J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Come on, name and shame those companies that give poor service, or any examples of good service you have come across.

We put up with so much crap in this country.

For me JJB were horrendous, waiting for an assistant whilst they discussed their social life for ten minutes having seen me, I asked for some help and was looked at with disgust and told to wait a minute whilst they continued their conversation, I walked out.

On the other hand, Boots, totally brilliant when I was looking for baby related stuff and looking confused, not just once but several times, very helpful.

Leslie

I agree totally with what you say. Pity you did not call the manager when they were ignoring you, and then walk out!

Les

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

See my two posts last week on BRILLIANT customer service: Midland Turbo, and P&O.

Alcazar

SWRTWannabe

I always find excellent service in Next - even at Christmas time when they are busy, they are happy to help me find an item that Mrs SWRTWannabe has seen in the catalogue etc.

JJB gets a thumbs down too - went in there trying to get a table tennis bat, and the guy that I asked didn't seem to know what a table tennis bat was

Removed.

Carphone warehouse in Milton Keynes, one guy went out of his way to be extremely helpful, on two separate occasions. Also Dell when I had a problem with the keyboard on my laptop. I deal with HP at work, and when they're good, they're really good, but when they're bad f3ck me they're sodding awful!

Oh, and my local Subaru dealer rocks

ScoobyWon't

They generally run on these principles at JJB:

Customer Care - If we really care for the customer we'd send them somewhere better.

Customer Satisfaction - Because we're not satisfied until you're not satisfied.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

B&Q whenever you want any timber cutting. It's like you have asked them to saw off their own left ********. Rude and slow - that is a great combination ... not!

Local Subaru dealer sucks too. Kept on hold for 15 mins being told by their wonderful hold message how they knew everything about my Subaru and could take care of my every need only to be asked when they eventually bothered to answer the phone whether my 2003 STI Type UK was an automatic. I hung up and went somewhere else.

GC8WRX

JJB is obviously going to be ****, they employ 18 year old tools on minimum wage, whos only benefits are cheap air max's, half price gym and an endless stream of 16 year old girl chavs to chat up!

As if they give a **** about the job!

The places with good customer service are the ones that pay well for the role, thus attracting a better clientel to interviews!

And B&Q just employs people from the employment graveyard, not one shop floor member under 50 round here!

Luan Pra bang

How many retailers paymore than minimum wage ? Customer service is down training and good management nothing else.

zs_phil

iTrader: (1)

curry's for me i went to buy a 42" plasma last year in hull down clough road and asked a geezer with glasses about a deal with that and something else he said add that price to the tv and turned his back on me and started talking to one of his work mates so i went somewhere else and got a cracking deal
was going to see the manager with my receipt saying how they had lost a sale but my lass said just leave it .

The Zohan

Amazon - Brilliant!

Ebay - rubbish, impersonal and uncaring
Orange - sold our detials to one of their partners and we got ripped off by them pretneding to be orange - orange no help sorting it out, we managed to do it oursleves though a loophole - Orange the worst customer service in the world imho.

P1Fanatic

Worst has to be British Gas by a country mile. 5 months to get a £60 credit balance owed to me after they closed the old one just because I wanted to change the name on the account. God knows how much time in hours I wasted chasing that down. Included:

i) Telling me it would be automatically credited to my new account - it wasnt
ii) They would send a cheque - they never did
iii) They would sent another cheque - they did but made out to my ex whose name it was I took off the account lol.

Repeat that lot twice and your nearly there

Simon

corradoboy

$h!ttish Gas for me too.

Theory -

Price fixed √
Dual fuel - single bill √ + relevant discount √
Direct debit of bill amount quarterly √ + relevant discount √
Paperless billing √ + relevant discount √

Practise -

Price fixed - Nope ! Rose 3x in 4 months
Dual fuel - single bill - Nope ! Gas billed on net, elec separately by post
Direct debit of bill amount quarterly - Nope ! DD never set up
Paperless billing - Nope ! Gas yes, elec no.
Relevant discounts - Nope ! None applied
Threats of legal action and disconnection when I didn't pay a bill whilst they were trying to sort their own mess out and resupply the said bill at the correct rates √

100% failure on simply setting up an account, 100% failure to rectify any part of it over 15 months, 100% happy with new supplier and will never go back to them even if they were the cheapest as I would rather pay more for better service.

corradoboy

I think NMW has been a curse disguised as a blessing in some ways. Yes, there were people being paid less then £2/hr and that needed addressing, but many jobs which paid a little more were downgraded to NMW. The old adage, 'pay peanuts - get monkeys' is usually correct. If you can walk or be kicked out and walk straight a similar position for the exact same money a few hours later you will have no pride, commitment or dedication, and this can manifest itself as apathy and disrespect, which no customer will appreciate and thus may well look for alternatives. I was a manager at my previous employer and fought to get better pay for the lads below me, only to be knocked back by the directors almost every time. Ultimately they left for better pay, prospects or experiences and we struggled to find decent replacements from the sort whom are prepared to accept what they offered. I left too and the last I heard they had made an operating loss for over 2 years following due to customer desertion following poor quality work and service.

