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

Pushtrak

alansweeney100 wrote: »

Post up the screen size, manufacturer, model number & price you paid for it.

Doutbless you'd be able to find it cheaper online. The convenience of getting it on day of purchase does increase the value to narrow that gap though.

aidan_walsh

This is probably better suited in Consumer Issues than in Comp/Tech.

dudara

Merged with Best/Worst Customer Service thread

dudara

ShooterSF

dudara wrote: »

Merged with Best/Worst Customer Service thread

dudara

No u didn't :P

ztoical

beauty101 wrote: »

Bad:

Brown Thomas: Refused to honour a gift card that was 3 weeks out of date

Um...it was out of date how is that Brown Thomas fault? I can understand 3 days maybe, what with the weather and all they might say ok but 3 weeks is pushing it just a little as I would assume the gift card was valid for at least 6 months if not a year [though according to their own website their gift cards don't expire]

beauty101

ztoical wrote: »

Um...it was out of date how is that Brown Thomas fault? I can understand 3 days maybe, what with the weather and all they might say ok but 3 weeks is pushing it just a little as I would assume the gift card was valid for at least 6 months if not a year [though according to their own website their gift cards don't expire]

In store they said it was a year from purchase...I still think that's ridiculous. A good retailer should honour a gift voucher no matter how old it is. I think this country really need to get proper legislation regarding gift vouchers.

It got honoured in the end after I threatened the small claims court

dudara

beauty101 wrote: »

In store they said it was a year from purchase...I still think that's ridiculous. A good retailer should honour a gift voucher no matter how old it is. I think this country really need to get proper legislation regarding gift vouchers.

It got honoured in the end after I threatened the small claims court

I have to disagree with you here. If the expiry date is clearly marked on the voucher, then it's up to you to use it within the allocated timeframe. Shops can't carry forward the liability indefinitely.

Threatening the Small Claims Court was OTT.

ztoical

beauty101 wrote: »

In store they said it was a year from purchase...I still think that's ridiculous. A good retailer should honour a gift voucher no matter how old it is. I think this country really need to get proper legislation regarding gift vouchers.

It got honoured in the end after I threatened the small claims court

If you were told it was a year from purchase I still don't see how it was Brown Thomas fault it was out of date. Regardless of wither you think gift vouchers should never expire the current situation is that they do and that was made clear in store yet you act like a bully and threaten legal action because you didn't use the card before it expired.

beauty101

dudara wrote: »

I have to disagree with you here. If the expiry date is clearly marked on the voucher, then it's up to you to use it within the allocated timeframe. Shops can't carry forward the liability indefinitely.

Threatening the Small Claims Court was OTT.

ztoical wrote: »

If you were told it was a year from purchase I still don't see how it was Brown Thomas fault it was out of date. Regardless of wither you think gift vouchers should never expire the current situation is that they do and that was made clear in store yet you act like a bully and threaten legal action because you didn't use the card before it expired.

It wasn't made clear to me in the store as obviously I didn't buy my own voucher!
It didn't say it on the card/have any further information in the packaging.

Yeah I acted like a "threat" and a "bully" to BTs the big dept store :rolleyes:

Anyway I don't rate it as a good experience which is the whole point of the thread

Lollipops23

beauty101 wrote: »

It wasn't made clear to me in the store as obviously I didn't buy my own voucher!
It didn't say it on the card/have any further information in the packaging.

Yeah I acted like a "threat" and a "bully" to BTs the big dept store :rolleyes:

Anyway I don't rate it as a good experience which is the whole point of the thread

This is one of the many reasons I quit retail.You weren't bullying the store,you were bullying individuals.

Your voucher was out of date; I'm sure if you accidentally bought food/make up that was out of date you'd return it?

FYI Small Claims Court would have laughed you out of it. No case whatsoever.


On topic, I was flabbergasted to find the staff in PC World helpful and polite (and easy to find!!!:eek::eek:) Delighted,I've had nothing but crap service from them before.

caprilicious

Praise:

Marks & Spencers Blanchardstown

I have to praise the service there, I've been there twice in the past month and each time found the service excellent especially considering how busy it was.
Served both times by a lovely guy called Sunday.
He was so friendly and polite, makes such a change from some grocery stores where they scowl at you!

