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

galah

it's unreal, it really is. Just today, there was an article about the Galway furntinure retailers association complaining about 'unfair' competition due to liquidation sales - well, I must say, at least with a liquidation sale I don't expect any service, and get what I pay for. Can't say that about the normal stores...

I was also willing to give stores that provide good service repeat business (furnishing a whole house at the moment) - none of the will get that now.

Very disillusioned and disappointed, business really mustn't be that bad if they don't need the money...

maringo

Best service - The Helix - the staff are great and really helpful.

Worst service - difficult to decide as have had issues with so many - Dell, Dublin Bus, etc.

And can anyone tell me why some taxi drivers need directions to go to well known places in Dublin - I thought it was their job to know the city - recently hopped out of a taxi I had just got into when the driver didn't know how to get to Cabra from the city centre! I bailed out and got a bus - saved a few quid too!

ergonomics

Although it hasn't been smooth, I'm very impressed with Eircom.

I wanted to get a landline and broadband in. They couldn't seem to get their head around the idea that I didn't currently have an active landline in my house. Once I got over that they were great.

The agent on the phone advised me that the plan I was going for would be cheaper if I did it another way, and he was right.

I needed to get some details so said I'd ring back. He said no, he'd call me at 7pm, and he did.

Texted me the day before they came out and said they'd be there at 12.30pm. They were. They also rang in advance to make sure that was ok.

I had taken a day off work but they couldn't get everything done on that day. They said it wasn't fair for me to take more time off work so they finished the work without coming into the house.

Very impressed so far.

noelo

ergonomics wrote: »

Although it hasn't been smooth, I'm very impressed with Eircom.

I wanted to get a landline and broadband in. They couldn't seem to get their head around the idea that I didn't currently have an active landline in my house. Once I got over that they were great.

The agent on the phone advised me that the plan I was going for would be cheaper if I did it another way, and he was right.

I needed to get some details so said I'd ring back. He said no, he'd call me at 7pm, and he did.

Texted me the day before they came out and said they'd be there at 12.30pm. They were. They also rang in advance to make sure that was ok.

I had taken a day off work but they couldn't get everything done on that day. They said it wasn't fair for me to take more time off work so they finished the work without coming into the house.

Very impressed so far.

It may be a good service for you but what about all their restricted sites? over 50. every knows Eircom are ****e,you have no freedom to surf.they have banned all the major download sites for movies music etc etc, so whats left EMAIL and wee sneaky look at a bitta porn while the misses makes the dinner? eh no i say I want more from the internet, GO FOR CORUS NTL,unrestricted with fiber optic cables . get your phone ,fiberpower broad band ( unrestricted any site) and tv all coming in on the one cable for 40 $ big one. Now ****e Eircom cant shake a stick at tat. ohh yea and eircom charge line rental for lines that are over 50 years old....... of coarse there nice ringing at all hours, have you listened to the news lately.....there loosin billions cos people dont want to put up with there ****e service anymore. cos now theres compitition and they dont hold the monopoly of backward Ireland anymore...................you gotta be employed by eircom.

slavetothegrind

best: Waterford stanley. rang the plant a few years ago to source some screws and small stuff for an old woodburner in the house i was renting, got on to a fella in the works knew the stove had the bits asked for my address and sent them on to me!
said sure it's only a few screws! no money required. fantastic.

worst: tescos. selling out of date stale mouldy bread.
Brought it up to customer services having paid for it at the till to see if it was flagged there.
their answer...sure thats nothing to do with us, the bread supplier stocks the shelves.
No responsibility for selling mouldy product then?

