Brown Thomas Complaint - best method??

becah

Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone here has any experience of making a complaint about a member of staff in Brown Thomas?

Would it be best to phone, email or write? Or is there any point, do they even bother replying?

Had a really bad dealing with a member of management in the Grafton Street branch today, her attitude was absolutely appalling, and it's not the first time I've experienced unsatisfactory customer service in there, so I said instead of moaning I'd do something about it!!

Thanks!

Birdsong

Find out the name of the persons supervisior, and put it in writing requesting a reply in say 10 days. (maybe suggest that you might "talk to Joe )

dopes

I've never made a complaint about bts, but I would always put it in writing . That way you can be clear and unemotional about the event.
Good luck with it... Hope you get a suitable response

maxxie

You should write your grievence on some paper, then sellotape the paper to the biggest rock you can find and put it through the window of their store on grafton st. Narrowly avoiding the fella with the silly hat of course!

Thats what id do anyway, guaranteed to raise a few eyebrows!;)

becah

It was a manager I was dealing with, would that make any difference? I suppose I could find out who her superior is, thanks!

Yeah, I should have added in the ole 'talk to joe' line, but the problem eventually got resolved after 15 mins, and after having to basically make a scene before she even bothered listening to me properly!

Just so annoyed at how she handled it, she looked at me like I was a piece of dirt the whole time, and even pointed her finger at me at one stage, lovely...
Will defo be moving my custom to Harvey Nicks in future..

becah

maxxie wrote: »

You should write your grievence on some paper, then sellotape the paper to the biggest rock you can find and put it through the window of their store on grafton st. Narrowly avoiding the fella with the silly hat of course!

Thats what id do anyway, guaranteed to raise a few eyebrows!;)

Haha, that's what I feel like doing afterwards, believe me, but I'll be nice and send a letter, cheers!

pikachucheeks

becah wrote: »

It was a manager I was dealing with...
Just so annoyed at how she handled it, she looked at me like I was a piece of dirt the whole time, and even pointed her finger at me at one stage, lovely...

That's disgraceful conduct.

You have every right to complain so definitely follow through with it. After all, if you say nothing, nothing can ever be solved.

I'd say a letter is definitely the best way to go. If you were to go back to the store in person, you might end up getting upset when complaining which might be embarrassing or stressful for you. You might also have to deal with the person you're complaining about, as a way of resolving things.

To get the name of their supervisor, perhaps try calling up the department the woman worked in?

On a side note, I'd also mention in your letter that you'll be moving your custom elsewhere.
BTs might give you compensation of some sort.

becah

pikachucheeks wrote: »

That's disgraceful conduct.

You have every right to complain so definitely follow through with it. After all, if you say nothing, nothing can ever be solved.

I'd say a letter is definitely the best way to go. If you were to go back to the store in person, you might end up getting upset when complaining which might be embarrassing or stressful for you. You might also have to deal with the person you're complaining about, as a way of resolving things.

To get the name of their supervisor, perhaps try calling up the department the woman worked in?

On a side note, I'd also mention in your letter that you'll be moving your custom elsewhere.
BTs might give you compensation of some sort.

Thanks Pikachucheeks, I'm going to phone up tomorrow and find out the name of her superior and post the letter.

I was tempted to find another manager afterwards but was honestly afraid I'd start crying or something, not usually an emotional person but her demeanor was incredible. I have worked in several high-end retailers similiar to BT's in the past and if I acted that way towards a customer, I would have expected to be fired on the spot.

I also think the fact that I was wearing a big warm winter coat that didn't look designer influenced her attitude, not that such a detail should matter :-)

samsamson

Fair play, sometimes the level of service in this city is very low.

Jemmy

Would this have anything to do with what we were talking about in the other thread yesterday?!

Didn't I tell you, nothing but difficult! It's ridiculous, returns policy is a flippin joke. :mad:

Massive Muscles

becah wrote: »

Thanks Pikachucheeks, I'm going to phone up tomorrow and find out the name of her superior and post the letter.

I was tempted to find another manager afterwards but was honestly afraid I'd start crying or something, not usually an emotional person but her demeanor was incredible. I have worked in several high-end retailers similiar to BT's in the past and if I acted that way towards a customer, I would have expected to be fired on the spot.

I also think the fact that I was wearing a big warm winter coat that didn't look designer influenced her attitude, not that such a detail should matter :-)

Maybe it was the fact that you were in the wrong. Their good will returns policy was clearly stated as 14 days so you were wrong and had no right to have a go at a member of staff.

I have a handbag that I need to exchange that was bought on December 20th

I also think the fact that I was wearing a big warm winter coat that didn't look designer influenced her attitude,

Did she say anything about the jacket? No, just your own insecurities becoming evident.

Miaireland

I have a friend working in Brown Thomas and she said that there are couple of ways of complaining and if you are serious about your complaint (which I totally agree with you about).

The first is:
* Contact her immediate supervisor and complain to them.
* Write to the Head Manager in the store.
* The other one depends on the section of the store. Lots of the stores in Brown Thomas lease parts of the store for example Bliss. They are monitored by head office and staff and usually pick the managers and monitor them etc. She suggested that you write to them if you can. You will find their contact details online.

I know in her section there was a problem with the manager and it was due to staff and customers complaining to the Head Office in London that action was finally taken.

Dublinstiofán

I wouldn't bother your arse if i were you. Unless there have been another 20 or 30 complaints against her you stand to gain nothing. She won't even be spoken to over it.
The complaint will be binned.

