Cowboys and Angels Offers Toys And So Much More
Guest post by Kendra Gable.
Philip and Polly Grosvener are a husband-and-wife team who, just eight months ago, opened up an exciting new store in Kerrisdale. Philip dreamed of one day opening up a photography studio. Polly’s ingenuity came into play when she thought up the idea of opening a toy store with a photography studio upstairs. And so the Cowboys and Angels Toy Store was born. With the incorporation of a ceramic studio and the addition of organic-only clothing and dress up section, this well-rounded store has many fun and exciting things all in one place.
Cowboys and Angels offers a wide variety of unique brands including Melissa and Doug, Skunt, Speesees, Under the Nile, Automoblox and Flybar. They also carry musical instruments, arts and crafts, educational games and even remote control helicopters – and more.
Cowboys and Angels have seen great success with their birthday parties and week-long summer camps. By choosing a different theme each day of the week and involving the ceramics, the owners hope to “inspire children to use their imagination, develop their creativity and build new skills.”
The store is open seven days a week: 10 am–6 pm Monday through Saturday and 11 am–5:30 pm on Sunday.
Vancouver Mom readers are being offered a 10% discount on their entire purchase (including ceramics and portraits). Be sure to stop in and mention you saw this article on VancouverMom.ca!
Cowboys and Angels Toy Store, Portrait Studio, Ceramics Studio
Website | Twitter: @Cowboys_Angels| Phone: (604) 568-6673 | Address: 2159 West 41st Ave
Kendra Gable is the owner of Bullfrogs & Butterflies Photography, a Surrey based photography studio that specializes in maternity, baby and children’s photography.
I love this store! It’s exactly what Kerrisdale needed!!!
We had a great party at the Kerrisdale location. HOWEVER, I have a very very sour taste in my mouth. I will NEVER book a party, NEVER GIVE BUSINESS and/or NEVER PROMOTE this store again.
The owner is very rude and does not want to listen to their customers. He only states his made up on the spot ‘policies’ and does not want to listen or work with you to come up with a solution.
Long story short, I booked a birthday party for August 7th, 2011. I was told of the “$165 rate for up to 10 kids” which is also listed on their website. There was no mention of that being the flat rate and booking fee for the private room. Two weeks before the party, I called to clarify as we only had 7 kids confirmed. The girl who took the phone said it shouldn’t be a problem to bill $16.50 per child as they used to do it before. She took my number and said she’ll leave a message with the owner to confirm. Never received a call back, so 4 days before the party, I called and spoke to Jesse, the manager, to clarify the charges, and he said it would be no problem and see you on Sunday. There was no indication or mention that the $165 was a flat rate which included the private room.
To my surprise, I was billed $165 for the party…not per child as previously discussed. I was told by Katie our party host that $165 is a flat rate for the party. Katie even gave us an 8th ceramic item to paint to commemorate the party. I paid the bill in good faith and was told to talk to Jesse for clarification.
When I picked up my pieces, Jesse was not in so, I spoke to Philip, the owner. Philip was very clear that is the owner and his decisions are final. The store policy that parties are $165 flat rate. He didn’t want to listen to my story or give me the time of day. In his anger, he told me, “I doesn’t like people like you who are trying to take advantage of my business!”
HELLO…aren’t you scamming the customer for not being upfront in the beginning and providing only 8 pieces but charging for 10? And why are you pre-judging me without listening to all the facts?!?! All I wanted was to come back to paint two $15 pieces to cover the difference I lost. I was NOT asking or wanting my money back.
Philip was clearly upset and walked away from me towards his upstairs studio. I followed him as now the issue became a matter of principle.
So, Philip called Jesse for clarification, who told me that it would be okay to allow me to come in and paint 2 pieces to make up the difference, but that the final decision would be Philip’s.
Philip then showed me his website to show me it is says “$165 for up to 10 kids”. And when I mentioned, “it doesn’t say flat rate of $165 for up to 10 kids”, he looked at me and said, “Doesn’t that mean the same thing”…insinuating that I’m stupid.
So, I told him, “That’s why I called to clarify and you never called me back and Jesse told me something different. That is why we are at this point. If I was told from the start, that it’s a flat rate and not given the impression that the price would be $16.50 per child, I would not be discussing this issue with him.”
So, Philip responded, walking away again from me, not making eye-contact, “I can’t be bothered to argue with you for $15…so just go downstairs and paint your pieces.” Looking away, he pointed towards the door and said it again…shoo-ing me away. He clearly did not want to deal with me and was more interested in his photos than to speak to me and my concerns.
For someone who owns and runs a business…where a recession is imminent, great customer service and resolution is important. He surely doesn’t know the stat…friends may tell 1-2 friends of a good experience BUT will be happy to tell 10-15 (or all) their friends bad experience. And people remember bad stories and also love to help spread the word.
All Philip had to say was, “I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding. The party rate is $165 which also includes the room rental. I will speak to my staff to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” If he just said that in the beginning, I would not be sitting here, taking time to write about my encounter.
I’m someone who always supports local and smaller businesses. I definitely will NOT be supporting this store anymore after this encounter.