Asda

GlasweJen

Asda still have links to the community, ours still has the free bus, kids events at easter/halloween/christmas, pensioners trips to the panto etc but i think people took the mickey a bit in the past and they've started to reign in on healthy, able bodied customers who just turn up and expect to be waited on hand and foot.

One of my favourite jobs is helping members of the blind community to do their shopping, i take them round the store, read out sell by dates, explain any relevant offers and generally just chat about local events and what's going on at home. I also spoil the guide dogs but that's a different story (with dog treats we have for that purpose and with the express permission of their owners). If someone asked me to use the phone i'd refuse unless it was an emergency because we're simply not allowed to make phone calls that are not expressly related to work (calling to advise of appointments, ordering supplies, advising customers that their glasses/lenses are in etc) if i was caught letting someone use the phone i'd be sacked on the spot.

loopy_lass

me too especially when they get a bill for a ten min call to australia lol.... wudnt put it past some of our customers bless em,...

loops

Storck

A lot of the ASDAs that have free buses do it for the same reason as Tesco, the local council make it part of the planning permission.

GlasweJen

loopy_lass wrote: »

me too especially when they get a bill for a ten min call to australia lol.... wudnt put it past some of our customers bless em,...

loops

Nope, some of our customers are right chancers! I really wouldn't put it past some of them. Some guy asked me to use the use the phone once, i asked if it was emergency and he said yes, he couldn't remember if he was to get potatos or sweet potatos.

Storck

A few years there was a scam in pubs where people came in and asked if they could use the pub phone to ring a taxi. When the bill came they had phoned a phoneline with a huge connection charge, £25 or more. The person either was been paid to do this or owned the phone number and pocketed a large slice of the cash.

tbw

GlasweJen wrote: »

Oh what a headline (not), shops and other customer service points aren't payphones, we only need to provide facilities to make 999 calls and that's it. Most big shops have taxi ranks outside them or a line specifically for the taxi company. The greeter isn't psychic nor are they doctors, they have internal phones on them for security purposes and the one in question probably should have pointed the OP in the direction of the customer service desk but that's about it.

Part of a 'Greeters' job is to make customers feel welcome in the store and to either help them or advise them on where they can get help in the store. They don't have to be psychic - just do their job and do the best they can to help customers who have problems. Greeters who don't feel they need to do this need re-training in what their job involves.

Lip_Stick

As stated, on leaving the house I felt ok. My parents had been helping out, i.e. doing the shopping, looking after the lil one for a few hours a day. I'd began to recover from the worst of it. I don't have an addon that buzzes when I'm completely well and tells me when it's safe for me to venture out. I had no idea that I was going to feel unwell on arriving at Asda.

sagalout1954

Lip-Stick, all you did 'wrong' was to underestimate how much additional energy it would take to get yourself and push your toddler to the shops in the snow. That, and leaving your mobile at home isn't a valid reason for some of the comments you've received here.

IMO the greeter in Asda not only failed dismally in offering even basic customer service, they failed to act like a decent, caring human being. Even as a fellow shopper if you'd indicated you felt unwell I'd have sat you in the nearest seat and lent you my phone - what is wrong with people nowadays!

The greeter should have first found you a seat, explained about there being no telephone in the store then gone to fetch someone with a bit more nouse to deal with what you needed next, the first aider perhaps, to determine the seriousness of you illness. Then that person could have arranged to contact someone to fetch you (or phone a cab). Don't tell me Asda have no outside lines, that is total b*llocks, they could have made the call on your behalf from the office if nothing else.

HOWEVER, this is not to say that I think you should get any form of compensation BUT..........I would write/email again, start by saying you've felt obliged to write again given that you seem to have received a 'stock' response which didn't deal with the issues you raised. Specify clearly that the nature of your complaint wasn't for any form of compensation. You are saddened that their level of customer service fell short of what it should have been given that you were unwell, and can they assure you that the store manager will ensure appropriate training is given to staff should any other customer experience the same misfortune.

Will they take your complaint more seriously, possibly not, but they'd be wise to consider it a bit more before bashing out bog standard responses in the current financial climate.

pmduk

Surely the greeter is an integral part of the customer service? If not what earthly use are they?

geoff11

i wouldnt worry as youll find most asda stores have lost the positions formally known as a greeter now, one of many positions to go i might add. i might also add most other stores dont even have greeters, asda took it on from walmart when they bought asda but it proved to be a a waste of time.