Had a similar situation before, wrote a strongly worded letter to the companys head office and i've been 6 months at this stage without a reply.

cojomo2

I think the staff in Brown Thomas tend to forget the fact that they are retail assistants, the same as those working in any other store such as Dunnes.

I was there recently getting a gift for somebody. I don't wear designer clothing as I'm not a sucker, I do however spend a lot of money on clothes , I just avoid labels that insist on having their logo visible i.e Lyle Scott jumpers-despise them.

Anyway, I went up to the desk, the woman had her back turned to me sorting out stuff. Then this other lady comes over (about 23 yrs old), big posh accent on her acting all high and mighty. She came from behind me, and asks the guy behind me (there were only 2 of us waiting) 'can I help you sir, this way' as she takes whatever he is buying to the desk. I was clearly there first so I was staring at her , was just about to ask her why I wasn't served 1st, when she give me a condescending look and walks straight off after serving this guy!

I was well pissed off, I wonder was it because I was holding a big Pennys bag?
The bitch..needless to say I just left. I really regret not complaining now, was in a rush at the time...

daiixi

cojomo2 wrote: »

No it's not. SHE DID:
-Ignore the fact that I was first in line
- Walk away when she was finished serving the other guy when I was standing there waiting to be served. Although, I'm sure she could tell by my expression that I was about to have a go at her.
-Give me a dirty look just before walking away-I did not imagine this.

Any chance she thought the person behind the counter was already serving you? Also, why didn't you just say loudly "thanks, I was here first" and give her your stuff?

cojomo2

daiixi wrote: »

Any chance she thought the person behind the counter was already serving you? Also, why didn't you just say loudly "thanks, I was here first" and give her your stuff?

I don't think so, she wasn't visible unless you were standing right up close to the desk, as she was kneeling down sorting through a load of hangers and stuff...so the other woman wouldn't have seen her.

Yeah I probably should have created a bit of a fuss but I was a bit shocked. I was going to take it up with her but she walked away after serving the guy.

If I had been the other guy I would have said' sorry, that guy was here before me' but what can you do.

I didn't purchase the item(over 200 euro) in the end, just threw it on the nearest stand and walked out. Won't be back either.

Larianne

Massive Muscles is taking a holiday from the forum.

Thanks everyone for reporting the posts. Can I remind people to report the post rather than replying to abusive posters. - Larianne.

jdivision

Stephen Sealey's in charge, write to him

pikachucheeks

Dublinstiofán wrote: »

I wouldn't bother your arse if i were you. Unless there have been another 20 or 30 complaints against her you stand to gain nothing. She won't even be spoken to over it.
The complaint will be binned.

It seems in a lot of situations like this, people give up ... but I don't think that's how it should work.

If you have a complaint to make, you should make it! How can anything ever have a chance of being resolved otherwise?

Even if you're correct in saying the letter "will be binned", the very fact the OP is putting her complaint in writing and expressing her issues might help them to feel better.

Taking action is the only way to sort these kinds of problems out.

Dublinstiofán wrote: »

Had a similar situation before, wrote a strongly worded letter to the companys head office and i've been 6 months at this stage without a reply.

That's just rude!

If you take the time to write to a company, whether to make a complaint or otherwise, they should always have the good manners and grace to reply, even if it's just a generic letter they send to everyone!

When I worked for a for a busy company last summer, we received countless letters, e-mails and phone calls from people on a daily basis.
Every one of their comments was responded to, negative or otherwise.
It was insisted on by those in charge - and rightly so.

Catari Jaguar

My friend complained about a very ignorant and unhelpful make up girl at MAC a few years ago. She wrote an angry letter, (she complains all the time so her wording is generally great). She got a bunch of free MAC stuff. Make sure you include that you are a regular customer and generally find X counter to be fab but you are so shocked that you won't be returning again.

becah

Massive Muscles wrote: »

Maybe it was the fact that you were in the wrong. Their good will returns policy was clearly stated as 14 days so you were wrong and had no right to have a go at a member of staff.




Did she say anything about the jacket? No, just your own insecurities becoming evident.

Firstly, I did not have a go at a member of staff, I have worked in retail for years and I would never 'have a go' at a member of staff, I know that working with the public is not always easy, so all I did was explain the issue in a calm and clear manner.

The problem that I had was the general attitude of the person I dealt with, it had nothing to do with me being in the right or the wrong, eventually the issue did get resolved, however, I will not put up with the way which I was treated yesterday.

I have shopped in BT's for years and have dealt with some highly professional and helpful staff, but also some very unprofessional and unhelpful staff, this is not the first time in recent weeks that I have experienced bad customer service, so I created this thread to find out the best way to do so, so thanks everyone for the advice, it is greatly appreciated.

mods, if you wish you can close this thread, as my original Q has been answered, whatever suits!

Sheeps

My old man had an issue with a retail assistant over charging him and generally having a shity spiteful attitude towards him when he was spending close to €2000 in their shop. Not only was he over charging for the actual product, but he wanted to charge for delivery also, which was available for free, but for the product was pretty ridiculous because you could carry it under your arm. He didn't write a letter of complaint, instead he walked away from the till, found someone who was able to get the store manager and then brought him over to the retail assistant and complained about him in front of him to the store manager. The store manager essentially asked the retail assistant what the fuck he was thinking and my old man was treated to a free lunch worth up to €100 in the Brown Thomas restaurant and was given a sizable discount on the product he was buying. From what it sounded like, the retail assistant was given a fair old bollocking and was let go.