Harry Corrys Blanchardstown

Staff also very friendly and helpful

Hibernian Insurance

Their claims department anyway I have to praise. a Few years ago my car was broken into outside the house.
I rang them from my mobile and they guy got me to hang up so he could call me back and save my call credit.
When checking my records he seen it was my birthday that day and wished me a happy birthday.
Whole thing was sorted out very quickly too, I was really impressed I thought it would've had a lot more hassle.



Rant:

Tescoes in Waterford
I walked about past 4/5 staff chatting to each other at the self service checkouts.
I'm pregnant and was struggling with my shopping (stupid me/didn't have change for trolley/bought more than I'd planned) no fear of any of them offering to give me a hand out with my bags!
I know their prices are great and you get what you pay for, but a bit of good will would've been nice. Not like they were busy!

beauty101

Lollipops23 wrote: »

This is one of the many reasons I quit retail.You weren't bullying the store,you were bullying individuals.

Your voucher was out of date; I'm sure if you accidentally bought food/make up that was out of date you'd return it?

FYI Small Claims Court would have laughed you out of it. No case whatsoever.

How dare you say I was bullying anyone? Were you there? No.
I've worked in retail for years (including in BTs) + I can assure you I didn't go in shouting my head off to them. I spoke to a manager calmly + politely, the manager was extremely rude to me. I'm not a bully and find it offensive that you would say that to me when you don't even know me/the full story.
Perhaps when I said "threat" it was to strong a word.

And FYI Lollypops23 the small claims court is the next course of action for out of date vouchers...they get thousands of cases every year regarding this issue.

Lollipops23

beauty101 wrote: »

How dare you say I was bullying anyone? Were you there? No.

Apologies for implying that,I was actually trying to say that it wasn't the "store" you were arguing with,it was individuals. This was in reference to your point about them being "the big company" etc. You're right,none of us were there, we're going soley on what you tell us.

beauty101 wrote: »

And FYI Lollypops23 the small claims court is the next course of action for out of date vouchers...they get thousands of cases every year regarding this issue.

And one would wonder how many go in the favour of the consumer? You were in the wrong, end of. Now,most places I know exchange vouchers in a gesture of goodwill, but these days they're probably just being stricter. It's unreasonable IMHO for you to get annoyed about this issue.

beauty101

Lollipops23 wrote: »

Apologies for implying that,I was actually trying to say that it wasn't the "store" you were arguing with,it was individuals. This was in reference to your point about them being "the big company" etc. You're right,none of us were there, we're going soley on what you tell us..

Apology accepted:)

Toto Wolfcastle

caprilicious wrote: »

Praise:

Marks & Spencers Blanchardstown

I have to praise the service there, I've been there twice in the past month and each time found the service excellent especially considering how busy it was.
Served both times by a lovely guy called Sunday.
He was so friendly and polite, makes such a change from some grocery stores where they scowl at you!

He is lovely. He's always smiling and he always makes an effort to chat while he is scanning the groceries.

I was in M&S Blanch before Christmas and wanted to buy some Cava. They didn't have enough on the shelf so the manager went and got a load of boxes and apologised to us for taking so long when really he wasn't gone too long. Really lovely staff in the Blanch store.

FrancisF

Have had trouble with online reailers who can be incredibly difficult when there is a problem. I have since found that some are terrible even to try and buy something.

Lollipops23

FrancisF wrote: »

Have had trouble with online reailers who can be incredibly difficult when there is a problem. I have since found that some are terrible even to try and buy something.

Elaborate?

diamondtooth

I find O2 in Blanchardstown absolutely awful to deal with. They will not refund me for a faulty €200 phone I purchased and I do have the receipt. They sent my phone away to be repaired and if came back with the same fault. They will still not refund my money.

The store manager gave me incorrect advice, one girl told me I could fix the phone myself! The store manager told me to speak to O2 customer service, customer service told me to speak to the store manager!

Basically I am left with a €200 phone which does not work.

ibFoxer

I just remembered this while reading through, a couple of years ago i was in fibbers with a few of my mates, i went up to the bar and asked the bartender for a drink to which i got the reply "no" and he just walked off...... leaving me standing there with my mouth open. Needless to say we left. Thought that was kinda sh!tty to be honest.

