Dollarama

On Thursday March 14, 2019 at approximately 2:30 pm I attended the store to buy a few items. I love shopping at the Dollarama stores as they are constantly getting in brand name and as seen on tv items and I like to see what's new and purchase the items before they are all gone. They never know what they are getting or when so you just have to check frequently.
On this particular day I enetered the store and went directly to the check out to pass in a car key I had found outside on the sidewalk. I figured who ever dropped the key would for sure go in there to inquire if anyone had turned it in as it was right outside their store. I then got a shopping cart and proceeded to the beauty isle. As I was approaching the aisle a female employee was coming across the front of the store with a large cart full of boxes. She left the cart in the middle of the floor and began to follow me down the aisle stopping along her way to play with items on the shelves. I didn't see an item I regularly buy and asked her if they had any or if they have been moved as they move stuff all the time. She told me to check the end cap of the aisle so walked to the end of the aisle at the back of the store to check. There were none so I proceeded across the back of the store to the last aisle to get my Windex and sand which bags. I noticed she was following behind me as I walked and as I turned into the aisle she went into the back room at the rear corner of the store. She then came back out and proceeded to follow me down the aisle. At this point I realized that she was definitely indeed following me. I felt uncomfortable of course like anyone would but didn't really care as I was doing nothing wrong. Once I got everything I needed from that aisle I was back at the front of the store and started to walk across the front scanning the shelves as I went for any new items that were of interest to me. When I reached the front where the check outs are. I noticed the employee following me had turned down one of the aisles going towards the rear of the store. I remembered I had to get a box of straws which are in the first aisle by the registers so I proceeded to turn down that aisle. Once in the aisle this employee who had been following me approached me and loudly and rudely said to me "can you take that out of your purse". I just looked at her kind of puzzled and shocked and said "excuse me. What are you talking about". Once again she said "take it out of your purse". I again asked her what she was talking about and told her that the only things in my purse were mine and that I had nothing of her concern in my purse. She then very loudly and rudely ordered me to leave the store. At this point I was becoming very upset. Not only at the fact that she was right out accusing me of having store merchandise in my purse but at the fact that there were several people standing there looking and listening to this whole ordeal. It very embarrassing and frustrating. No one on this earth is ever going to accuse me of something terrible that I have not done without my proving that they are wrong so I then began to hand her my purse and told she was more than welcome to check it out herself. Rather than accept my offer or tell me to show her myself she just kept yelling at me to leave the store and refused to look in my purse so I took everything that was mine and in my purse out and pulled the lining of my purse right out in front of her and said "see. There is nothing from this store in my purse. I only have MY things in here". Once I did this she looked embarrassed and then said "oh well ok you can go pay for your items but then you have to leave this store". Well at this point I was just about having a full blown panic attack as I do have severe panic attacks if put in a an overly stressful situation which this indeed was but I then looked at her and said " seriously. I just showed you my purse and you see that I have nothing and you are telling me to go pay for my things but then telling me to still leave the store and are very rude and disrespectful to me". "Just pay for your things and leave" she said. I then walked the 7 or so feet directly over to the lady working on the register and showed her inside my purse and explained to her why I was showing her. I wanted another person to see. This other employee was watching this whole event and knew what was going on but I still made sure to explain it to her and showed her that I had nothing belonging to the store in my purse. I figured if this rude lady was still telling me leave the store and would not apolajize to me after finding out that she was wrong that I did not trust her and wanted a witness. Trying to keep my cool as best as I could without falling apart I then paid for my items and went out to the car where my daughter was waiting with our dogs.
As I got into the car I was mid way into a panic attack and asked my daughter to please hurry and get me one of my anxiety pills out of my purse. My anxiety and panic attacks get so bad that I am prescribed special medication for it. It took me around 10 to 15 minutes to tell my daughter what had happened as I couldn't breath and was so upset from the ordeal. Once my daughter heard what had happened she was very upset. I've been her mother for 28 years and I still teach her to be kind, honest and sincere and she knows what kind of person I am and that I would never steal anything so she turned the car around and went back to the store to go confront the lady and ask her why she did that to me. My daughter is a smart woman and she recorded the whole conversation. During the conversation she asks the lady if she had seen me take anything or do anything wrong and the lady very clearly replies "no. I just needed her to leave".
This lady admitted that I had done nothing wrong so why did this whole event take place. In all of my years going to that store I have never had a single issue and I spend a lot of money there. I'm assuming she was having a bad day and wanted someone to take it out on or she has some kind of issues going on. I'm not sure why but I do not that this event was not acceptable and something has to be done. It it not ok to treat people in this manner. It is not ok to belittle and humiliate someone in front of other the way she did me.
My daughter was also greatly affected by this. Seeing her mother in that state for doing nothing wrong upset her to the fullest extent. Her mother went into Dollarama to buy a few things and comes out crying and in a full blown panic attack. This is not right and it is not ok. It seem to me from reading many of these complaints that Dollarama employees do this to a lot of their customers. Something needs to be done to ensure that customers are treated with simple common curtesy and are treated like human beings. Nothing else is acceptable.
I have tried to attach a copy of the recording taken that afternoon. Unfortunately it's saying it does not recognize the file format so it cannot be added. You can contact me to hear the recording. Thank you.