Negative experience at M&S

Ellie2758

Yesterday afternoon I telephoned M&S Bluewater to find out EXACTLY what their returns policy was for christmas presents returned without a receipt. I specified that the items were toiletries and was told that I could have a credit note to the value of the goods, but that if the goods had gone down in price I would have to accept the new lower price. Fair enough, I thought, I will just exchange them for something else that I LIKE that has also gone down in price.

Set off for Bluewater this afternoon. Huge queue for returns, as you would expect. When it was my turn I handed over the bag of items (4 separate items from their Floral Collection - bleugh) only to be met with the abrupt response of "you cant exchange those". Not,Sorry, I'm afraid you cant exchange those". Whatever happened to M&S customer service standards? I explained that I had telephoned to find out their exchange policy and what I had been told. All to no avail as they dont exchange toiletries unless they are boxed. "I dont know who you spoke to" etc.

The talcum powder was referred to a supervisor as that had a sticker on it which covered the top, but it was still not acceptable. Even with a receipt, they said, they would still not exchange/refund it. Apparently this is made plain by notices at the till point, but I didnt buy it did I?

Now, if I had been told this on the phone I would accept it, but the very fact that I trailed over there with the stuff unnecessarily is rather annoying. The supervisor did at least have the grace to apologise, unlike the assistant. I know this is very minor in the grand scheme of things but even so....grrrr

Ellie

freebie_junkie

id send a letter with teh names of all of the people involved, teh one you spoke to, the rude cahsier and teh manager. good luck- you should- if m&s dont want more bad press amongst mse-ers- send you some coupons to say sorry coz what they did isnt on.

when i send a complaint i adress it in red ink to 'teh compalints manager'

LondonDiva

I do know that a lot of stores have differing returns policies for toiletries, lingerie & food because of the greater risk of tampering.

While they way she spoke to you may have been a bit off, I'd think she was right not to refund it.

Diva

Ellie2758

LondonDiva wrote:

I do know that a lot of stores have differing returns policies for toiletries, lingerie & food because of the greater risk of tampering.

While they way she spoke to you may have been a bit off, I'd think she was right not to refund it.

Diva

As I said, if I had been told that when I rang up the day before I would have happily accepted it. The fact that they gave out incorrect information plus the poor attitude of the assistant is what I find so annoying.

Ellie