Your best and worst customer service experiences [rant & praise]

themetallifan

Senna wrote: »

did you try pressing escape, that the small button at the top left of your keyboard with Esc on it', REALLY i thought that was the Electric Super Charger button.

lol!

I find that Starbucks in Liffey Valley SC, staff are either great (remember orders from last time etc) or extremely rude...no middle ground.

Today, ordered a coffee, and I found the cashier particularly rude (hates her job I'm assuming), and then she threw the money at me, letting it fall, without any sort of acknowledgement/apology/fumble. The coffee I ordered was a cappucino with a little foam, so she decided to (not being discrete or anything!) say to the barista, "Oh just make him a Cappuccino, he's just being awkward." I corrected the Barista, also mentioning the rudeness of the cashier...she then went straight over to the cashier, told her what I said at the top of her voice and the cashier scowled at me the entire time I was waiting for my coffee, holding up the whole queue. Whatever about disliking me....but holding up 10-12 other customers just to scowl at me for the entire time at the store...someone needs a bit of job fulfilment!

robo

Good

themetallifan wrote: »

lol!

I find that Starbucks in Liffey Valley SC, staff are either great (remember orders from last time etc) or extremely rude...no middle ground.

Today, ordered a coffee, and I found the cashier particularly rude (hates her job I'm assuming), and then she threw the money at me, letting it fall, without any sort of acknowledgement/apology/fumble. The coffee I ordered was a cappucino with a little foam, so she decided to (not being discrete or anything!) say to the barista, "Oh just make him a Cappuccino, he's just being awkward." I corrected the Barista, also mentioning the rudeness of the cashier...she then went straight over to the cashier, told her what I said at the top of her voice and the cashier scowled at me the entire time I was waiting for my coffee, holding up the whole queue. Whatever about disliking me....but holding up 10-12 other customers just to scowl at me for the entire time at the store...someone needs a bit of job fulfilment!

That is farlry crap! Starbucks always advertise that they will make the coffee the way YOU want it! I would complain to the manager about that! I use that Starbucks quiet a boit and find the staff very nice and helpful. I am usually in there on week nights though...different staff. But it is the one starbucks that always runs out of cream and Frappucino mix.

Toots

Good

doolox wrote: »

Tesco is a puzzle. THe new ones, Maynooth ,Athlone golden Island etc are good and the staff are doing their bit and everything is in order but the older smaller shops can offer non existant service and long queues.
If everything is routine in a checkout you will get out quickly but if anything occurs out of the ordinary expect long delays.
I suspect that staff in the older, smaller stores are a legacy from the bad old days of Irish retail, such as Crazy Prices and Tesco's senior managment are not able to get rid of non performing staff. It could be also that the older stores are not receiving investment and feel unwanted in the greater scheme of things.
I am continously amused how often the automatic checkouts break down after hours( 10 o'clock) presumably because they cant afford tech coverage at night..............
I'd keep them operational but suspect they shut them down to avoid people buying drink on the sly after 10pm.......

I agree completely!! I work beside an older tesco (not going to name the branch), and everyone in my office reckons that this must be the store that all the naughty employees from other stores are sent as punishment. It's just dire!! One day on my lunch I went in to get a yoghurt, I wanted one of the strawberry fruit corner ones, and I'm not joking here, there was not a single one on the shelves that was in date. They were all expired by 3 days minimum. :mad: I lifted up the top tray of them in the fridge to see if the ones underneath were in date, but they were the same!!! I went up to the customer service desk to tell them, and received a blank 'so what' stare from the girl there! Since then I just wait and call into the one in Dundrum on my way home.

Rebel021

nene wrote: »

lets see how many managers they can go through from feb 07 to dec 08 !!:mad:

They are dreadful:D

ScouseMouse

My friend was unfortunate enough to have a (minor) stroke on monday. Like an ejit, he drove himself to hospital but they wouldn't let him out again. He was on a strecher in A&E. Being a pensioner, he was worried about the car parking fees, so I offered to take his car out again the following day.

I rang the parking garage, gave my friends name and explained the situation. I was told the parking would only be 12 quid but he would talk to the supervisor. This didnt bother me so I decided just to accept it. So I went down and put his ticket in the machine and it came up €24 euro. Feck this, so I cancelled and went to the attendant. He was expecting me, they had checked the story with casualty and they charged me €6

Fair play to all in the St James Hospital car park. They were very fair and reasonable and deserve the credit for it.

Thanks a lot.

credit where credit is due

userfriendly2

The worst experience i've had was when i was in Halfords buying accessories/parts for my car. i'm not a mechanic so i put my faith in the staff's knowledge of the products they sell-this was my first mistake. I bought a rev gauge and when i left i noticed that the box had been opened and selotaped back again. The gauge came with no instructions and when i tried to return it they told me i couldn't because it was open!! i also had problems with the peddals- i was told they were clip on and of course they had to be drilled. The seat covers i bought only covered the two front seats and not the back seats like i was told!!! The staff were very unhelpful and didn't seem to know anything about there products...I URGE PEOPLE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY NOT TO GO TO HALFORDS AND ANYONE WHO WORKS THERE READING THIS SHOULD <snip>Take it easy there Ted</snip>.

