Disgusted with Asda Customer Services

Schamansky

mrcow wrote: »

Good customer service isn't about being "right". It's about putting the customer's needs in the forefront of your mind whist coming to a satisfactory outcome for everyone involved.

For very economic reasons, too. A regular customer, from a purely economic point of view, is a constant revenue stream over a long period of time. Positive cash flow on two legs, if you will. It's not economically viable to cut of such a stream for years to flow for the sake of a small sum saved here and then.

Marketing theory and practice holds that one regular customer held is worth more in revenue than 10 first-timers acquired.

Someone pass this on to a certain type of middle "management" smartasses. Sometimes, economicthinking and common decency go hand in hand. Sometimes.

patchwork_cat

I agree 100% with Mrcow and Schamansky -you now won't shop there and they have lost a customer, over £14 of shopping on the other hand if tehy had let you take the shopping they would have made the £14 back in profit in the next couple of shops and result 1 customer singing the praises of Asda to all and sundry.

However write to head office get what you can out of them, but don't cut your nose off to spite your face, Somerfield are more expensive on non promotion items.

devon007

Thank you all for the comments. I've had to spend most of the day sorting out paperwork for the DWP (don't get me started on that one :rotfl::rotfl:) and am now off to the Post office to send a huge amount of photocopying, so will have send my recorded delivery letter off to Asda at the same time! I will also try and hunt out email addresses tonight to see if I can email it as an attachment.
It's rather a shame this has happened because in the past I've had nothing but praise for the staff who actually work within the aisles. Only a few weeks ago I had a few extra pounds and went and bought loads of small light bulbs so I could work round the house replacing the bulbs which had gone and needed replacing. I took 3 different types of bulbs with me and a note of how many of each I needed. The lady I found to ask where the light bulbs where (they'd moved aisles!) was brilliant. Not only did she show me but she actually stayed with me and worked out which was the best deals on them to get me the most for my money! Such as shame the "managers" don't have a similar approach to their customers :rolleyes:
Patchwork Cat - I do only buy the promo offers at Somerfield but I usually go in at the right time for the reduced items too. Have had some brilliant bargains in there in meat and bakery products recently, getting it at 25% of original cost - whoopeeee.

devon007

BTW the cashier who was authorised to give me my cash back asked me (when the CSM had gone) what had happened, because I had said to her I was not going to shop there any more. She too was horrified when I told her and said they should have let me take the goods and sort it out next day. She genuinely seemed sorry about the fiasco.

Aspiring

devon007 wrote: »

Thank you all for the comments. I've had to spend most of the day sorting out paperwork for the DWP (don't get me started on that one :rotfl::rotfl:) and am now off to the Post office to send a huge amount of photocopying, so will have send my recorded delivery letter off to Asda at the same time! I will also try and hunt out email addresses tonight to see if I can email it as an attachment.
It's rather a shame this has happened because in the past I've had nothing but praise for the staff who actually work within the aisles. Only a few weeks ago I had a few extra pounds and went and bought loads of small light bulbs so I could work round the house replacing the bulbs which had gone and needed replacing. I took 3 different types of bulbs with me and a note of how many of each I needed. The lady I found to ask where the light bulbs where (they'd moved aisles!) was brilliant. Not only did she show me but she actually stayed with me and worked out which was the best deals on them to get me the most for my money! Such as shame the "managers" don't have a similar approach to their customers :rolleyes:
Patchwork Cat - I do only buy the promo offers at Somerfield but I usually go in at the right time for the reduced items too. Have had some brilliant bargains in there in meat and bakery products recently, getting it at 25% of original cost - whoopeeee.

I think this is what you have to weigh up when you are sending your complaint to head office. In the main, you have been most satisfied with the service you have been given - albeit, on comparatively less urgent spends.

It's awful that on a day when money was tight and, due to no fault of your own, the service you received was less than expected, or previously experienced.

What do you hope to gain from your letter? An apology? Bouquet of flowers? Gift voucher? If you should get one or all of those, will you then post here and say that you are pacified and will now return to Asda for your shopping?

How will you know if it has made any difference to the way these incidents are dealt with if you are no longer a customer?

Is there anything they could say/do that would alter your mind about returning to the store?

You make a point and seem upset that you were dealt with by the Customer Services MANAGER and declined an opportunity to speak with the Deputy MANAGER. Yet both are "managers" which means they have equal status. Do you think one manager is a lesser qualification/status than the other?

In your original post, you stated that you spent 15 minutes "arguing" - do you think your own demeanour had any bearing on how they responded to you? Did you "argue" because you felt intimidated and lacked confidence on your rights? Is it possible that if you had chosen a different level of communication, the outcome would have been different?

Do you anticipate/hope/expect that by posting on MSE, you will influence where other MSE'ers shop? Is that your aim?

How does 25% reduction at Somerfields compare to Asda reductions that (at the right time of day) can be as high as 75%? Surely you are still losing out on a bargain at a time when money is clearly tight for you?

Is it the self service tills that you had the problem with the real issue? Or the way it was dealt with? By that I mean, I refuse to use the self serve tills because they are a complete pain in the proverbial and would rather queue at a regular checkout. Would that "solve" and prevent any further errors of this nature?

I hope you find a satisfactory outcome to this episode; rudeness and ignorance and disrespect should never be tolerated.

patchwork_cat

I agree about the self service tills they are forever going wrong and it makes you feel like an incompetent fool. If I do use them it is because my 11 year old likes to!

Aspiring

patchwork_cat wrote: »

I agree about the self service tills they are forever going wrong and it makes you feel like an incompetent fool. If I do use them it is because my 11 year old likes to!

:rotfl:

Have you worked out yet, how you can use your own bags on that machine? It only seems to accept me putting the goods into "their" bags :rolleyes:

boo2009

Like they say bad news goes around a lot quicker than good news and yet again another bad advert for Asda.

Aspiring

boo2009 wrote: »

Like they say bad news goes around a lot quicker than good news and yet again another bad advert for Asda.

I would say that very much depends on the reader of the protest. Clearly we are only getting one point of view, although there is no reason to doubt it, it is still only one person's perception.

Now, if I based my lifestyle habits purely and simply on one point of view, from someone I do know know, who has admitted that up until this point they have had a good service, I wouldn't be behaving very sensibly.

However, if it was someone I knew well, who's integrity I knew, and who's opinion I had learned to respect - - - - - - it may, just may, make a difference to my overall opinion.

Now, I'm not saying the OP hasn't had a bad experience; but the experience isn't mine. Therefore, I reserve judgement on Asda based on my own experiences.

I try to avoid supermarkets as much as possible, but there are times where they come in handy. Maybe I'm just a bit more objective

mrcow

Schamansky wrote: »

For very economic reasons, too. A regular customer, from a purely economic point of view, is a constant revenue stream over a long period of time. Positive cash flow on two legs, if you will. It's not economically viable to cut of such a stream for years to flow for the sake of a small sum saved here and then.

Precisely. At a sales seminar I once attended, we were told that Tesco estimates that an average loyal customer once hooked will put £25k of business through the tills.

That's why they are so hot with loyalty cards, priority parking and yes, customer service. Those who say that ASDA are not going to care about the loss of business of a loyal customer are very much mistaken.

I once read that you are more likely to leave your spouse than you are your bank. I personally would put supermarket loyalty right up there with bank loyalty. Once happy with a supermarket, many people will stick and stick with them.

ASDA simply can't afford to lose business in this way. It's their bread and butter.