thesandeman

Have to disagree with above post. Couple of weeks ago bought a block of cheese from their 'second hand shelf' (12euro full price, being sold off for 1.20). After I paid I noticed it had stale green spots as opposed to the normal green spots the cheese has. Went to CS and explained I knew it was being sold off because of the sell by date (which never worries me anyway and Im still alive). The guy gave me my money back straight away. I asked him did he want the receipt and he said not at all. As I was leaving he called me back and asked me to hold on. Came back with with fresh block of same cheese priced at 19euro, said sorry about the other one and gave it to me for free. Only problem I have with my Tesco is the night staff/magazine readers on the self service tills. I think its all down to the person on duty and if they have any interest in their job as opposed to Tesco (or any company) being the problem.

noelo

thesandeman wrote: »

Have to disagree with above post. Couple of weeks ago bought a block of cheese from their 'second hand shelf' (12euro full price, being sold off for 1.20). After I paid I noticed it had stale green spots as opposed to the normal green spots the cheese has. Went to CS and explained I knew it was being sold off because of the sell by date (which never worries me anyway and Im still alive). The guy gave me my money back straight away. I asked him did he want the receipt and he said not at all. As I was leaving he called me back and asked me to hold on. Came back with with fresh block of same cheese priced at 19euro, said sorry about the other one and gave it to me for free. Only problem I have with my Tesco is the night staff/magazine readers on the self service tills. I think its all down to the person on duty and if they have any interest in their job as opposed to Tesco (or any company) being the problem.

Dude ! open your eye's .Thats only because they were affraid you'd stick a claim in. All those globalizing corporations are Cun45.........Every little helps? I dont thinks so. And i give the two fingers to all those trolls who are paid 50cent per mail to spread propaganda on sites like this,( it was CORUS NTL last week throughout the world( google it ) its real. And also to add campaigners who stick an advertisment up your Ar53 and around every corner, on every wall, on your radio/tv, papers etc etc etc.These day you cant pi55 without seeing and add ....... LITERALLY!!!!

thesandeman

On your first point I wouldnt have any reason to stick a claim in as I hadnt touched the cheese. The rest of your post is just gobbeldygook and has no revelance to this thread anyway.

noelo

thesandeman wrote: »

On your first point I wouldnt have any reason to stick a claim in as I hadnt touched the cheese. The rest of your post is just gobbeldygook and has no revelance to this thread anyway.

Well it does now ......................:P

IrishTonyO

noelo wrote: »

Dude ! open your eye's .Thats only because they were affraid you'd stick a claim in. All those globalizing corporations are Cun45.........Every little helps? I dont thinks so. And i give the two fingers to all those trolls who are paid 50cent per mail to spread propaganda on sites like this,( it was CORUS NTL last week throughout the world( google it ) its real. And also to add campaigners who stick an advertisment up your Ar53 and around every corner, on every wall, on your radio/tv, papers etc etc etc.These day you cant pi55 without seeing and add ....... LITERALLY!!!!

this post makes no sense

noelo

IrishTonyO wrote: »

this post makes no sense

Dont think about it to much , I am just a big hatter of large retailer and globalizing corporations. And what aggravates me more is when I see people put the likes of TESCO,NTL and so on, up on a pedestal to give them praise. when the prices and services they provide are 5hit3. And secondarily its widely know that twitterers and trolls are paid to do so on a worldwide scale. And I smell a lot of them here on this very forum. But hey thats me, I am a BIG HATTER with a chip on me shoulder!:eek:

Elmo

noelo wrote: »

Dont think about it to much , I am just a big hatter of large retailer and globalizing corporations. And what aggravates me more is when I see people put the likes of TESCO,NTL and so on, up on a pedestal to give them praise. when the prices and services they provide are 5hit3. And secondarily its widely know that twitterers and trolls are paid to do so on a worldwide scale. And I smell a lot of them here on this very forum. But hey thats me, I am a BIG HATTER with a chip on me shoulder!:eek:

NTL is now UPC Much worse to see them put Sky up there.

I think people have good and bad experiences of all companies. I am just wondering if I should complain about the Chicken Burgers with 1% Chicken in them, ah Tesco Value range, "We never said it would taste nice, Every Little Helps!"

floorjacker

IrishTonyO wrote: »

this post makes no sense

At least someone is breathing life into this boring topic.:cool:

floorjacker

Elmo wrote: »

NTL is now UPC Much worse to see them put Sky up there.