Edit: Please be a little more courteous when posting and take the time to read the charter for this forum.

sgt.bilko

Dropped in to get the brakes changed and new tyres last week. Have found the manager to be a very decent bloke over the years so repeat business for him.

He replaced the wipers for me but i didn't notice that they were not positioned (drivers side on passenger side & vice versa) until i was on the way in to work. Rang them ( as i didn't want to run the risk of damaging the mechanism) and he got one of his guys to drop in to my place of work and change the blades a few hours later.

All in all, a decent bloke who is honestly (in my opinion) doing his best to keep the customer happy.

pepsicokeacola

new york city in the usa, very strange customer service. shops do be empty and if u go in they scurry to be at your assistance. eh **** off like. atho the hottest girl i ever seen, might have been peurto rican served me while i was there. ah that smile :P

Thnx4theGum

Ruu wrote: »

Dell: too many incidents to go through, communication very poor.
Esatclear: Some of you remember the No-Limits saga and a few of us who received the 'spirit of the service' cut off letter.:mad: My problems with them continued for sometime after that. They went on 'the list' when they called me in the middle of a holiday to inform me that they hadn't been withdrawing the money from my bank account (where direct debit had been setup) a year or so after my service and now wanted payment in full.

I had problems with them too. I wish to god that I could have been one of the people to get that cut off letter. I spent over six months trying to CANCEL my account with them. I kept having problems with my internet connection (whenever I'd log on, I'd get cut off after only 5 minutes). Phoned them up saying I wasn't happy with the service and asked to cancel my account. The woman in customer service said she'd cancelled my account but I'd be charged for the whole month (it was around the middle of the month and I was okay with this as it would give me time to get new internet account set up with Eircom).

But when I got my bank statement a few months later, I'd realised Esat were still taking money out of my account. I phoned them to complain and ask for my money back. The customer service person told me they had no record of my account being cancelled and as far as they were concerned I was still one of there customers and they refused to give me back my money. I phoned Bank of Ireland to tell them not to let Esat take anymore money from my account. But I noticed a few days later that Esat had taken another DD. Was so pissed off at this I ended up emptying out my bank account and moving to another bank. Esat kept sending me out bills and letters saying I owed them money. I phoned them up countless times. Finally, after 6 months of this, I got a letter from Esat saying they were cutting off my account for non-payment of bills. They sent me a few threatening letters after that, I sent them a few of my own. I never did get my £90 back.

the groutch

LadyE wrote: »

Was in McDonalds in Blackrock before christmas and got a takeaway coffee...Myself and my son were then at the far side of the car park (about 150 metres away) and I put my coffee on a wall whilst I did up my sons jacket..My son then karate chopped my coffee off the wall onto the floor, spilling it everywhere.

By chance, the owner of McDonalds saw this, and asked what I had and walked off, he reppeared 5 mins later with a coffee, a stirrer and some sugar!!!..and then wouldnt accept the money for it! Thumbs up for him..only something small, but kit absolutly made my day!!

must have been chirstmas or something because in general it's the worse mcdonalds ever

the groutch

Rants:

Paypal - held my account to ransom over nothing with their KYC

TGIs - food is very average, very overpriced, an service is mediocre at best

Pixmania - better not be in any hurry to get anything off them

Any newsagents who refuses to display bar/crisps/drink prices







Raves:



Harvey Norman - very helpful staff

Supermacs Blackrock - manager there is super-friendly

Macys NY - felt like you had your own personal assistant



Jeckyll & Hyde Awards:

Post Offices - depends on the branch

Continental Airlines - great for daytime flights, terrible for overnighters

Redpunto

99% of the time, the staff in Lidl and Aldi are very friendly and helpful.

In my local tesco they are bloody awful and the store Purple,,,, most of the time they are not at teh till and you can actually see them huffing when they see you want to pay for something.

adamski8

ok its not the worst but i thought slighty funny/strange, just got off the phone with esb CS and first i had to enter my acc no and what was the first thing i had to tell them when i was actually put onto a person! then had a bizzare exchange "whats your name sir?" "adams a-d-a-m-s" " ok mr adam" "no its adams" "right adam" "no you forgot the S! its adams a-d-a-m-s" "yeah thats right ADAM" i left it at that.

alexmcred

Have a great experience with Lego customer care. My son lost bits for a piece he got for Christmas. Spoke to a customer service guy ordered the parts and to make up for the delay of two weeks (which I didn't mind) they sent him a Bionicle keyring he was delighted.

