Ralphs Grocery review: Floral/balloons

I am writing to express my disappointment regarding both a customer service issue that occurred at your store and the subsequent handling of my concerns by store management.

On Friday, May 29, I visited the store (approx 1230) and placed an order for 20 balloons at the balloon/floral counter. I specifically explained to the employee (Adelita) that I wanted to pay for the balloons in advance and have them prepared so that I could simply pick them up later. I asked if this arrangement would be possible, and the employee assured me that it would. She also mentioned that she would be working until 4:00 p.m.

When we arrived at approximately 3:00 p.m. to pick up the balloons, none of them had been prepared. We were forced to wait while the employee slowly inflated all 20 balloons and attached ribbons. This delay caused us to be late for an important party, defeating the purpose of placing and paying for the order in advance.

On Sunday, May 31, while shopping at Ralphs, I asked to speak with a store manager regarding this issue. I spoke with Adrian and explained what had occurred. While he listened to my concerns, I felt that he simply attempted to pacify the situation and offered no meaningful explanation or suggestions regarding how this type of issue would be prevented in the future.

During our conversation, Adrian informed me that Rachel, the store manager, was currently on break. I told him that I would finish my shopping and return shortly because I specifically wanted to speak with Rachel. Less than 20 minutes later, I returned to the front of the store and again requested to speak with her. The employee assisting me spoke with Adrian and then informed me that Rachel had left to go to another store.

I found this extremely frustrating and concerning. I had clearly told Adrian that I would be returning shortly to speak with Rachel. Given the timing, it felt as though no effort was made to facilitate that conversation. I was then asked to leave my phone number so that Rachel could contact me. As of today, I am still waiting for that phone call.

I am disappointed not only by the failure to prepare my balloon order as promised, but also by the lack of follow-up and customer service when I attempted to address the issue. I would appreciate a response regarding what steps will be taken to prevent similar situations in the future and to address my conerns