Lily The Beige

Spec savers buxton, old witch was so unhelpful, border line obnoxious. I now use Stokers who are lovely

NotoriousREV

Customer Service is a dying art in this country. Very few places know how to do the small, thoughtful things that make a customer happy never mind the big, really obvious things.

And do you know why this is the case? Because we as consumers demand the lowest possible prices so the first thing out of the window is training, both for those who are supposed to give good service and those that are supposed to manage it and the second thing out is the wages to attract decent people who are committed to providing a good customer experience.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

I work in customer services myself, and with the level of service we are expected to give, I can honestly say my experiences with some other places have been less than positive. I rarely ask for any help, unless absolutely necessary, yet when I do, I'm surprised how widespread, lack of help is. However I would say it's often down to the person, rather than the company as a whole at times. Surprisingly, perhaps, I find Tesco particularly bad, on many occassions, but maybe I am one who expects too much based on what I have to do in my role.

If I may, I'll turn the discussion around briefly. I work for a fairly poor wage (hopefully something may come along which is better),but it's my job, and regardless of the fact it's crap, I have pride in what I do, and always do my best by the customer. However, customers aren't always the nicest either, and can actually make it incredibly difficult to carry on treating them respectfully. Many a time I have done all I can to help, yet it's never good enough. I have been shouted at/sworn at etc. purely due to the person's nature, as a result it makes it difficult to carry on helping. People should not have to put up with abuse at work, but it's common practice in this line of work, which to some extent you just have to get on with, but you shouldn't.

I'm not saying people commenting on this thread behave that way, but sometimes it's worth asking yourself, from a customer perspective, are you actually treating the person who is going to be serving you in an acceptable manner? All too often, due to working in a shop, we are treated like **** on someone's shoe, looked down on etc, and if that is the way, those in this role are being treated, then it's no other wonder service isn't always it's best. Remember, they are people just the same, and depending on the shop/ business in question, the role often has alot to it, but just not generally well paid.

All that said, if you treat people how you would like to be treated, and service is still bad, there is no excuse. All imo.

Gordo

British Gas - appalling - 3 years to refund over-payment of VAT cos THEY decided I was a business user (although electric with them was domestic). 7 VAT declarations before it was sorted.

British Telecom - Indian call centres. Enough said.

Gordo

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Lisa, I know what you are saying, people can be awful to those working in service industries, sometimes they are under duress and sometimes they are just arseholes. I am always courteous and respectful having been there myself, I found most were alright but some sad cases go out of there way to be unpleasant, looking to affirm themselves by picking on or demeaning someone they perceive as further down the food chain. I had this at the airport when I worked on the bar, gang of lads in, going to Greece or somewhere, one took offense at my prescense and started taking the p1ss,for no reason other than to have some fun, I just stood there and took it, he came back to get some more drinks and started again, I said then that if he carried on I could get him kicked out of the airport, cause him to miss his flight, so he carried on saying how I couldnt do anything, I pointed out the armed copper (El Al flight coming in) and I said i could get him arrested, he laughed and went back to his cronies.

What he didnt know is I knew the armed copper to say hello to, so I dived from behind the bar and went and had a chat with the Copper, I didnt mention the cretin at the bar, but I made gestures in his general direction so it looked like I was pointing him out, I have never seen anyones **** drop out so quickly, he took a sudden interest in getting him and his mates through passport control.

You dont always get your own back, but the occasional victory helps, I have (whilst working in pubs) had knifes waved at me, my car jumped on, drunken squaddies p1ssing up the bar and happened on old blokes tossing each other off in the toilets, I have cleaned up puke, runny Border Collie **** and had a airborne ashtray miss me by inches, I have been felt up by women (quite aggressively !) and offered out by blokes, I am so glad I dont work in public service any more !

oldsplice

Lisa!

You've written everything I would have! I've only been working with the general public for 2 years and it has been such an eye-opener. I'm just biding my time at the moment, but I feel so sorry for people who have to do it. I work on the checkout (thankfully only for a couple of days a week) and we're treated like scum. Like in all walks of life, there are some people who are lovely, but they are often few and far between. Once I have that (hideous) uniform on I become a non-person and it's soul destroying.

Lisa and I have said a few times that we would start a thread about shopping etiquette. 'Things To Do/Not Do When Shopping' might be a good title!

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Good story. It is nice to have one over on those unpleasant ones now and again.

Like I said before, I will at some point get out of this work, just have to put my mind to it, and be a bit more determined. Like yourself, I doubt I'll look back. It can be a soul destroying job, and I think only those with experience, really appreciate it from the workers side. Again though, some staff can be worse than **** though. Just to add balance.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Kim, I have to do it at the moment, and it is crap, but it's a job, and until things change, I will put my all in, as much as that may be difficult for some to understand. Generally, I would say I encounter more unpleasant people than nice, but maybe it just feels that way. Equally as, I know people are more likely to shout out about bad service, than appreciate good. Many a time, I go out of my way, without even a thank you, yet ever dare to not be able to offer the earth to someone, and than you know about it.

We really need to start a thread.

scoobz72

BT win my vote, 1 n half hours on hold just to get "Computer says No"
Oh add 6 months before you get a refund. And they rub it in while on hold by constantly saying "for more details visit www.bt.com" I would have if you connected me phone cretins