To make things even better parts arrived within a week.

Pegasus15

doolox wrote: »

I am continously amused how often the automatic checkouts break down after hours( 10 o'clock) presumably because they cant afford tech coverage at night..............
I'd keep them operational but suspect they shut them down to avoid people buying drink on the sly after 10pm.......

If you scan alcohol after 10pm on any till, it won't go through. The system just won't allow it. And since alcolhol at self-scan needs to be approved, the person there won't be able to do so and will have to take the alcohol off whoever's trying to buy it.

Mondo_ie

Pegasus15 wrote: »

If you scan alcohol after 10pm on any till, it won't go through. The system just won't allow it. And since alcolhol at self-scan needs to be approved, the person there won't be able to do so and will have to take the alcohol off whoever's trying to buy it.

New law states that the alcohol shoud be sectioned of and all in the one area.

jenzz

Davidth88 wrote: »

The coffee place in Manor Mills Maynooth.

I have given up going there because the staff are downright rude TBH. It happened to me on a number of occasions

( and no I don't go back there ever )

Ill second that one ! whats the story there ??? I mean .....SHOCKING.... every time - even the manager guy is obnoxious .

stek

jenzz wrote: »

Ill second that one ! whats the story there ??? I mean .....SHOCKING.... every time - even the manager guy is obnoxious .

+1
Ive been boycotting for about a year now! terrible attitude, they expected me to pay an extra 75c for a de-caff! not the money its the principle, and the grief i got when i demanded my money back!

Cindy2106

I once stupidly thought that buying my contacts and glasses from specsavers would be a good idea as it would save money. How wrong was I . The optician, who didn't have a clue, put the wrong prescription into my glasses. It usually takes a day or two to get used to a new prescription, but I couldn't get used to them and was getting splitting headaches. Rang up and the girl on the phone asked me had I worn them for a few days and I said I did but theres something wrong here. She then told me to keep on wearing them and wouldn't book me in for an appointment!

Anyways went back and they were so so snotty and rude to me when I wanted the prescription changed. Because I'm young (only 20 at the time) they were incredibly condescending and rude towards me. i had bought two pairs of glasses and was waiting at least two months for the second pair. When I got them, the lenses were all scratched. Brought them back, got them again even worse scratches on them. Was about to lose the rag with them when the third time the lenses were all scuffed but she polished off the scuff marks and I told her(this is the manager now) that it was a disgrace the way they treated their customers, and that I was going to complain to the head office.

Wrote a letter of my grievances to head office which was ignored, despite my ringing and sending further letters. I always tell everyone to avoid Specsavers. They don't give a rats ass because at the end of the day they're all hiding behind the name of Specsavers and its not their reputation on the line.

staker

bought a lexmark "33" colour cartridge from office 1 only to find my printer wouldn't read it.
i retried the old one,it telling me that the old cartridge was empty.
i took it back to be told that the warranty was void if the box was opened.
i mean FFS what kind of people are these?
i told him i wouldn't be bringing business back to him (i've done all my stationary shopping there the last 2 years) and i'd be using every opportunity to let the public know about his services.
he didn't have time to react,i just walked out.

DubLass

Id just like to say well done to Diamond Living for coming up trumps - please see thread for same if you like.

dcukhunter

Cindy2106 wrote: »

I once stupidly thought that buying my contacts and glasses from specsavers would be a good idea as it would save money. How wrong was I . The optician, who didn't have a clue, put the wrong prescription into my glasses. It usually takes a day or two to get used to a new prescription, but I couldn't get used to them and was getting splitting headaches. Rang up and the girl on the phone asked me had I worn them for a few days and I said I did but theres something wrong here. She then told me to keep on wearing them and wouldn't book me in for an appointment!

Anyways went back and they were so so snotty and rude to me when I wanted the prescription changed. Because I'm young (only 20 at the time) they were incredibly condescending and rude towards me. i had bought two pairs of glasses and was waiting at least two months for the second pair. When I got them, the lenses were all scratched. Brought them back, got them again even worse scratches on them. Was about to lose the rag with them when the third time the lenses were all scuffed but she polished off the scuff marks and I told her(this is the manager now) that it was a disgrace the way they treated their customers, and that I was going to complain to the head office.

Wrote a letter of my grievances to head office which was ignored, despite my ringing and sending further letters. I always tell everyone to avoid Specsavers. They don't give a rats ass because at the end of the day they're all hiding behind the name of Specsavers and its not their reputation on the line.

