Tesco Carrickfergus - insulting and disgraceful behaviour

NiteRider

My partner and I have received appalling treatment from some staff members of the Carrickfergus Castle store, County Antrim. Tesco Customer Services department been ineffective in dealing with this. :mad:

I have posted my complaint in greater detail on the Tesco Complaint Blogspot. I will paraphrase it here. There are some fairly hostile comments from other Blogspot members who are current or ex-Tesco employees.

On 30 Dec (yes, that long ago) we had a routine and largely irrelevant query for Customer Services. A rude and surly CS assistant barked a question at me like I was a dog then stomped off like a stroppy teenager. I complained to the Acting duty manager who was patronizing and arrogant towards us. She leveled an unsubstantiated, very insulting accusation at us and upset my partner a great deal. We challenged her about this but didn’t receive an apology

I complained to Tesco HQ for NI, which is in Dundee. Eventually this was passed to the Store manager, who had been absent on the day in question. It was 26 Feb before he actually spoke to me, apparently he was absent a lot.

Well, it was not worth the wait. He quickly became quite aggressive, choosing to rant about one point in my complaint about which he took exception. Even after I conceded that particular point to him he carried on. He ranted at my partner when she tried to verify to him how upset she had been by the Acting Duty Manager’s comments. He glossed over our complaints and stated that the 2 culprits had denied everything. He was very rude and at no stage did he even attempt to deal with our complaint. I am convinced that the only reason he phoned was to rant at us.

I complained by e-mail to someone whom I initially thought was an immediate subordinate of Sir Terry Leahy but their title I found out later was Customer Service Executive. This person sent a bland reply, “I have spoken to the Store Manager, blah blah blah, I am happy with the way his staff treated you. The matter is closed.”

Yeah right, mate, I also complained about the actual Store Manager but he ignored that.

People reading this post may wonder why I am pursuing this but ask yourself if the person you loved was insulted and upset very much, what would you do? Also if we all let Tesco get away with appalling Customer Service, they will never change

I have sent another e-mail to Sir Terry Leahy. It is now 60 days since my first complaint. They are not exactly in a hurry to resolve the situation.

I have also posted this in the NI section for local interest. Hope that is OK.

Sorry this is quite a long post, and that is the shorter version!

Will keep you posted.

smileypigface

It must be very frustrating for you - some retail employees seem to forget that they are actually being paid to provide a service to the customer and instead adopt an attitude that they are doing customers a favour of some kind. Of course I generalise here, but this has been my experience (maybe it's me getting older!!:rolleyes: ) - I used to work on the checkouts of my local Sainsbury (a few years ago now) and would hope that I provided a better level of service than I seem to receive these days (now I DO sound old!!)!!

I didn't know there was a Tesco complaint blogspot .. how do I find it please?

leftieM

After reading your post it is unclear what are you hoping to achieve by pursuing this?
I've always found the staff at Tesco's (and most retail outlets) nice and helpful i must admit. I'm sorry that you've had an experience that has clearly upset you.

BigAl94

Maybe your attitude left a lot to be desired??

motorguy

personally if some retailer peeves me that much, i vote with my feet, i certainly wouldnt be wasting this much time (or stress levels) letting them get to me.

Lifes too short.

rjh090384

being nosy i would like to know what the query was that caused such a fuss i nthe first place

NiteRider

Thanks for the posts, folks.

The Tesco Complaint Blogspot can be found at http://www.tesco-complaint.blogspot.com/index.html

No, BigAl94, our attitude and behaviour towards the staff was calm and polite, as it always is with any retail employees. Most of the staff in our local Tesco are very polite and helpful.

Our initial query which I consider largely irrelevant was a Mispriced item. I accepted their explanation but not their attitude and behaviour.

I have heard from a source in the store that in their words, "it was mad that Saturday, just after Christmas and everyone had brought back refunds but had no receipts". I think we caught the aftermath of this through no fault of our own. Believe me if I thought we were at fault, I would not have pursued the matter to this extent.

My partner was very upset at their behaviour so I am asking Tesco for an apology for this insulting behaviour and attitude. It isn't really too much to ask but Tesco Customer Services seem to have a problem.

In the meantime we are not shopping at Tesco, choosing to bulk shop at Asda and Iceland and pick up fresh fruit and veg at St Georges Market in Belfast bits and pieces at other local outlets. Whether we return - well that is really up to Tesco.

Regards
NiteRider

hollydays

If as you say they were insulted,thats not a nice feeling,.Where you said you "demand" a sincere personal apology,thats not a good attitude to convey, sounds like you didnt do yourself any favours.

NiteRider

As I said above the original reason for approaching Customer Services was a query regarding a Mispriced item. I accepted their explanation but not their attitude and behaviour.

We complained to the Acting Duty Manager about the way the CS assistant had treated us. The ADM said "Do not treat our staff as animals, we are people". Now we did not treat anyone like an "animal". We challenged the Acting Duty Manager and explained that we always treated everyone in Tesco (or any other shop for that matter) with respect. She seemed to back down perhaps realising she had gone too far but didn't apologise.

I have suggested above why I suspect we got this reaction but it doesn't make it any more acceptable.

I feel I have, as you say, laid my cards on the table. If Tesco refuse to issue an apology, then we will not return to any of their stores.

wanna-be-mortgage-free_2

Hi Niterider

I have to say I have found customer service staff, not only at Tescos but a lot of other stores somewhat unprofessional. Unfortunately that seems to be a symptom of the way stores and shops are going these days, and as a mystery shopper I notice these things even more.

With regards Tescos I do know that with the new targets HQ have introduced, staff are very unhappy, they are rushed off their feet, get low pay and have managers who always seem to be sick! Of course that is not excusing their behaviour.

I feel you are justified in voting with your feet. You'll probably find you'll save some money :money:

nealnomoney

Im sure tesco will be hit hard by you and your partner not returning to the store. You are just a small needle in the haystack and wont affect their profits. I think you are just hoping to get a few money off vouchers by making all these complaints, honestly just leave it you wont get anywhere, staff are just there for their wages and dont really care about customers.