Business ProfileforDulceria Del Sol

Beware of unethical business practices that leave you feeling robbed, angry, very disappointed and sad.
I have always tried to give my business to small business owners, however, I will now think twice. I have been shopping at Dulceria FUN PARTY on First Street in Gilroy for the last 8 years; birthday party supplies, rentals and pinata's for my grandchildren. I rented a cotton candy machine from the FUN PARTY for my grandchildren; ages 5 and 8 for their birthday party this past Nov. Leading up to their special day, that's all they talked about was making cotton candy -they were so excited. As all the kids lined up, I fired up the cotton candy machine. I ran it for over 20 minutes, hoping to see pink cotton candy being produced. Instead, the candy turned brown and started bubbling/boiling. To produce the cotton candy, the machine is supposed to spin and this never happened. I Googled, troubleshooting steps, and found that more than likely the belt was broken and needed replacement. The kids were so disappointed/sad and I felt horrible. I called the FUN PARTY over 70 times and no answer. They usually only have 1 employee working in the store -it is rare they ever answer their phone and no answering machine -so you can't leave a message. The birthday party was all the way in Hollister, so leaving the party to go back to the FUN PARTY in Gilroy, was not an option. The next day, I returned the cotton candy machine and based upon what the candy produced, which was still present, it was quite evident it was broken. I was told the owner was not in and I would need to speak with her directly, as I requested a credit back to my debit card. The employee stated she would talk to the owner, share my message and have her call me. I never heard from the owner. I went into the store multiple times, leaving hand written messages and calling the store in hopes someone would answer the phone. It was only by chance, the owner, answered the phone. She said to me, "Why didn't you just bring it back, why didn't you call us, I will need to go to the warehouse and take a look at why it didn't work, my employees always check rentals before leaving my store." She then said to me, "When you returned the cotton candy machine, did the employee try turning it on to determine if it was broken?" I said, no, just like your employee never checked the cotton candy machine before renting it to me. I told the owner, I have been a loyal customer for over 8 years, do you think I am lying? The business owner never even apologized for the broken cotton candy machine and how this left the kids feeling at the birthday party. In closing, she said she would get back to me after she goes to the warehouse to inspect the machine. This went on for well over 2-weeks. The owner had one excuse after another, just stringing me along. Again, I called multiple times, stopping by and leaving hand written notes. To this day, I have not received a phone call from her, nor has she reimbursed me. I filed a claim with my bank. They did a full investigation and in the end, my bank reimbursed me for the unethical/fraudulent business practices at FUN PARTY. I will never shop there again! I felt this was important to share with my community. Who does something like this?