Marks and Spencer refused refund with receipt!!

fwhorn

hammy_the_hammer wrote:

you'd go out of business then. sites such as these are full of threads where you can pull a fast one on a retailer / supplier of service.
your customers would value your help so highly that when the new asda opens and they start selling shoes at a pound a pair cheaper they'd shop there and take the chance if something goes wrong with them.
it also amuses me how other posters just take everything they are told at complete face value.
i can't say i've had a problem with m&s ...maybe i've been lucky

Hi Hammy,

I has a buyer appreciate service, as a seller I strive to give a service. I have been buying and selling for years and rely on people coming back. As i stated in a previous post, the customer isnt always right but they are always the customer. As for shopping at asda becuase somthing is a pound cheaper, then why didnt the OP go there or the market or woolworths or the discount shoe store in the first place. The simple reason is that you expect that M+S supply quality goods and a quality service. As for being lucky i doubt it, you have got what you have paid for, and if you didnt then I am sure all us on MSE would be the first to know.

Are you saying that asda's goods are not of decent quality, as you would be taking a chance shopping there?

The OP feels that they didnt get the quality or the service, and I agree.

sahra

I have just joined M&S and didn't really shop there much before. During our induction training, we were told that customer service is the most important thing. I cannot believe how some people have been treated:eek: At the end of the day, it does depend on the assistant who served you, whether it's Hyper value or M&S. No matter where I worked, I would treat customers with the same customer service.
If what we were told in training, HO should give you a refund with no quibbles. There are alot of regular customers and M&S would be daft to risk losing them over a pair of shoes!!

I personally would not be happy with the shoes after 8 weeks. Not sure if I'd have the guts to take them back though, as I had a similar problem with my 5 yr olds nike trainers after 2 weeks, but did not do anything about it as they're such a big company.

Good luck;)

hammy_the_hammer

could you sustain a financially succesful business if you operated a no quibble money-back guarantee on used products up to two or three months old ?

hammy_the_hammer

customer service is hugely important ...the hardest thing is explaining to your customer why they aren't going to get what they expect.
ten years ago the philosophy was that by upsetting the customer (rightly or wrongly) mean't they would tell 10 people and they would tell people etc...that's all come to a grinding halt .
i can't speak for every company but they on the whole can find out exactly how much you spend with them over a year (especially once you've by-passed the shop and gone to head office.) they of course will also check how many of the same item have been brought back defective.

Contains_Mild_Peril

hollydays wrote:

Agree with everything contains mild peril says,apart from the refund policy.To be fair,if you take goods back without a receipt they will exchange or give gift vouchers in reasonable circumstances,i think in this day and age thats as reasonable on that front as they can be.

Reasonable by today's standards, yes - it's pretty much the same as most other major retailers' policies. My point was that in the good old days, M&S's refund policy was exceptional, above and beyond what any other High St chain offered, and it was one of the reasons customers loved the shop. Admittedly, a few customers took unreasonable advantage, but it was still a huge selling point, probably more so than bosses ever realised. Nowadays, their returns policy is bog-standard, as is the quality of much of their merchandise.

Nenen

hammy_the_hammer wrote:

could you sustain a financially succesful business if you operated a no quibble money-back guarantee on used products up to two or three months old ?

Well M&S were at their most profitable and successful when they did just that 15 years ago!

Their profits have been declining since they started 'tightening' up returns service! At a guess I would think that for every one customer taking advantage of their old generous returns policies they attracted 9+ customers who didn't take advantage and were loyal, high speding customers. That's why it is in their interests to take minor losses from the few for the sake of major gains from the many!

hammy_the_hammer

aahh the good old days when life was much simpler for retailers who tried to do the right thing for their customers ...just a few people who tried it on and i suppose the company took the hit for the reasons you mention....the brave new world we live in now and the retailer tries to do it's best to offer a good customer friendly policy .....and then >>>>>>>>>>>

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=282052

i wonder why they're not so forthcoming now !!!!!

Turning_into_scrooge

I actually feel 90 day return policy is more than fair, i wouldn't have had the cheek to take something back after 12 months lol. I also feel M&S are wrong in this situation and unfortunately for them every one person who you complain about a company to tells another and another, they reckon each person tells 10 others, thats a fair number out of this 10 they have the chance of losing one customer but not just 1, 1 customer out of 10 to start with and then it increases.

PhilC you are a very brave man.

fwhorn

TO PHIL C,

Late night & weekend customer service / financial services Section Manager, have you made that title up?
You are not even qualified to answer on behalf of M+S, like you have already said.
I guess your age is in the early 20's, and only doing the job to pay your way, which I commend.

Your response's

" I have never actually experienced negative feedback on such a scale before"

So like everyone is trying to tell you is that the M+S campaign is not working and that M+S staff need training or need to recruit better staff.

"that we ar still valued for quality and trusted - something which we are keen to build on - believe it or not"

If M+S are keen to build on, then listen to the people of this thread.

"but nevertheless the same outcome would have been reached."

Are you saying that M+S staff are always right, and that you all are trained to high standards and say the same even without seeing the goods? You have just blown any credibility you had.

May I be as bold to make a suggestion. Get this thread and pass it on to someone who can speak on behalf of M+S. Because all you are doing so far is dig a hole. If you are a customer services whatever, then you would have taken notice already and passed this higher up. As you have said,

" I have never actually experienced negative feedback on such a scale before"

Zebedee69

fwhorn wrote:

TO PHIL C,

Big Hole Phil,

I think you should fill it back in with some type1 and some rocks lol!!!