Who Else Has Had Really Poor Customer Service Recently??

[number1kitty]

I went shopping yesterday with my mum to the Trafford Centre. I was amazed at how all the sales assistants I spoke to treated me and mum.

They were so off with us, didn't smile made little eye contact and virtually all but told us to P I S S off!! They just didn't want to help or as it seemed want to actually be there working.

Now don't get me wrong its not everyone a few and I mean only a few assistants were wonderful but the rest needed a good slap!

In the economic situation we are in you think shops would be encouraging their staff to bend over backwards for the customer to retain our custom and make us spend! I will only gloat when these companies end up in the same situation as woolworths!

I rang up every shops head office today and complained about every crap member of staff I encountered and they all took it seriously and I hope these lousy assistants change their ways. I also rang up two shops that I got excellent service at too because I think its important to appreciate and acknoledge those that go the extra mile.

Do you complain or praise staff you encounter? Not only did I feel better having a good rant most of the shops have offered to send me some vouchers for my comments BONUS!

On the upside I am off to woolies tomorrow to grab some bargains!

Kate

 

[Ruth Mills]

Well done you! I haven't noticed any excessively bad customer service of late, only that the shops are getting a tad more overcrowded than usual, and the traffic is getting that much more horrendous - but that's probably just because of a certain religious festival being only 2 weeks away now, eep!

 

[number1kitty]

I just thought yesterday 'so much for the season of goodwill to all men'! I think I must have mentioned Jesus Christ a lot yesterday for the wrong reasons lol!

xx

 

[Ruth Mills]

I just thought yesterday 'so much for the season of goodwill to all men'! I think I must have mentioned Jesus Christ a lot yesterday for the wrong reasons lol!

xx

Quite so! It just seems so ironic that what was originally a religious festival now seems dedicated primarily to the worship of money and consumerism!

 

[Blue Rose]

There was a bit in the paper t'other day about the reporter writing to several companies singing their praises.

H/she was quite surprised at the amount of freebies they were then sent by way of thank you.

 

[adelekeegan1]

I always make a point of praising good service - sometimes to Head Office.

Bad service is different, I try to start instore - people can be having a bad day for the same sort of reasons we do - the public can be difficult. It is often useful if a Supervisor can bring the member of staff over to discuss the matter.

If I am not satisfied good OR bad service is being treated seriously, then I take it to Head Office.

I always follow up in writing

 

['chelle]

While I was doing my clients' nails today she was telling me about how she has found a new ironing lady since she has parted ways with her usual lady. The previous lady was sending her shirts back folded which creased them, and so when she sent her another basket of ironing she put her a note in asking if she wouldnt mind hanging her shirts rather than folding them to avoid the creasing. The ironing lady sent her shirts back ironed and folded with a note to say that she suggests she irons her own shirts!!!
Some people dont seem to want work do they?

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

I HAVE noticed this !
And I wasn't happy at all...
My mum had given me one of those shopping vouchers for my birthday for £10.00 I needed to get my daughter some stuff for her school play costume...so I popped into a shop (dunno If I can name it so best not lol)
I had items to the grand sum of £5.12p :lol:
I got to the till, the young girl tried to do it, but didn't know how, she was very polite and apologetic, I said "not to worry, it was fine" so she called for who I presume to be the manager.....

She came out and very loudly and rudely said " hmmph well we generally ask the customer to spend the full amount as this is JUST TOO hard to do"
I was so embarrassed as their was a bit of a queue now....
I said "well....I don't need to spend the full amount, I only need these"...
She faff's about on the till....faff's about with papers.. muttering to herself and to the other girl ( who looked very embarrassed too)

She then gets on the phone to someone huffing and puffing.... In the end I said " you know what luv....stuff this, Give me my voucher back, I will go elsewhere and spend it"
She changed her manner " No I have nearly sorted it now"
Me again "Noooo honestly Give me my voucher, I can get tights anywhere I have no NEED to spend my money with YOU"
Her again soft manner " No its ok I know how to do it now, I will be with you in a second"

She did the transaction....handed my a voucher back for that store only.. and pennies in change.... I turned on my heel and said as loudly as she had began " WHAT A LOAD OF ****" lmao....
She was so rude!
She made me feel like such an idiot...I was highly embarrassed in front of a queue of people...
They should make it clear if vouchers are "too hard for them to do" in the beginning" before allowing people to go about their shopping then make a fool of them...

