldn’t have had to bend over backwards to make everything right. The best thing Michaels could do is promote Leisa and give her the authority to all of their framing experiences right the first time, and to promote a culture and understanding where customers remain loyal even when mistakes are made because there is honest communication and the customer experience is treated properly.