naughty m&s

eyelashes74

just to add...
I dont normally post on here , I read other posts and thank when necessary but you are quite right.. I probably wont bother in future!

maman

zenseeker wrote: »

I am sick of seeing people attack customer service staff who are just doing their jobs. CS staff have to follow rules and guidelines laid down by head office, so to attack them for following company rules is pig ignorant in itself.

I understand that but they are the 'public face' of the company and often the customers' only quick method of communication. When I'm in that situation I say something like 'I know I'm shooting the messenger here but..this policy seems very unfair or whatever'. I have often insisted they make a note of my complaint to pass on to superiors etc. This is when you often get a rolling of the eyes, or sighing from badly chosen/trained CS staff. Having worked for years where I have had to communicate with all sorts, politely and be publicly accountable there's nothing I hate more than poor service. I think as customers we have the right to question company policy. I know we can take our custom elsewhere but that's not really the point.

Oh dear (jumps off soap box) and OP only wanted to change a jumper!!

Dicatflip

are we not allowed to say that shop assistants are pig ignorant any more?
flippin eck.

Dicatflip

eyelashes74 wrote: »

just to add...
I dont normally post on here , I read other posts and thank when necessary but you are quite right.. I probably wont bother in future!

you know what? I agree with you. Your post has been taken far too literally and it's been blown out of all proportion.
There are some shop staff out there that haven't got a smile in them. I was conducting a mystery shop in a bank 2 weeks ago. the woman in front of me was being served and she was really nice but questioned that the cashier had done something wrong - i don't know what. the cashier snatched the lady's passbook back and tutted and sighed and as the lady walked away, she smirked to her collegue - silly cow, who does she think she is?
the lady she was referring to was really lovely, she had said please and thank you after everything and was genuinely nice - some people are just not made to work in customer service. sad but true!

Stoopid

zenseeker wrote: »

I am sick of seeing people attack customer service staff who are just doing their jobs. CS staff have to follow rules and guidelines laid down by head office, so to attack them for following company rules is pig ignorant in itself.

Sorry to perpetuate the Vent rather than Return a jumper issue.
CS Staff are SUPPOSED to follow the rules and represent their employers, but after all they are only human.
Just as I have stood by and listen to a "Customer" rant on, and wished the earth to open up and swallow me as I was so embarrassed for the poor sa or cs staff, more often it is the behavious of the cs staff which disgusts.

My pet issue at the moment is Tesco accepting other stores linked save eg spend £20 get £2 off.
Tesco head office repeatedly tell me that ALL their stores should accept them. But none of mine do - even when I politely suggest they phone head office to check. The refuse point blank and just say NO.
I have now even received written confirmation from Head Office of their policy - so we will see what cs staff who are supposedly trained to follow company policy say to that. No doubt I will be accused of abusing the system, or maybe there is a vowel in the month or something
I do not call cs PI because they follow company policy, but that they deliberately do not follow the policy - and when I suggest they phone up there and then to double check, they refuse. That implies to me that they know very well what the policy does say, but they have decided to ignore the policy and lie to customers

Unfortunately I think that the majority of people who are on the front line dealing with customers could be labelled as PI. Their attitude is more often than not I don't know, don't care, it's not my job or I'm too busy chatting to my mate to bother to serve you.
I am not saying this is ALL staff, but is definitely the majority of the ones I come across.
I may add that in my dealings with cs I try never to get aggressive/abusive, swear, shout, raise my voice etc. Neither do I tut, sigh or roll my eyes at their blatent incompetence.
I do get fed-up, frustrated and usually have to take several deep breaths to keep calm - but I am of the generation who was taught that "The customer is always right" I bet they never teach that on staff training courses these days.