When I worked in the shop I LOVED Christmas and new year working their...
I loved chatting to the customers I loved the whole spirit of it.... even on new years day, in work at 7am after going out all night and staying awake to make sure I didn't fall asleep and not wake up lol.. I STILL managed to keep a smile on my face for my customers...

Its sooooo not that hard !
I know we all have problems and stuff and I know working in a busy shop on a sunday isn't ideal....but you just can't take it out on customers...

 

[bombini]

OMG I think I attract awful customer service !

Only today I went for some lunch with a friend, we only ordered a bowl of wedges each but after 45 minutes still hadn't received anything (only one other couple eating) asked where the hell our food was to be told the fryer had broken down & that the chef was trying to fix it

15 mins later our cremated wedges turn up but were still slightly raw in the middle, I was starving so thought id eat some anyway, dipped it in my mayo only to discover it was frozen !!! Had to complain again, she very kindly offered to defrost it in the microwave for us, nice ! We ended up getting our £2 each refunded (after we asked for it) but the whole thing was a farce, we were so hungary after we ended up spending a fiver in the cake shop !!

 

[sian1979]

well as a customer in some shops i have had some fairly awful service, and i do always complain to that person in a polite a manner as i can, and if they are still rude i escalate.
Speaking as someone who works in retail.....usually the person that gets called to deal with complaints i feel i usually deal with them reasonably and 99% of the time the customer walks away happy.
However on the flip side to this i think it is totally unreasonable for customers to fly off the deep end when they have a problem......basically giving verbal abuse where it is not necessary.
This afternoon for instance I had 3 members of staff in tears as they just couldnt take any more. Obviously i am working in some quite stressful circumstances but even so...... It happens all too often and certainly dont get paid enough to take it.
Number1kitty ....you obviously handled your complaint in an applaudable manner and were quite rightly rewarded for it.
xxxx

 

[Angelaznailz]

I know what you mean, but it's not just poor service in shops that we have to deal with.
Have you ever tried to get a builder to fix a leak in your roof? You'd have thought that I'd asked our local builder to repair the grand canyon - he hummed and haaaa'd, rubbed his chin, sucked his teeth, told me I had the wrong kind of slates and that the roof was at the wrong angle, told me he was too busy and that he had no-one to help him, that he'd need scaffolding and that would be really expensive and he couldn't start till springtime..............in fact he even suggested my salon is in the wrong place, and if it was a few streets further back from the seafront it would be better (for who ?):smack:
Then, the grand finale - could I pay him in cash !
In my next life, I'm going to be a builder or a plumber :wink2:

 

[tog]

Went into Currys a few weeks ago to look for a cheap microwave. Found the one I wanted and asked for one. BUT - none in stock. Found an alternative - none of those in stock either.

When are you getting them in?
Don't know. Deliveries are wednesdays but don't know if there are any of those microwaves coming in or not.
Can I order one?
No, we don't take orders for small goods.
Can you see if another branch nearby has one?
Yes there's one there, but it'll be the display model and they won't let you buy that one.

OK then, sounds like you don't want to sell me one.
So off I went to Comet and found one I liked which yes they did have in stock and they carried it to my car.

No wonder I read recently that Currys are having problems. Maybe they'll have to improve their ways or risk going the way of Woolworth's.

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

However on the flip side to this i think it is totally unreasonable for customers to fly off the deep end when they have a problem......basically giving verbal abuse where it is not necessary.
This afternoon for instance I had 3 members of staff in tears as they just couldnt take any more. xxxx

God I couldn't agree with you more,
I once got called some horrible names then told to **** off at just gone 9am in the morning..... I wasn't even awake properly lol..
All because I wasn't allowed to serve this lady (use term lightly) with electricity while the post office inside the shop was open....
Not my rules lol...
My manager was on the tills with me, and just laughed... while I was stood like a rabbit caught in the headlights !!
Of course, you want to jump over the counter and smack them one in the chops lol, But nope ...had to grin and bear it

 

[sknight]

I really hate bad attitude from sales staff in shops, it really does my head in and I make a point of telling them right there and then. I am sure they don't care but it makes me feel better!

