Lord & Taylor

This week, I called lord and taylor in garden city inquiring about the availability of an item of clothing in their store. I was dealing with the dress department, specifically. I called the main number, put in the proper extension, and was connected to the dress department. Someone picked up the phone and without even giving me a chance to answer, put me on hold. I was able to hear the sales ladies chatting and laughing in their daily conversations in the background while I waited for a full 20 minutes on the line. Finally, someone picked up again saying there was a line of customers and that I would have to hold for an additional 15-20 minutes. It must have been quite a line of customers if they had the time to chat and laugh. I told them I would call back later. I called back in a half hour, and went through the same process all over again. Finally, I asked to speak with the operator and explained this appalling situation to her as she then proceeded to connect me to customer service who, of course, put me on hold. I call to check for stock availability all the time, and I am met with the same "wait time" that never leads to someone actually picking up. I have had no problem with other lord and taylor stores — just this one in garden city. I felt dismissed and inconvenienced. I am so very disappointed with the customer service in this store and the utter lack of caring for a customer with a simple question. I even had an 88 number for my item. The sales people have to check if it is in the system on the computer using this number — a simple process, indeed. Clearly, something needs to be done about this.