Abusive sellers on this forum

Rebel · 6 July 2008 at 4:35PM

If I screwed up I would apologise and refund, however if you went on to insult me I would bar you.

Poppy9 · 6 July 2008 at 4:38PM

I dislike ignorant sales assistants.

In Debenhams last week I took back a lady shave that wouldn't hold charge. I had the receipt and picked up a new from the shelf to exchange it.

When I went to the till the girl grunted "got your receipt?". Which I gave her. She said it's exchange only as it's over 28 days old. She seemed to have forgotten that I had asked could I exchange for a new one and brought a new shaver with me to till.

She then without a word scanned the item I had brought back (packed nicely in original box with all accessories) and scanned the new one.

"£5 to pay" she said. I asked why and was told that the price had gone up and I had to pay the increased priced.

So I said politely "in that case I'll just have a refund please". She said I couldn't it was exchange only as it was over 28 days old. I said I was happy to exchange but I wasn't paying more.

She then disappeared to talk to another staff member, came back, scanned the new item and handed me the receipt without a word.

No apology, no please, no thank you.

Rebel · 6 July 2008 at 4:42PM

Poppy9 wrote: »

But what if the staff member is truely incompetent?

In that case you complain to his her superior, even if that means contacting head office, you can not insult them and not expect to be treated appropriately.

Go into any NHS building and start insulting staff there, they have the right to refuse to treat you no matter WHAT the problem is, in fact they are under orders to call the police and have you removed even if you are suffering from a life threatening condition.

If the shopkeeper is a privately owned business, then put yourself in their position, if someone came into your home and started insulting/abusing you, would you take it, or tell them to leave and NOT return? I know what my answer would and in fact has been in thoise circumstances.

frivolous_fay · 6 July 2008 at 4:47PM

Rebel wrote: »

If I screwed up I would apologise and refund, however if you went on to insult me I would bar you.

Ah well, as the guy I'm talking about dug his heels in when I asked (nicely) for a refund, things got nasty.
Oh, and when he refused, I asked if there was anyone else I could speak to, and he told me no, as he was the owner.

I'm not such a cow Rebel... I say again, he escalated things. I didn't start the unpleasantness.

Rebel · 6 July 2008 at 4:49PM

Poppy9 wrote: »

I dislike ignorant sales assistants.

In Debenhams last week I took back a lady shave that wouldn't hold charge. I had the receipt and picked up a new from the shelf to exchange it.

When I went to the till the girl grunted "got your receipt?". Which I gave her. She said it's exchange only as it's over 28 days old. She seemed to have forgotten that I had asked could I exchange for a new one and brought a new shaver with me to till.

She then without a word scanned the item I had brought back (packed nicely in original box with all accessories) and scanned the new one.

"£5 to pay" she said. I asked why and was told that the price had gone up and I had to pay the increased priced.

So I said politely "in that case I'll just have a refund please". She said I couldn't it was exchange only as it was over 28 days old. I said I was happy to exchange but I wasn't paying more.

She then disappeared to talk to another staff member, came back, scanned the new item and handed me the receipt without a word.

No apology, no please, no thank you.

As I am sure you know, the assistant was wrong, and in breach of the law, and thats why you received a replacement at no extra cost. As for her attitude, thats what the supervisor/manager/head office is there for, to make a formal complaint, often you will get an apology and some form of compensation UNLESS you were rude in which case you will get the bare minimum the law demands.
Personally if I am treated that badly I want to ensure the person gets their just deserts, calling them names is unlikely to do that, making a formal complaint will!

Rebel · 6 July 2008 at 4:51PM

frivolous_fay wrote: »

Ah well, as the guy I'm talking about dug his heels in when I asked (nicely) for a refund, things got nasty.
Oh, and when he refused, I asked if there was anyone else I could speak to, and he told me no, as he was the owner.

I'm not such a cow Rebel... I say again, he escalated things. I didn't start the unpleasantness.

No problem, in that case trading standards here WE come:D

Poppy9 · 6 July 2008 at 4:56PM

Rebel wrote: »

In that case you complain to his her superior, even if that means contacting head office, you can not insult them and not expect to be treated appropriately.

Go into any NHS building and start insulting staff there, they have the right to refuse to treat you no matter WHAT the problem is, in fact they are under orders to call the police and have you removed even if you are suffering from a life threatening condition.

If the shopkeeper is a privately owned business, then put yourself in their position, if someone came into your home and started insulting/abusing you, would you take it, or tell them to leave and NOT return? I know what my answer would and in fact has been in thoise circumstances.

I work in local govt. and OH is a police officer. Both of us regularly encounter rude abusive people but you have to show understanding of why some people are behaving like this.

Often people are frustrated and upset at being passed from pillar to post with no one prepared to take ownership of a problem. I know sometimes I pick up the phone and someone starts ranting at me before I've said "good morning". Usually I am not the person they want to speak to but because I have a senior job title the cranky call gets passed to me because previousl person just wants to get the person off the line.

I let them rant and then speak calmly to them and try to ascertain exactly what the problem is and I will find out who needs to speak to them etc. and I do follow up to ensure the issue has been dealt with (not always resoved as life is not that easy)!

To provide good service you have to understand why people are raising their voice. It's usually frustration at inaction from a service/shop when their should be action. If staff members facing customers do not have the ability to resolve the issue then either train the staff so they can deal with them or they should pass the person onto the person who can resolve it.