When I am spending my hard earned money now I have to remember the more relevant "Buyer beware":cool:

p.s I have worked in shops and businesses dealing with the general public, and have had to deal with some VERY irate and aggressive people. I have never retaliated, always kept my calm and provided the best service I could to the customer. I have even had these people phone me back later to thank me for my help, and apologise for their initial hostility, In most cases they were irate at the start because other staff had given them the "run-around" This makes my blood boil when it happens to me, so I NEVER do it to customers,

katholicos

My comment is with regard to how you were treated by M and S staff.

I was treated appallingly by a member of M & S Cafe Revive staff recently. I ordered 3 meals for myself and my parents, the receipt clearly stated what i had odered but a member of staff came over to our table 20 minutes after our order had been made....and in a jam packed, pre-Christmas cafe, held out in her arms 3 plates of food and refused to believe me when i said they weren't what i had ordered. She then shouted 'so are you saying this food isn't yours then!!!'

When i showed her the receipt she still refused to believe it and went rummaging through the bin to find wrappers etc and said that she hadn't cooked what i had ordered as there was no 'proof' other than my receipt, that i had ordered the meals! DOH!

Everyone in the cafe was staring at us and i refused to accept the food that had been cooked thus far. Eventually she huffed and puffed and stormed out of the cafe...20 mins later we had no food we had ordered and had drunk our drinks! I enquired where our food was and another member of staff grumpily made the food we had paid for 40 minutes previously.

I wrote a letter of complaint about the member of staff and was reimbursed for the cost of our meal. BUT i won't be spending my money in their cafe in a hurry. Some staff are rude and have major attitude problems. It's a fact. Saying it isn't true doesn't make it an untruth. The fact is that more people should complain about their ill treatment by staff. Too many of us sit back and say/do nothing.

maman

katholicos wrote: »

I wrote a letter of complaint about the member of staff ... Too many of us sit back and say/do nothing.

I don't want to labour this BUT..You took the trouble to write a letter of complaint. Most people wouldn't take it that far which is why I think it perfectly admissable to complain loudly to CS staff. They are our point of contact with the company. Customer Services there to serve customers !!!

katholicos

maman wrote: »

I don't want to labour this BUT..You took the trouble to write a letter of complaint. Most people wouldn't take it that far which is why I think it perfectly admissable to complain loudly to CS staff. They are our point of contact with the company. Customer Services there to serve customers !!!

Due to there being an enormous CS queue and myself and my father having serious health problems we decided against waiting to see the customer services. As a matter of fact i had a brilliant letter in response to my complaint which thanked me profusely for writing the letter and encouraged me to write again at any further point of disatisfaction with service. And FYI it was to the customer service department that i wrote my letter so whether you want to belabour the point that is better to speak with them than to write to them is up to you, but i am fairly certain that they are there to respond to customer complaints whether written, face to face or 'telephoned in' actually.

mazza245

I don't understand how this thread has become hijacked about the attitude of CS staff. I have worked in various places dealing with the public including M & S and I have the utmost sympathy for how some customers are with the staff and what they have to put up with. Equally, some staff are curt and abrasive sometimes with customers. My post was trying to ask initially if anyone else has noticed discrepancies when taking stuff back to shops because of the VAT reduction and also the discounts available on some days, making the calculations very difficult when you return an item. I never mentioned that the SA was "pig ignorant", I said she was disdainful with me, which she was. She was annoyed at me querying the amount but as I say, it was a complicated sum because of the discounts and other items on the receipt. Anyway, I have had the flu ever since and I simply can't be bothered to go through all that hassle for the sake of 50-odd pence or so. This is not me, usually I would jump through hoops to save money!

elsie52

Hi,

I can see the points from both sides......I am a customer service assistant and have worked in retail......I have very high standards of cs, but unfortunately I also experience very poor cs when doing my own shopping. I realise that particularly at this time of year we are very overworked, and underpaid for the hours that we are expected to work, but should always be polite and courteous. By the same token, customers are also harrassed and become annoyed with queues etc which doesn't help. I think as customers and sales assistants a bit of patience and common courtesy is needed.............Happy new year to everyone.