Dealing with bad customer service

[MamaLema]

Looking for some advice. I'm not looking to be compensated or get coupons or anything like that. But I would like to write a letter about crappy customer service I got yesterday. I've never ever complained about customer service. Maybe I'm getting old but I don't have the patience I used to

Last evening our family went to buy shoes at a big chain sports store. I asked for a shoe for my son. The guy said he would bring it right out. DH and me started talking and weren't really paying any attention if the guy actually went to the back. About 5 min passed and we notice the guy is at the register. I ask him if he forgot about the shoe and he said "No, the girl will get it for you"(referring to the other employee) So we waited another 10 minutes and nobody is brought out anything to us or even talked to us. Another 5 minutes pass and I notice the girl employee is now at the front register.

We approach her and it's obvious she didn't know she was supposed to do anything so I'm not blaming her, just the guy. 20 passed it total and I was so pissed off I told DH let's go. 20 minutes in a shoe store with 3 kids is plenty. There were NO OTHER CUSTOMERS in the store the whole entire time.

I would like to complain and was wondering is it better to go back and talk to the manager, write a letter or call the head office?

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

I would call and talk to the manager. That kind of customer service is UNACCEPTABLE, especially if it's a slow night. If it's busy, I'd be a tad bit more understanding, but not if it's slow like that.

The guy should feel lucky you didn't go back into the stockroom and start looking for the shoe yourself! I worked at in the shoe dept of a dept store while DH and I were engaged and I had a couple of customers do just that when they felt they weren't being served fast enough.

TOV

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I usually go the e-mail route, sending it to the store and any other e-mail addresses I can find. However, I'm a bit confused as to why it went on so long without you noticing that these people weren't helping you. I would have waited the initial 5 minutes if the person was out of view, assuming that he was in the back looking for the shoes, but if he was in plain sight, you should have said something right away, at least that's going to be how it comes across to whoever gets your e-mail/phone call. If you do write the letter or call, make sure you have the names of the employees and the time that this occurred. Also, make sure you mention that there weren't any other customers in the shoe area of the store and that you aren't looking for compensation.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I used to work for customer service for a large company and I think I have some good advice. This advice is good for anyone with a customer service issue with a large company. First of all, speak with the store manager. Allow him to address the problem and make any apologies. Get his name and write it down for future reference. If you feel better after talking to the store manager, great. That should suffice.

However, if you don't feel like you were taken seriously, it's time to step it up a level or 2. WRITE, don't call the home office. If this is a big chain, they probably have a customer service dept and receive hundreds of complaint calls a day. That's typical for ANY large retail establishment. You don't want to just call, have your issue documented and sent back to the same store manager for resolution. If you feel that strongly about the service you received, find out the address of the corporate office and, most importantly, address it to the President and be sure and use his name, not just "To the President of XYZ Co."
Chances are the actual president will never see your letter, however, a higher level of customer service reps will. And these people really take the time to address and resolve your issue. In your letter, document the facts. Date and approximate time. Names, if you have any. Especially the store managers name. Try and not be mean or use profanity. Just tell them you are very disappointed in the level of customer service you received and maybe mention that you up until this point have been a loyal customer. I know you said you didn't want coupons, I would mention that as well. Customers who DEMAND compensation, well to me, that just sets a bad tone.

 

[MamaLema]

Wow! Thanks for the quick replies

 

[rie'smom]

Bad service,unfortunately,seems to be the rule rather than the exception. I keep thinking that I'll offer classes to businesses to train their employees in customer realtions but I'm afraid there wouldn't be any takers. This year w/the exception of a couple of locally owned businesses,I'm planning to do all of my Christmas shopping on the internet. At least I won't gat attitude.

 

[ZipaDeeDooDah]

You have had some great advice, and I would also add that if you are going to write, it might help to start your letter off on a positive note so that the person reading it does not feel defensive right off the bat. You could relate how you usually enjoy shopping at their store because...blah blah blah. I find it helps to establish a positive connection before hitting them with the negative aspect.

 

[Linnie The Pooh]

I've done both, wrote and called. I feel better when I write because they have what went wrong in writing vs. their recollection of what I told them on the phone. It just feels like more of an impact to me.

I just had terrible service at a shoe store so I feel you pain. Buying shoes for my kids has been nothing but bad experiences in every store I've tried. This time was Dillard's.

The store was a mess. DD4 fell over a pile of shoes and got a huge rug burn.
Took forever to get waited on. I finally had to hunt someone down from the childrens' dept. No one working anywhere knew how to measure kids' feet. They didn't have the kind of shoes we wanted, but we found others. When we went to pay with a gift card, she couldn't get it to work and told us they don't accept gift cards. Uh, I just used one in their store 2 weeks ago and it worked fine.

45 minutes later, we ended up taking our shoes to the women's dept. and paying there b/c this dolt couldnt run a gift card. Why did we stay 45 mins? I'll never know. Just dumb, I guess. Or gluttons for punishment. She was on the phone to a manager that whole time who was trying to walk her through how to run a gift card. I wondered why the mgr. never came out to help her, but let us wait there for 45 mins. It was so frustrating. I wrote a letter.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I've just started doing some mystery shopping and I'll have to say that it's really helped me to start paying attention in general to my shopping/restaurant experiences. Since I just started with the mystery shopping, I'm really trying to pay more attention when I go out all the time--kind of training myself (to the names of employees, the store conditions, the number of minutes it takes me to be waited on, etc). It's a good lesson in paying attention, especially since I have some short term memory problems.

 

[Cool-Beans]

The best way to deal with it, IMHO, is to just quit shopping there.

shoes.com is handy, but there are other sites.

 

[Apothecary]

I'm finding service in general is worsening all the time. And, it doesn't seem to matter if you complain or not. Nobody, management included, seems to even care.

All you get is "I understand your frustration," but, then they don't do anything to lessen than frustration

 

[delilah]

Actually, I haven't purchased shoes at Macy's (used to be Lazarus) for years due the poor customer service in the shoe department. (I know OP wasn't about Macy's). I never could figure out just how to get the clerk's attention when I wanted a pair of shoes. I tried walking up to one to ask for a pair--I was instructed that I needed to sit down and wait my turn. I sat there for the longest time, with no assistance. This has chronically been the case at that department store, as long as I can remember, which is nearly 30 years. It hasn't changed. My friend and I went to Macy's last month, and she wanted to purchase a pair of shoes. My son and husband were with us, also. My son got the attention of a clerk when he found her computer stylus and was using it to rap on the chair legs. Can't say I can blame him for being bored. She didn't say "thanks, I was looking for that", just snatched it out of his hands. My friend wasn't so lucky, but, finally got someone's attention, and finally, 40 minutes later, got her shoes.