Service with a smile?

Sometimes the levels of service you receive from the same retailer over a period of a few weeks make you wonder if they have changed their customer service policy while you were away.

I had a real problem with my mobile phone recently. It seemed to be using more data than ever before, and the battery was draining very quickly.

Two problems I could do without, although I have been told that keeping the phone in my pocket and not using it quite as much would be an alternative solution to both problems.

So I took it back to the shop I bought it from, having already had a really useful and helpful conversation with one of the sales staff there the last time I had a problem. The reception I got this time couldn’t have been more different.

Basically I was told that there was nobody around to help me there and then, even although I hadn’t even had a chance to explain the problem and for all they knew it might have been a two minute job to fix. I was told that I could wait to see someone, but I would have to understand that waiting times were an hour or so, or I could ‘make an appointment and come back tomorrow’ or whenever else suited me.

I have to say I was surprised especially given the friendly reception the last time I had been in. But do you know what made it worse? I got the feeling that the guy I spoke to, who was a ‘supervisor’, wasn’t really that concerned whether I went back the next day or never darkened his door again.

He seemed completely unconcerned whether I was satisfied with their service. And that made me think that his staff wouldn’t be a whole lot better given that, as a supervisor, he would have a responsibility for training staff. Maybe that was unfair of me, perhaps the rest of the staff would have been great to deal with and I was just unlucky that I caught someone in a bad moment or on a bad day.

Either way it was a poor show and quite frankly will make me think twice about another phone from the same retailer when my contract is due to be renewed at the end of this year.

Do any of you have any similar experiences to share?

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One Thought to “Service with a smile?”

  1. Bruce

    There’s a bike shop – part of a national chain – that I have visited on occasion, and got great service for small purchases. But I went into their city centre store, keen to spend a significant amount of money, and was basically ignored. Mid afternoon, shop was quiet, sales people weren’t noticeably busy.

    I told the sales guy what type of bike I wanted, and that I was aiming to spend about 800 pounds, but would go to 1000 if they could demonstrate why it was worth spending the extra. That should be an open invitation to a good salesperson, but the guy basically said to me “have a think about those ones over there, but we probably won’t have the right size for you”, vaguely waving his hand towards some bikes at the other side of the shop. No attempt to find out which was the best suited bike for me, no attempt to find the right size, no offer of a test ride – nothing.

    I did complain to the manager, but spent my money elsewhere.

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