Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft

While shopping with my 15 mo old we encountered more people in the store than expected. So, I halted my shopping trip short due to almost nap time and there was an extensive line to have fabric cut. I got into the customer service line as there was 4 people in the regular check out and my little one had had enough. The cashier (older grandma aged woman) refused to help me since I didn’t have a return! I had apologized and explained my situation and she made us go stand in line behind now 8 people. Her response, all those other people have to wait so should you. Seriously, I don’t pull the mom card, I need help, often but I also don’t think it’s appropriate for other customers to have to hear my kid have a melt down. Thankfully there were some awesome customers in line who understood and let me ahead in line. Seriously. I recognize this is a chain but some customer service would be nice. No wonder why Amazon is taking over the retail world.

I would love to give this place a better review and the only reason why I’m giving it 2 stars instead of 1 is because of the 50% off coupons they always have which has saved me a ton of money on Ott Lights for my office. Now that the good part is over let me get on with why this store is much to be desired. First off I can never find what I’m looking for in this store, things are always moving and good luck trying to find someone to assist you in finding what you are looking for because either they are MIA or they have no clue where the item is either. Lastly are the lines. Seriously when you have 20+ people waiting in line and only one register open you better call for back-​up and keep the talk to necessary check out chit chat. I stood in line today with 1 item for 18 minutes! If you have loads of time to kill and patience of a saint have a ball however if you don’t have either I would say skip this store. BTW the store in West Vancouver isn’t any better.

Fast, friendly and informative service. They price match their website, so make the most of your smart phone and already have the site pulled up to ensure you get the best price possible. The cashier will ask to see the site price to match it.
I had to ask one employee about thread. She walked me over to just what I was looking for and answered all my questions.
~Thanks JoAnn for a quick, affordable and friendly fabric frenzy!

I usually don’t post anything but positive reviews because there is enough negativity in the world. But seriously I can’t stand coming to this store! It is the most convenient craft/​fabric store to me so occasional I will not feel like making the trek to craft warehouse for something small. Today I went with my young son who’s stuffed animal had lost an eye. I didn’t have a lot of time and wanted a quick stop. After looking through their highly confusing newly arranged shelving passing many employees who ignored us I approached a woman who was stocking some items and asked. She sighed, glared at me for interrupting her, and started waving her hand around toward the other side of the store giving directions with about 5 turns (go down 2 rows, turn right, turn left at cake decorating, look for some felt squares and turn again and on and on). This is customer service 101, come on. Manners, smile, take the customer to the location of what they are asking for or at least give a definitive answer like «aisle 12».
I hate to rant but how can one business have such universally horrendous service?!? I’ve been treated so rudely in so many instances it’s unbelievable and pretty much anyone who has ever been here will agree with me. I’m thinking the employees must be treated horribly by management to walk around with such chips on their shoulder. I hope to never return. But again, I likely will due to convenience. I’m sure that’s the only reason they’re still in business.

This store is so disappointing. I went on a weekday in the morning to get fabric. It took over 30 minutes to get it cut. Then I was greeted with a snarky sigh and eye roll. There is no comfortable place to wait for fabric to be cut other than in the surrounding tiny aisles or walking laps around the store browsing.
Like many reviews have stated, they will not always honor their own coupons and sales. I had current coupons and since the register was messing up, I was told I couldn’t use my valid coupons. After going back and forth with the cashier, I left half my items at the register. The cashier was not happy about this.
When I corrected my son for his manners, the cashier had the nerve to tell my son it was ok and that he could ignore his mom’s correction. She undermined me and smirked while doing it. Of course, we had a «come to Jesus» conversation.
I live close and was really excited to have a few craft and sewing stores nearby. However, I will not shop at this location again. There’s better fabric stores in Portland that are worth the commute in variety and customer service.

I go here all the time because it’s my house and convenient. But the service is painfully slow and a lot of time I am in a hurry. I went last weekend to pick up 2 yards of tulle, I had one lady in front of me at the cutting counter and another behind me. When the lady in front of me was done instead of helping the next number (which was me) the girl at the cutting counter went ahead and help the lady who had the number after mine (she need about 10 yard of 5 different types of fabric) needless to say that made me mad I put the fabric away and left I had other stuff to get done and could not wait another 20 minutes for my fabric to get cut and then about another 10 in the checkout line.

Visited this store on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 around 1:30pm. CUSTOMER SERVICE was AWFUL!. Stood in a line at the register for over 10 mins, two people walked out of line, placed their items on the nearest unmanned register near the door and walked out in frustration. One attendant on register 1. and one attendant at another register. THAT WAS IT! There was a tall gentleman at one register that rang up one customer, then walked away. Clearly he saw at least 10 people in line but it must have been his lunch or break time because he never returned to help PAYING customers. The overall aura of this store is cold, unfriendly and VERY un-​staffed.. I will not be returning any time soon. It will be worth your time and effort to drive to a different store, maybe Michael’s instead.