 

[Ruth Mills]

God I couldn't agree with you more,
I once got called some horrible names then told to **** off at just gone 9am in the morning..... I wasn't even awake properly lol..
All because I wasn't allowed to serve this lady (use term lightly) with electricity while the post office inside the shop was open....
Not my rules lol...
My manager was on the tills with me, and just laughed... while I was stood like a rabbit caught in the headlights !!
Of course, you want to jump over the counter and smack them one in the chops lol, But nope ...had to grin and bear it

There are some completely stupid illogical rules like that though. Such as the shop near my mum's which used to have a post office, and wasn't allowed to sell you stamps even when the post office was shut!

And even if the post office was open, who wants to queue behind the zillions who want to spend ages on car tax, benefits, passport applications, posting a prezzie to their auntie in New Zealand, etc, just for a silly little book of stamps which could be sold just as easily as a packet of **** on the main till!!!!!

 

[XxBeckyxX]

However on the flip side to this i think it is totally unreasonable for customers to fly off the deep end when they have a problem......basically giving verbal abuse where it is not necessary.

I work in a clothes shop (not sure if im allowed to say the name) I try my best to be polite but sometimes it gets really hard. for example on a busy Saturday a woman wanted me to get her husband a pair of underpants down from the wall (they were really high up.) We have a stupid rule that if you are under 18 you aren't allowed to climb up to get anything. So I POLITELY went to get the manager to do it, she started saying it was ridiculous why couldn't I stand on the stool (the stool wasn't stable enough for me to stand on!!) She ended up being really rude and storming out of the shop..! :|

But I'm more than happy to go out of my way to help someone who is polite and nice to me....So I see it from both points of view really as I've had shocking customer service aswell in the past,

 

[number1kitty]

I know as shop assistants get the raw end of the deal too sometimes, I have been there myself having snooty platinum card holders look down there noses at me like i am a piece of poop! But if a customer isnt being horrid to you then theres no reason to be horrid back. I respect shop workers and waitresses etc (i think there jobs are fun cause I have been there done that and loved every minute of it) and I will never talk down to them because I think I may be better than them. But sometimes I feel theres little respect for each other sometimes unless theres a major catastrophe.

Nearly every shop I went in to on Wednesday lost sales because I refused to buy things from there because of the attitude. And I am always polite to people so was really peeved off!

I have also had the same in currys. I went to buy a 40" Plasma which was £400. They didnt have it in so tried to force a £600 32" on me. Erm hello its obvious I only want to spend £400. They then said take it on finance which we didnt want to do. Worked out better for me though because I have now found a place who sells Rear projection TVS for £350 for a 46" or £450 for a 56"!

Went to get a bed in dreams three weeks ago (on finance) and couldnt get accepted which is weird because we have good credit and very little on it. The bed was a grand. I was told I could pay in three installments if I still wanted it at that price but needed to put £300 on it that day or the price would be £500 more!!!!

We walked out and I found a web site that I could get the same leather sleigh bed in king size for £179 the mattress is £180 So I bought them and there excellent! And heres to think I was going to buy off a major player in the bed market. I save over £550. I no longer feel for these companies that go bust. People are loyal and will stay with someone for excellent customer service even if they have to pay a little bit more.

Makes me think though how much better I could probably be in my salon. I never take my personal life into work anyway, and I am never off with clients, but I think we can always do more to make that clients experience something to remember.

Kate

 

[soriminah]

I was at a juice bar a couple of weeks ago and the 'senior' woman on staff was trying to serve 3 people at once and also help the 'junior' staff. To me that is poor customer service. She asked me what I wanted, then turned to the lady next to me and asked her what she wanted, then took my money and the other lady's money, while talking to a supplier and trying to help the 'junior' with the cash register.

IMO, serve one person at a time and tell the others waiting that someone will be with them in a moment. There were 4 girls working behind the counter and the one woman was trying to serve nearly everyone waiting. It made me cranky beause there was no service. It just felt like hurry up, give me your money - and the smoothie tasted crap anyway, I won't go back there again.

 

[1999judy]

The majority of the time sales assistants are brill but at the Trafford Centre one sometimes thinks that by WORKING there ONE is a cut above others.
Esp at one store.
It makes me laugh tbh......helloooooooo I'm the one spending the money!!!!

 

[VHunter]

I constantly get poor service, no matter the time of the year.
Because of language laws and political campaigns that encourage racism based on language; anglophones are treated poorly in general.
No smile hello.
No 'how can I help you'.
And if you have questions, you won't get an answer.
However, if you speak french; you get top notch service.
That's the way of it, and I've gotten used to it, sending letters of complaint to the English Office about lack of service and to the management of whatever store it is.

Not much fun, but there you have it.