Rant Name and Shame: Crappy Retailers

This is a personal rant and to warn people about companies with crappy services.

The Bed Depot. Bed purchased nine weeks ago and due to incomplete deliveries and faulty goods we still do not have a bed which can be assembled. Constantly fobbed off by salesmen and a stumpy little cock of a manager with no clue when it comes to customer service. A quote from one of the salesmen when we went back to the shop to ask for a refund. "We don't do customer service at the weekends." So despite being legally due a refund on two separate occasions they are still refusing to give us one as it "is against company policy". Trading standards are now on the case.

I'm sure you have come across other equally appalling retailers.

 

Argos. Never had a problem but a mate who works there doesn't shut up about how it sucks.
And they sell craptastic products.

 

Plumb World. Very good customer service. Waited three weeks for a bathroom suite and a set of taps. Ended up getting nearly two bathroom suites. Honesty being the best policy I had one sent back. Opened the boxes and discovered they'd send two pedestals and no basin. They then sent two basins to my work address. So I could have sold a brand new, unopened bath suite and got my money back! Very strange dealings, but there we go. Ended up with what I wanted at the end of the day I guess, just a bit of faffing about to get it.

Currys - crap, crap, crap. At least, the one at Stamford is. Most of the staff seem uninterested. In fact, one chap whizzed off when we asked for a price on something and then I tried arguing the toss over internet prices and discounts and he gave up and wandered off! Tosser. I much prefer going to Dixons online as the prices are far cheaper anyway.

 

Pissy World.

"Would I like to buy a £25 network cable from you, or get it for 70p from the web?"


Mind you, Top Marks to one bloke who was working there, wandering around looking bored.
I was looking for a semi-decent DVD writer to get me out of a pickle, but they're massively overpriced.
So I asked: "Do you have any at a decent price, mate?" and he replied "Not really. you're better off looking online"

Hurrah!

 

kenco i know what you meen about the stamford currys i know a few people who work there and they know nothing about it they just read the specs of the card next to the item. so god know what happens if you ask them something they would actually have to know

 

Currys Currys Currys. The worst CS ever. Although I haven't had problems with them myself my parents have had loads of hassle from them. One being a faulty fridge/freezer which wouldn't turn on, they refused to give a refund nor a replacement (it was working at the depot apparently). In the end we got a refund. and bought one somewhere else.

Another time... a vacuum cleaner with a years insurance for almost the same price as the cleaner... A TV delivered which was the wrong one then they demanded we pay for delivery of the correct one. (We didn't in the end, we kept the wrong one cos it was better ).

 

To be honest, I don't think it's a case of crappy retailers, just a matter of certain stores/staff being incompetent. Most cases of poor customer services are down to managers who don't like to take money but never give it, or staff who either don't understand the correct store procedure/policy, or simply cba to implement it. Of course, things like extortionate pricing and bad knowledge are widespread- these factors are attributed more to a company's business model and the market it's targeting. My short experience of working for Currys kinda helped learn how it works- the managers were pretty strict on getting everything right before we sold a product so that we didn't have the hassle afterwards. If something did go wrong, it was usually dealt with pretty well, although there are a lot of factors that are out of the store's hands- manufactures have to approve a return if it's outside 30days, couriers and deliveries were very hard to work with sometimes etc.

<A88>

 

actually i don't like B&Q at all they are rubbish and have no idea what some things are.

 

True, but the sort of people who shop in B&Q usually know what they're looking for anyway- if you don't know what to do with DIY hardware, you shouldn't be buying it .

<A88>

 

But one could argue that the poor retail monkeys are simply doing what they are trained to do, good quality retailers spend more time and money on training.

 

Yes, and good quality retailers are pretty much always the smaller ones. Specialist shops for specialist customers for specialist service. General purpose shops for general needs for staff with general knowledge- if you want some really good advice on hi-fis, go to Richer Sounds or somewhere similar, not Currys or Comet. If you're after a PC built around your needs, go to the small computer shop at the end of the road. If you've got a good idea of what you're after and just want it cheap, then go to one of the larger stores or online.

<A88>

 

B&Q seem to have two levels of staff. You have the older gentlemen that seem to work there, all looking like ex-plasterers / plumbers / builders etc, and they do tend to know their onions.

Then you get the 18 year olds who are doing it because they need a job, and they normally don't have more than two braincells to rub together.

 

PC World, and IKEA, though, I do love going round IKEA. 50p hot dogs for the win!

 

Oi! I'm 19 and at Homebase and i think i get labelled the same way, some of the staff however do fall into this category.

God i need a new job, one thing that retail has taught me, i cant screw people over, i refuse to push the stores 27.9% APR buy now-pay later card, or sell someone on bad advice, i tell them what i think, which put me in a situation at currys / pc world i would NOT sell a computer to someone thats got more power than what they need, its just, harsh, i wouldnt want it happening to my friends / family so i wont do it upon anyone else.

 

comet
pc world
currys/dixons
carphone warehouse
phones 4 u
game

 

Being a B&Q employee. Most of the time I know what iam talking about but if i dont i make sure people find the right person. But i have also have had some awful customer service at another store. It does vary from store to store some mangers are good some are crap thats what it really boils down to, but you'll tend to find the smaller the store better the customer services. Richer sounds customer service is second to none in opinion, Ive never had better customer service.

 

Maplins - Shocking.

 

Too true, the one here is awful. Only been open about 12months too!

 

i can't remember the name of the clothes store, but i will tell the story, i was there looking at some shoes and wanted to see if they had one of the same models of my size, i am a 45/46, and i ask "do have this in size 46?", the worker, a girl, responds "i don't know" and stays there looking at me..... and i look at her..... and she looks at me more confused..... and i am there looking at her thinking to my self "if i were you i would stop folding those shirts and go see if there are shoes of my size"..... and then i cant resist and ask "can you please go see if you have any?"..... and then she becomes mad at me and shows the serious evil "i want to shank in the ass you with this coat hanger" look for the rest of my stay.... of course she went for the shoes that i did not buy because of her.

this is not extreme, but heck if they don't know what they have the first thing to do is to confirm if the product exists.

and of course, vorten, vobis and "radio popular" that hire all the dimwits and "friends of friends " and shove them into stores without knowing jack about what they are handling...... at least they are cheap'ish and there are some "rare" good employees that save the day....

 

QFT.