Won’t go into this store again. Cashiers talk to much so I spent 20 minutes in line with two customers ahead of me with a few items & I had one item but wasn’t worth my time. Horrible service!

Long story short, this store won’t honor its own advertised sales (as in literally a sign saying this stuff is on sale, and the cashier saying nope, it’s not if it’s not ringing up on sale, even though the sign says it is), and aside from two employees, is staffed by very rude people. I have gone there as rarely as possible because of it. They very last time I was there, I told the cashier, Sue D., some beads were on sale, she said no they weren’t, and since I was in a rush and my daughter was misbehaving, I accepted I was going to get ripped off, and so shook my head and opened my purse to get my debit card. She decided to make a huge, loud deal in front of a whole lot of people about me being a «difficult» customer and called management and pulled me to the side to loudly tell another cashier that I was being difficult. The other cashier told her to do an override for the posted price, and Sue D. huffed back to her registered, took her sweet time to do only a few of the beads, and when I held my phone to be scanned, she yanked my phone out of my hand. At that point, I harshly told her she had NO right to grab MY personal property from my hand. Replacing my iPhone would be $ 600, so I don’t let just everyone touch it, especially people acting like she was.
Sue D. reinforced why I will go to Hancock and pay more. Hancock near me may be a bit slow (it’s a smaller store, and since it only has two cut station and two registers, and adding more would be a huge overhaul, which means that getting out can be slow, at least the people are nice at Hancock. In a typical month, I spend more than $ 1,000 on sewing stuff (small business), and JoAnn’s lost it. After my last experience with the JoAnn’s in Hazel Dell, I gave the other one a chance, but they blew it.

Every time I go, I leave asking myself why I went! Slow cutters, slow checkers and I always have to wait in a long line. Last week took the cake, when the only checker clocked out, leaving a line full of people. The customer service desk refused to help out as she was too busy on the phone. The only reason to go is for the great products. Because they have no competition, they can continue to have poor management.

Very rude. No customer service skills. Manager wouldn’t honor the price tag on the fabric stating «it’s never been that price» (it was 2 yards at a $ 2.50 difference) and the lady behind me had stuff ringing up full price when the sign on the rack said 50% off and he wouldn’t honor that either. So they just lost all of my business over $ 5. The managers response? «Sorry to hear that»

I don’t really get why this place has such horrible reviews. Admittedly, I really only come here when I need to buy foam for a jury-​rigged insulation, so I guess I’m not around often enough to see the horrible things that people have been complaining about, but the staff seems nice enough. I had to wait a bit for help at the cutting table, but it wasn’t long and the girl was perfectly efficient at dealing with the slight line.
I have a beef with their permanent «sale» on products because it’s disingenuous to call something a sale when it’s literally always on sale, but that’s more of a corporate culture complaint, nothing with the store itself, and it’s not like Michael’s doesn’t do the exact same thing.
It’s good enough. I should go in with higher expectations I guess.

This place should be ashamed of itself. Took forever to get help at the cutting table and with only one cashier, the waiting time was something else. They don’t have much competition but if they continue to try to stay in business with only minimal service, god help them. It was just an example of really bad service. Hope I don’t need dry goods in the near future. Like Heather D. wrote back 2012, there’s nowhere else convenient to go to.

The staff I worked with was rude and very impatient. The line at the register had a dozen people in it while one cashier rudely rang people up. I will not be back to this place.

Hell on earth. Took me forty minutes to pick up something I left on hold. Cutting line was long and register line had two checkers and 15 customers deep entire time. I will never return.

Just in case you haven’t been scared away by all the other bad reviews, I’ll add my own.
I have had multiple bad experiences at this store. I live just down the road, so it is most convenient, location-​wise, compared to Craft Warehouse. The last time I was in here, I was looking for soap-​making supplies — and I was told they didn’t have it. Which is funny, because I know that Michael’s has it.
They have a good selection of expensive yarn, with a more limited selection of the more affordable brands, such as Red Heart. IF you can find what you’re looking for on your own, it might be worth coming. Don’t expect the staff to be ready, willing, or knowledgeable enough to help you. It’s a jungle out there, and you’re on your own.
The last couple times I’ve been, I’ve walked out after looking at the long line, I’ve waited 20 – 30 minutes to buy a skein of yarn before, and I just decided that my time isn’t worth the hassle. I’d rather go to Micheal’s or Craft Warehouse — they both have more limited yarn selections, but at least I don’t have to wait in line for 30 minutes. If this Jo-Ann’s would get it’s act together, it would be a good store — but it’s not. I wouldn’t shop here at gunpoint.