I do have to say i was in PC world in Limerick a few weeks ago looking to buy a 2.5"caddy for my hard drive, and i asked the chap at the customer service desk to hang on to it for a few minutes while i went to get my laser card from the missus. I didnt make it back in time but i was in again on xmas eve and not only did the same chap remember who i was and what i was looking for, because the one i saw that day was sold, he went above and beyond to find one for me, and even gave me a few quid off it.

MrsBunnsy

Praise:
My graphics card died and Dell replaced the motherboard immediately after me explaining that I was covered for 6 years if there was a factory fault, irrespective of their warranty.

Rant:
I bought a new AC adapter for my laptop (Dell XPSM1330) because I lost the old one. I clicked on the make of laptop on the site and chose the cheapest compatible adapter. Then my laptop started electrocuting me.

Called Dell and they asked me to complete a number of useless tasks, and test if the laptop was still electrocuting me (by test, I had to electrocute myself which is quite painful). They sent out a guy to replace the motherboard, he forgot to plug in the fan, graphics card burned out again in 3 days. Laptop still electrocuting me.

Called dell again, same guy came out and he replaced the motherboard again and this time forgot to attach the bluetooth and speakers. I decided that instead of waiting for him to come out and do another half assed repair I would fix it myself. Laptop continued to electrocute me.

Called Dell again and despite my telling them that the motherboard was not the problem they just kept suggesting replacement.

I eventually found out, through googling, that the metal body of the laptop carries a charge because the laptop is badly made and that the adapter must have 3 pins to ground the laptop . Their website does not say this and it says that the adapter (2 pin) I got was perfectly compatible.

The dell customer representative couldn't understand what I was talking about, and neither could the three others because of a language barrier. I eventually sold the adapter on gumtree and bought a new, compatible one from duracell for half the price.

Never again

Dues Bellator

MrsBunnsy wrote: »

Praise:
My graphics card died and Dell replaced the motherboard immediately after me explaining that I was covered for 6 years if there was a factory fault, irrespective of their warranty.

Rant:
I bought a new AC adapter for my laptop (Dell XPSM1330) because I lost the old one. I clicked on the make of laptop on the site and chose the cheapest compatible adapter. Then my laptop started electrocuting me.

Called Dell and they asked me to complete a number of useless tasks, and test if the laptop was still electrocuting me (by test, I had to electrocute myself which is quite painful). They sent out a guy to replace the motherboard, he forgot to plug in the fan, graphics card burned out again in 3 days. Laptop still electrocuting me.

Called dell again, same guy came out and he replaced the motherboard again and this time forgot to attach the bluetooth and speakers. I decided that instead of waiting for him to come out and do another half assed repair I would fix it myself. Laptop continued to electrocute me.

Called Dell again and despite my telling them that the motherboard was not the problem they just kept suggesting replacement.

I eventually found out, through googling, that the metal body of the laptop carries a charge because the laptop is badly made and that the adapter must have 3 pins to ground the laptop . Their website does not say this and it says that the adapter (2 pin) I got was perfectly compatible.

The dell customer representative couldn't understand what I was talking about, and neither could the three others because of a language barrier. I eventually sold the adapter on gumtree and bought a new, compatible one from duracell for half the price.

Never again

i fond this 1 of the funniest posts that ive read all week, absolutely hilarious . sorry for your pain but you made me laugh.

thesandeman

Hope you told the person you sold the adaptor to that they were in for a shock!

macy9

Tramco, Rathmines: Terrible Service

I was in Tramco one night and my new b.f bought me a drink of rasberry and vodka which I have never had before and didn't really like so only sipped it occasionally so as not to offend him . After drinking less than a 3rd of it I realised that there was a bluebottle fly in the glass (vomit). It was my first drink and to be honest I dont know why I didn't notice it earlier, I suppose because the drink is dark and the lights are at a minimum in that place.