I think people have good and bad experiences of all companies. I am just wondering if I should complain about the Chicken Burgers with 1% Chicken in them, ah Tesco Value range, "We never said it would taste nice, Every Little Helps!"

I had a terrible experience in O Brians sandwich bar last week, its a log story but yer one was so rude. It costs nothing to be nice and have manners, please, thank you and all that oh and smile. it was the one in ballymount ind est,she was the big fat blond one. But geezz louise theres no need for it. lol:pac:

jimoc

noelo wrote: »

But hey thats me, I am a BIG HATTER with a chip on me shoulder!:eek:

Does the chip not cause your big hat to fall off?

noelo

jimoc wrote: »

Does the chip not cause your big hat to fall off?

Only sometimes, I wedge a bit of cardboard in the side to fix that.

primavera85

RANT; esb, eircom, sky;- worst customer service ive ever had to endure

rant + rave;- 3g. had 2 rude and unhelpful pakistani/indian operators made reconnecting after they turned me off after not even sending me the bill in the first place very difficult + refused to send me a giro so i could pay (dont use direct debit anymore)

but in their defense i had a lovely helpful indian guy went out of his way to help me on another occasion and was true to his word and got me reconnected within 48hrs.

rant;- small cafe in galway ordered a seafood dish for my man and a lasagne for myself. only went in there cos my fella wanted seafood. 10mins later they tell us they havent got any seafood after all and try + fob us off. we go to leave + waiter trys to charge us for the lasagne!!! which i was only settling for so my fella could have the seafood he wanted.

RAVE restaurant gemelles in galway, nice food, good waitresses, good ambiance.

RAVE old arch bar and restaurant in clairemorris. great food. decent servers. recommend every1 go there at least once!! once had a steak slightly overcooked, they refunded the whole steak dish.... above and beyond the call of duty. in my opinion its the best small restaurant in the west of ireland.... steak and seafood there is unreal

davef1000

primavera85 wrote: »

.

rant;- small cafe in galway ordered a seafood dish for my man and a lasagne for myself. only went in there cos my fella wanted seafood. 10mins later they tell us they havent got any seafood after all and try + fob us off. we go to leave + waiter trys to charge us for the lasagne!!! which i was only settling for so my fella could have the seafood he wanted.

You're giving out about having to pay for a dish you ordered? Did you eat it? Was it satisfactory?

andyeire

davef1000 wrote: »

You're giving out about having to pay for a dish you ordered? Did you eat it? Was it satisfactory?

The way i read it 2 people go in order a lasagne and seafood dish.Restaurant can only serve one of the dishes.Customer decides to leave for another restaurant so they can eat together.I would not pay for a dish that i didnt have.

davef1000

Ok, I can see that reading of it too! Seemed to me at first that the lasagne was delivered and she refused to pay for it.

Wickerman1

Car phone warehouse in Dun Laoghaire for me! I have spent a small fortune in CPW over the years but that came to an end last year when I tried to get a refund on a Iphone cover they sold me that did not fit my phone!

After 3 visits to get e16 back! I told the manager that I was going to make a complaint to their HO about the way the wife and I were treated and spoken to their shop.
'In that case I'm not going to give you a refund' he said with a smarmy grin. This little s**t was throwing a power trip in front of his staff.

I did make a complaint through their online line complaints procedure and got a reply from India that informed me it was policy not to give a refund on accessories.
I never got a reply back when I mentioned that Irish consumer law would override any internal policies made up by CPW.

I was going to go take them to the small claims but for e16? it would just a waste of my time. I just won't give CPW any business again.

primavera85

davef1000 wrote: »

You're giving out about having to pay for a dish you ordered? Did you eat it? Was it satisfactory?

the dish was still in the kitchen, i had not recieved it they had started to cook it despite not informing us that they did not have the dish that my husband had ordered. the serving staff were at fault, it was not busy in there so they had no excuse for not telling us this when they took our order. i have worked as both a waitress and as a chef. if i had made this mistake i would be compensating the customer. not trying to intimidate them into staying and eating and paying for a meal they did not want.

