T.J. Maxx and Marshalls take the cake when it comes to retail therapy—or if you’re just after a really great bargain. Few stores measure up in comparison, but that doesn’t mean shoppers don’t have issues with the retail chains, both of which are owned by the same parent company TJX. In a series of Reddit threads, frustrated customers are airing out their grievances with T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, specifically having to do with long wait times and tampered merchandise (that’s still available for purchase).
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Customers say employees have no control over “disrespectful” shoppers.
Sniffing a candle is one thing, but sampling beauty products is another. Customers are fed up with the stores’ lack of control over unruly shoppers, who test-try body products and break sealed packaging to sample makeup—and then leave it for another person to purchase.
“It’s so frustrating when i want to buy a lipstick or palette but it’s been swatched!” one customer wrote in a Reddit thread.
“I always double check products cause so many are tampered with,” added another.
A third said, “100% of the time I see opened or seemingly sealed packaging for eyeshadow used.”
“I once saw a lady open up maybe 10 different perfume boxes—she would tear open the plastic wrapper and start smelling them. I alerted a nearby worker and she said thanks but there’s nothing they can do to stop people from doing that,” shared a user.
“This is one of my biggest pet peeves when I shop at TJMaxx and Marshalls. Constantly come across a body lotion or body butter that someone has poked their finger through the seal or twisted the pump open on a lotion bottle to test it out,” said a customer with a similar experience.
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Shoppers say the long lines at T.J. Maxx and Marshalls are “baffling.”
If the checkout line begins to snake through the aisles, one Redditor said they “turn right around and leave.” Many shoppers chimed in in agreement, noting the long lines never seem to ease up regardless of the time of day or how many cashiers are working.
“I went on a Wednesday at 2 pm once and the line was across the store,” wrote one person.
Another status reads, “How is it so hard for them to understand that messy shelves and long lines will make people buy less stuff?”
“I literally stopped going for this reason…. ITS SO OVERSTIMULATING,” said a former shopper.
“I was in T.J. Maxx the other day and it took me 20 minutes to check out…It reminded me why I only go to TJ Maxx every two years,” someone added.
In one post, a Marshalls employee sided with the frustrated customers and called on corporate to do better: “I get upset with corporate for not giving us the payroll to have more cashiers. I guess they can’t really predict when each store will be filled with customers, but still! Let people work and make money! Let customers get out of the store faster.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever gone in and not stood in a line for at least five minutes,” said a T.J. Maxx shopper.
To that end, another person joked, “Maybe this is why they sell snacks and drinks near the front lol. You might as well have a little snack while you wait!”
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T.J. Maxx and Marshalls could be losing out on sales because of long lines.
According to many shoppers, both retailers are missing out on revenue due to long checkout lines and poor time management. It’s gotten to the point where customers are jokingly thanking T.J. Maxx and Marshalls for keeping them “fiscally responsible.”
“There’s nothing like a long wait at checkout to help someone to be more fiscally responsible, lol,” teased one user.
“I’ll have my armful of goodies, hop in line, wait 15 years because there’s 30 people ahead of me and 2 registers open, and decide I really don’t need all this [expletive] anyway,” said another.
“TJ Maxx is the number one store I can think of when I think what retail store has the longest check out line, holidays or otherwise. Year around issue IME. It absolutely has stopped me from making purchases in the past,” a third agreed.
“I’ll find something cute, only to look at the checkout line that’s 15 ppl deep and put it back and leave the store. I have saved so much money this way,” a comment reads.
“There’s nothing that kills an impulse buy like time to think about whether or not you want it lol,” a customer wrote.