I brought the drink back and told the bartender about the fly and asked him to replace it, to which he replied 'No, you already drank halk of it!' :mad:

Ridiculous. A third is not half and that is abismal service. I wanted to throw the drink at him. Health and Safety is obvioulsy at a minimum in that place. I have never been back.

shanksnpaisley

Interesting thread, seems it is has turned into more ranting than praising! I have worked in retail for over 5 years and while I certainly acknowledge retail workers can be rude at times, customers are no picnic either. Even when you try and help people they throw it back in your face, the amount of times I have gone trawling through the stockroom for people only to come out and another staff member to tell me they had just left not even bothering to wait. I even remember one women telling me her son only liked a particular type of runners so I said I would search our quarantine section to see if we had old pair of them (about 600 runners in it and involved climbing up shelves) and while I was in there she complained to another manager that she was waiting for ages and was I gone on my lunch! (I was gone 5-6mins max)

Maybe people posting should make a contentious effort to both rant but also at least think of one good customer service experience to post about! Often retail workers love to go the extra mile for customers who treat them with a bit of respect not as 'just a stupid sales person' as I was once called by a customer because I could not change an item for her!

On that note:

Rant: o2 bray, disinterested sales staff who did not know basic information about their products

PRAISE (!) : Apple customer Service, any issues I have is always answered within a day with a personalised email which often solves the problem. They also always wish you a nice day!

PRAISE (!) : Argos, offered full refund on apple ipod radio remote which was bought in error for ipod touch even though receipt was beyond 30 days which they did not have to do.

-One last aside, often managers and staff in stores are only implementing company policy, policy they did not draft so it is not their fault. If you contact the Head office of the company often the HO staff will agree with the customer if they have bothered to go that far, that STILL does not mean it was manager/staff's fault. They are only doing WHAT THEY WERE TOLD! If only more customers would realise this!!!

whitelightrider

Praise:

Tubs and Tiles Galway

Bought a bathroom unit, mirror and sinks in Tubs and Tiles over a year ago. We noticed that there seemed to be stains appearing behind the mirror - obviously where water was getting in. It was just over a year since we bought it.

Called Tubs and Tiles (spoke to Eithne) and they were brilliant. Couldnt find the receipt but knew the date Id bought the unit. They ordered the replacement for me and called me when it had arrived. No hassle trying to search for a receipt, etc. Just great customer service.

celticbest

Just checked the stock of a toy on the Smyths web site and it says the following,

"Availability: Low Stock - Means that we think it's there but we're not 100% sure."

This is fair enough, but when you try to ring the store to check if they can put it aside for you they don't answer either of the phone numbers supplied as contact details on there website. I tried both numbers for the Swords store on numerous occasions over the course of an hour.

All we are hearing about is recession this and recession that, now I can understand why we are in the grips of one. If you are open for business you should have somebody available to answer your phones or you should not supply contact details on your website. This is just complete and utter bad business.

I'm just wondering if many other people have had the same issue trying to contact there local Smyths Toy Store.

dudara

Merged with Best/Worst Customer Service.

dudara

mirrorball

Just received replacement pieces from Lego for my son's fire engine. Absolutely brilliant to deal with. I contacted them initially via their website but later spoke directly with a Customer Service agent. To top it all, they didn't charge me a cent - not even for express postage from Germany.
Cheers,
Peter

Cabaal

I normally really dispise alot Irish companys who operate websites, they don't keep them up to date, they don't have enough info or their ****e for returning e-mails.

Well www.shaving.ie is a refreshing change from this,

Very quick responses to e-mails with clear answers instead of beating around the bush, interacts with customers on the Facial Hair & Hats forum and in the past when there has been problem has provided excellent solutions to sort out the problem.

I honestly can't recommend the place enough

ergonomics

Just after Christmas I ordered a pair of runners from Schuh online. I was in my Mum's, which doesn't have a Schuh nearby, and figured they might possibly arrive before I went back to own home. It was nearly two weeks before I was home again and discovered the shoes hadn't arrived. I emailed Schuh about it late on Friday night and got a reply first thing Monday morning. The email said that UPS, who deliver my shoes, had apparently lost them but Schuh were happy to send the same again to the delivery address, a new address or a store near me. Alternatively I could have a full refund. Not trusting UPS I asked for a full refund which they did no questions.

Very impressed as I assumed I'd either have to pay for another delivery or jump through hoops for a refund.