Poor customer service at Debenhams

hepcat42

I'd been eyeing a Phase 8 dress for some months in Debenhams in Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh and was watching as the price dropped and dropped. I was about to go buy it this week since I didn't reckon it could get any cheaper (already £100 off) but then I saw the offer posted in the MSE weekly email about a 20% off voucher in the Daily Mail for Debenhams, which was meant to include sale stuff.

Great, I thought, even cheaper! And so I bought the paper this morning so I could clip the voucher. I went into the shop, scooped up the dress (which I had tried on last week) and took it to the till with my voucher. Sure enough, the girl at the till looked at it and said, "Oh, I'll have to check if we can take that." She came back in about a minute with another staff member who said quite unapologetically "Sorry, but this concession is not included in the offer."

Oh, I said, and I looked at the fine print, which admittedly did exclude some concessions but didn't say what they were. "That's a shame," I said lightly "these offers can be a bit misleading sometimes."

"Well," the woman snapped, "it's nothing to do with ME. And WE don't usually participate in any of the *Daily Mail* offers." She said it as if I had tried to offer a dead rat in payment.

"Right," I said, shrugging, "well, ok, I'll just keep the voucher then" and as I was folding it back up to put back in my bag she grabbed the dress and headed away with it without another word!

"Wait a minute, " I said, "I still want the dress!" And I did- I had a gift card which I had been given back in September which I wanted to use up and frankly, it was still a bargain at the reduced price. So I bought it and left- but I'm thinking I won't be shopping there again though.

Really, I wouldn't have minded so much about the voucher but the tone of this particular staff member was downright rude, unfriendly and unhelpful. And it really puts me off Debenhams- what's the point of a national voucher campaign if the store staff are going to act all insulted when you bring in the coupon?

I'll be spending my money elsewhere in future.

RadoJo

Sounds like a case of misunderstanding - you think you made your comment 'lightly', but she may have thought it was an accusation (after all, it doesn't sound as though the voucher WAS misleading just a little vague). You thought she sounded unapologetic, perhaps she was in a hurry and just wanted to clear up the confusion quickly, or had seen a million of those vouchers already that day and had to explain to everyone. Either way, I probably wouldn't boycott them on the basis of one incident, but if you feel that strongly then go for it!

POPPYOSCAR

I don't think you can blame the store for one snooty SA.

If you feel that strongly about it I would write a letter explaining to Debenhams that it has put you off shopping there and they may send you a gift voucher for customer relations.

Did you see if this dress was online? There are usually discount codes around and you can also go through a cashback website. That is what I do and I usually have it delivered to store so if anything is not right you can get a refund there and then.

Sooler

The OP wanted to buy it from the shop – what should be so difficult about that?

Pick your goods – pay for your goods – leave the shop – simple – doesn’t need an assault course of checking online – looking for voucher codes – trying for cash back - waiting for delivery to shop. It’ s there in the shop – the OP had seen it – went in to buy it.

Perhaps the assistant ought to serve the customer – who cares if the assistant is busy or in a hurry – she can do that when once the customer is served.

I’d have asked the assistant if they have some sort of problem why they’re so bad at their job

POPPYOSCAR

Sooler wrote: »

The OP wanted to buy it from the shop – what should be so difficult about that?

Pick your goods – pay for your goods – leave the shop – simple – doesn’t need an assault course of checking online – looking for voucher codes – trying for cash back - waiting for delivery to shop. It’ s there in the shop – the OP had seen it – went in to buy it.

Perhaps the assistant ought to serve the customer – who cares if the assistant is busy or in a hurry – she can do that when once the customer is served.

I’d have asked the assistant if they have some sort of problem why they’re so bad at their job

How exactly is checking on line 'an assault course'?

The OP stated that she had spent months checking the price in store and was trying to get it as cheap as she could.

Why would you shoot someone down in flames for trying to be helpful in advising how to possibly get the dress cheaper.

Sooler

The op’s gripe is about down right rude and unacceptable service – the 2 replies are saying to put up with it or buy online to avoid it.

Malory

It seems to me that the staff member assumed that without the voucher the OP would not have been able to afford the dress. Could have been something to do with the OP's appearance and/or that she was a Daily Mail reader.

I hate it that if I walk into a shop dressed casually I will get treated completely different than if I am more dressed up.

Even though the content of my wallet hasn't changed.

I would have been ticked off as well.

hepcat42

Sooler is right- what annoyed me was the rude service. To be honest, I wasn't THAT bothered about the voucher, which is why I made my comment in a relatively light way. It would have been great to get a discount on top of the sale price. But I was really put off by her attitude- which was how DARE I question the terms of the voucher, and that it was nothing to do with HER. On the whole, it was a very unprofessional response. Maybe it shouldn't put me off the whole shop but frankly, I don't think it speaks well of a company when their staff behave like that and I find it quite astonishing that in this economic climate customer service is at such a low ebb in such a big chain.

Malory- I totally know what you mean about appearance and I've had that happen to me too. Though in this case, there was nothing wrong with the way I had dressed- although it was my day off, I had to make a quick trip into my office to drop off some papers so I was wearing decent clothes. And if sales people are going to conclude I can't pay for a dress just because I bring in a voucher (which I saw via the MSE email but was publicised in TWO parts of the Daily Mail) then I really don't want to shop there.