Looks like I’m not the only one who’s had bad service here…
I’ve been to this location twice for specific projects and both times I was left wandering the store with no assistance. The first time was in February of this year, 2013. I was in search of some supplies for a picture frame idea I had. I took my boyfriend with me and he helped me find what I needed. When I couldn’t find what I needed next, I figured I’d go ask someone, only there was no one to be found. I even asked the ladies in the sewing/​fabric department for help, in which they were very rude and replied that they didn’t work in the rest of the store. I had to hunt someone down as she tucked into the bathroom. I literally waited for her to come out (like her stalker or something) and pounced on her. She pointed me in some vague direction and said something that sounded like street names. I didn’t think their aisles were numbered, let alone named. Needless to say I was pissed when we finally got out of there from the lack of direction I was given.
The second time was yesterday. I figured I’d go into Joann’s again b/​c they’re the closest craft store I could think of. I went in looking for 4 oz. mason jars, assuming they’d have them somewhere. I took my boyfriend with me again and we walked around searching for them, aisle by aisle. Finally I got fed up and figured I’d go ask someone where they were. They didn’t appear to be terribly busy so I stood in line behind the 1 person that had a return item. I waited… and waited… and continued to wait. My boyfriend got peeved and walked off to find another associate only to discover there was no one else. He came back and said there’s only 2 employees in this whole store — this lady and the one in the fabric section. Then the line behind me started to grow so the checker called for back-​up. By the time I asked my question, no checker had come up front yet. She told me she thought they were back by the candles and pointed in some vague direction near the back (where we had already searched). I walked away thanking her, thinking that was a premature move. We happened to find the mason jars, but only by accident. I was looking for my boyfriend and he was looking for me and when we found each other, they were near the canvases in the art section, but up on a shelf that appeared to be where they stored their back stock. Needless to say they didn’t have the size I wanted and I wasn’t about to wait around to find someone else to help me. Of course, on our way out (disgruntled, I might add), I did see some young girl re-​stocking the shelves. I was tempted to ask her for help, but then decided against it. I figured she was new and probably would give me the same shitty directions as everyone else — «somewhere over there.»
I’m giving this store 2 stars instead of 1 b/​c even though I’ve had horrible service there, they do have a good supply of items. My recommendation though (and note for myself for later): Go in knowing what you want ahead of time. If you don’t find it on the first or second pass through, just leave and go elsewhere. You have to go into the store with the knowledge that no one is going to help you.

Like everyone else that has been to this location, I too, have had repeated horrible experiences.
The customer service is practically non-​existent. The employees look disgruntled just being there. It takes a long time to do anything that requires assistance… such as… get fabric cut, framing and to check-​out.
The only reason to go here is because there is no where else convenient to go.
Shop at your own risk.

Pretty disappointing fabric selection compared to the stores in Vegas and Cali but I did find some awesome Hello Kitty fabric. Their clearance fabric section sucks.
However I still spent 2.5 hrs cruising thru the entire store. Found a bunch of sewing supplies, silk flowers and stencil supplies. Spent about $ 130 on stuff I needed and random stuff I didn’t.
Like Michaels, their prices are ok for most things, but ridiculous for others. Probably because things are usually on sale and those 50% off coupons they hand out like candy.
Typical Joann’s overall, ok — just not as good as others I’ve been to

I’m a ridiculously frequent Jo-Ann’s visitor (at a different location), and I was excited to find that this location had a few things that my regular store doesn’t have — the reason for 2 stars instead of 1. Buuuuut… my excitement was shot to hell when I tried to check out. Horrible customer service! My JoAnn has a very obvious line-​up for the registers — one line for everybody. You line up, wait for the next cashier, and go there. There was no line up at this location, no sign saying to form one line for the checkout, nobody already in line to take cues from — just a bunch of registers grouped together; two were open. I cautiously wandered up to one of the registers and smile hesitantly at the cashier.
Cashier: «I’m still helping this customer».
Me: «Ok, no problem» as I could clearly see he was still helping her.
Cashier stares at me, looking annoyed
Me: stares back, totally confused. «Do I wait back over there or something? There was no sign, I didn’t mean to…»
Cashier continues to stare at me… then finally: «Yes. Over there.»
Uh, ok. Maybe if your store made that clear, you wouldn’t have been forced to talk to me. Or maybe you could have pointed that out in a friendly way — I’ve never been to your store before!
Feeling totally humiliated, not knowing where I’m supposed to stand because THERE WAS NO SIGN or any way of knowing what they expect from you. I’m standing there, and a manager wanders by and asks another cashier to call for backup. She stops helping her customer, cocks her head to the side, locks eyes with me, stands up her tip toes to look behind me, and says «But there’s nobody in line». She doesn’t call for backup.
I continue to stand there, while nobody is moving, another customer comes up behind me. After several minutes of continuing not to move, she asks me if the registers are broken. I tell her that I didn’t think so, and told her my experience in line thus far. She tells me that she wouldn’t come here except for its proximity to her home, as she’s experienced poor service several times.
Looks like my experience wasn’t out of the ordinary, and I won’t be coming back.