Soyodo LLC - San Jose, California

Yu Yen Shen

This couple is very nice and treats their customers like family. When I visited the store last time, an old lady was hungry. Mr. Chen immediately went to make cup noodles for the old lady to eat. Every time an elderly person goes shopping, Mr. Chen will Help carry items to the car. Things in bookstores are very cheap and economical. Going there and shopping slowly is like digging out treasures

K C

Unprofessional customer service. Deplorable manners, with the owner forcibly touching me. I am an Asian American woman.

My mother and I visited Soyodo in San Jose on February 4, 2024 3:15 PM.

We made this trip from out-of-town to purchase Chinese goodies, at the recommendations of our friends. In our basket were Lunar New Year red envelopes, red calligraphy paper, and a Chinese calligraphy brush stand.

The brush stand piqued our interest and Dad was in need of one. He couldn’t make it with us to this shopping trip, so we FaceTimed him to show the quality of the brush stand. We were excited about it!

Upon checkout, my mother asked the owner’s employee, presumably his wife (?), if there were any Year-of-the-Dragon-themed red envelopes. Without even finishing her question, my mother received a rude, brusque response “No” from the woman. What’s the rush? And why the attitude?

My mother expressed to both the owner and the woman that the service we received today was unprofessional. The woman employee proceeded to gaslight us, claiming that our video call hurt her feelings because she thought we were criticizing our product. This employee was becoming indignant and getting more impatient. I took a photo of her, and you can see in the second image that she pulled out her phone to record me.

The owner was taken aback and pushed my shoulder to get me to put away my phone. I yelled, “Don’t touch me!” in Mandarin Chinese.

It is actually ironic that his employee was recording all of this, as it would be evidence that he indeed laid hands on me. I yelled at him, in Mandarin Chinese, that we are in America. In English, I said I could sue him for touching me.

His woman employee was still recording me. So I faced the camera, pulled my mask down, saying I was at Soyodo San Jose and I will post on Yelp and Google that we received horrible customer service.

My mother and I walked out of that store, leaving the basket behind.

A huge disappointment that people from my own community behave in this manner to their own customers.

I am soured by this experience today and wont be returning. I am now taking my business online with other vendors.

Garret Liang

There aren't many bookstores remain open. Soyodo has a huge Inventory of Chinese books, arts & crafts, music and videos. Even ceramic diaplays. Please shop at local stores to support their business.

Zehui Zhang

Very bad experience. The employee was very very rude and knew nothing about their products. Just be careful and leave if you just see an old woman playing cellphone at counter, she just wants everyone leave.

AM V

Large collection of Chinese books at a very reasonable rate! And, what’s more important they open during weekend!! Thank you! Hopefully you’ll have online options soon!

Du

It’s my first time at this bookstore (2022.6). So many different types goods and books that you can choose from. The store is organized well. Staffs are very friendly and helpful. The cashier used two hands to receive my credit card and also used two hands to pass the receipt and pen to me when processing check out. Simile face, “thank you” “see you soon”, used two hands to pass the bag of my purchase to me… I really like their service 🙂 and I’ll come back to shop again for sure.

Grace Lu

We asked if they had books in traditional Chinese or books from Taiwan and the woman said no abruptly, turned and went back into their room. She was very good at making you feel like you are intruding on her, and not welcomed. They had a good selection of books from China and books for children. You should go there only if you are up for extreme rudeness.

Kan Fu

Great place to buy a variety of Chinese new year decorations. This one piece is a nice addition to the home. Plus, many Chinese books in store too, probably worthy another visit to look at the books.