I always found them to be good in all fairness. I was only just after getting a new pair of glasses maybe around 3-6 months not sure which. When like an ass(pun intended) I sat on them and broke them. I brought them back to see could I get them repaired. They said they couldn't but they would replace them an hour later I had another pair and for no charge. I was told because they were new they were covered by insurance I didn't even know there was any for them. Went home very happy that day thought I would have been charged at least 100 quids.

grind gremlin

I have never in my life been in a shop with staff so rude and unhelpful in all my life.
While looking for 2 of the same costumes for myself and a friend we were informed we could not try them on. I kinda expected this as they were in those plastic packets. We were allowed to take them out and look at them.
Anyway I asked if it was ok if we paid for 1 and tried it on before we decided if we wanted a second one. I thought it was a reasonable suggestion. Anyway, the young staff member said it would be ok, when an older lady sneered and said to her 'they can't try it on in here'. The worst part was we were standing right in front of her at the time yet she was too rude to address us in person. We then asked if they had a mirror so we could hold it up in front of us to get an idea of what it would look like. we were told we were not allowed to do that and that she would get us a small mirror that we could look in at the counter..... i mean WTF?????!!!! I just handed back the item and left..... talk about trying your best to turn away business!!!!!

A previous time i went in we were also treated really badly by the staff, so much so that we returned all the items we had intended to buy, which was quite a lot, to the appropriate stands and left. I thought it was just because they were very busy as it was hallowe'en and decided i'd give them a second chance. How wrong i was.

A friend of mine was previously accused of failing to return a costume he had rented that had in fact been brought back.
Another friend rented a costume there for 60 euro for the night. When he arrived at the fancy dress he met someone in the same suit that they had purchased elsewhere for 35 euro.

I definitely advise anyone looking for a costume to steer clear of this place.... unless they privately get a kick out of bad customer service!

grind gremlin

Worst customer service ever is ace party hire in clondalkin! rude staff and overpriced. I've already started another thread about this place.

dudara

Merged into the best/worst customer service thread.

twanda

eBay -- I have two rants when it comes to eBay support

as a seller I have absolutely no support from these guys. They have a totally biased system. If I call them for advice or help I am basically told that ''they will get back to me'' which they never do.

I have an ''account manager'' who is supposed to help me with any queries or issues I may have, but it is a pain in the *rse to get them on the phone.

I don't contact my account manager often, but every single time that I have, they do not answer their phone.
Then I have to '' 'press 2 to speak to another account manager', and then that person will tell me that my own account manager is 'available and at their desk ' and then transfer me...

oneweb

GLS

Knifey_Spoony

grind gremlin wrote: »

Worst customer service ever is ace party hire in clondalkin! rude staff and overpriced. I've already started another thread about this place.

I agree 100%, so much so, that I registered here just to write this post!

Firstly, they are extremely over-priced.
I was at a fancy dress party recently. Two of my friends turned up in the same outfit. One had rented it for the night from Ace Party Shop for €65....the other had BOUGHT it from a different shop in Tallaght...for €35!?!?

Secondly, their customer service is appalling.
I have been in there on two occasions...and have walked out without buying anything either time.
The first time the staff were extremely unhelpful and downright rude.
...and it wasn't even their staff...it was the owner herself.

I gave them a second chance and went back a month ago, only to be treated just as bad as the first time.
The staff grunt if you ask them a question, and are very unwilling to help you and look upon their customers as a burden.

The funny thing is....the male owner is running for local elections this year. :eek:
...he'd need to train his wife (co-owner) and his staff in the art of public relations, or at the very least teach them to have some manners, before I would even consider giving him my vote!

Rant over....for now.


Edited to say: I just found out their daughter is one of the very moody girls in Fair City. Perhaps she's not much of an actress, and just takes after the rest of the moany staff in the shop!

Jimdagym

My mother bought a kettle in house of frasier. It was reduced from 70 to 35 euro. After a week the kettle would not stop once the water had boiled, just keep on bubbling. She brought it back. The customer service agent she was dealing with accepted her complaint immediatly. Was apologetic, asked her would she like a replacement. She saw one she liked which cost 70 and asked could she pay the difference. He bagged the kettle and refused to accept the difference in price off her, apologising again for the problem. Outstanding service, and my mother is insisting on buying a lot more from the shop.

jonnyone

My wife recently purchased some items at our local Tesco. Included were some of those expensive razor blades which you bring to the checkout in their own security pack. She paid for all the items got receipt etc and went home. On arriving home she discovered she had no razor blades. No problem she thought must have left them at the checkout so she rang Tesco and explained her case and they said they would ring her back after they had checked out the situation. No phone call so next time she was in the shop she enquired about her blades to be told NO we didn't find any blades or there were no blades handed in. My wife had noticed that on the evening of the purchase the girl at the till was having some difficulty removing the security case so she explained this to the supervisor (no manager was available) No good, sorry, more or less GO AWAY.
Now we spend quite a bit of money in Tesco every week so I doubt we were going to defraud them by trying to get an extra pack of blades.
They could also have been more helpful by cross checking with stock etc. and the people my wife was dealing with were both dismissive an rude.