Alun

I have an ancient (bought in 1987!) Samsonite Oyster suitcase, and just the other day one of the wheels fell off. I emailed Samsonite's spare parts ordering service, and they're sending me two wheels with all the mounting hardware for absolutely nothing! With the same suitcase a few years ago (when Samsonite still had an official repair service in Ireland) the handle used to pull it along fell off, and not only did they replace it (charged me for the part only in this case) but the Samsonite rep actually called to my house with the part just to make sure it fitted as the fixing hole placement had changed a bit over the years.

noelo

Alun wrote: »

I have an ancient (bought in 1987!) Samsonite Oyster suitcase, and just the other day one of the wheels fell off. I emailed Samsonite's spare parts ordering service, and they're sending me two wheels with all the mounting hardware for absolutely nothing! With the same suitcase a few years ago (when Samsonite still had an official repair service in Ireland) the handle used to pull it along fell off, and not only did they replace it (charged me for the part only in this case) but the Samsonite rep actually called to my house with the part just to make sure it fitted as the fixing hole placement had changed a bit over the years.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:Fu3k ! thats some service, Its like the old story" I ve had this hammer 60 years,its had 10 new heads and 6 new Handles" Is it the same hammer though?

Elmo

Just tried to buy Insurance from 123.ie over the phone. They wanted to ring me in a few hours, I told them that it was ok I would go with another company. I think if sales has issues imagine what happens if I have to claim.

noelo

Elmo wrote: »

Just tried to buy Insurance from 123.ie over the phone. They wanted to ring me in a few hours, I told them that it was ok I would go with another company. I think if sales has issues imagine what happens if I have to claim.

On a friday night?, crazy or what, but now that i think of it, they must be out the door because of there new advertisement campaign. They have a leflet in all those phone books they handed out across the country. Was going to call them my self but now i am thinking twice lol:pac:. I new this forum had a purpose.

Sunshine7777

I would just like to recommend a jewellers in Dublin city centre for my best award. I recently had a ring valued while I waited in C.Clarke jewellers in Royal Hibernain Way, just off Dawson Street. The woman was very good , she checked everything , all my certs and did lots of tests on my ring . She told me that my diamond was clarity enhanced which I was not aware of and I had no idea that it was as I was never told anything about it when I bought it in New York. I was shocked and upset . She gave me this information in writing and helped me with all my problems of trying to get the ring back to the comapny who were not very nice about it . Had I not know about the diamond it could have either changed colour or broke up over the years and I would have lost all my money so thanks to this lady I did not loose money . These diamonds are very are too spot and it seems that even jewellers are not aware of them so take care.:)

07734

rave:
i just had my car serviced with gowan merrion; two days later, it failed the nct on emissions.

i phoned gowan, they said to bring in the car at any time and they'd fix it for free, no appointment. they couldn't have been more accomodating.

(obviously, if the car is serviced you kinda expect it should pass an nct, but what i thought was great was how they made it their business to solve it, and wanted to find out what was wrong.)

madmaggie

Where would you get this for service?? Ashlawn Garden Centre, Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, lovely family run business. Called in for a few plants, got a discount on my purchases, and a bag of spuds (free and unasked for) from the owners garden. Brilliant.

nermal15

RAVE My sister gave me her laptop but the internet explorer wasn't working. I went into town with the intention of going to PC World but, not knowing where it was, ended up at the PC Clinic kiosk in the Ilac Centre instead. I'm so glad I did. I knew very little about what was wrong with the computer but the man figured it out within minutes and explained it simply. He called me throughout the day to update me on its progress, and had it done in a few hours. Also, it cost only half the amount of a friend who had gotten a similar problem fixed in PC World.