(2026 Edit - This post comes from the archive; it was first published on 4th October 2013 at 0747. Things, views and events may have changed since then.)
Customer Service in shops seems to be a relic from a bygone
age, something that used to happen in the past, but just milk bottles on every
doorstep, rag and bone men, it’s been consigned to history. I’m not on
about the ‘Are you being served?’ sort of service, but just the general good manners,
the please, the thank you’s, you know, general stuff like that. Surely just a
little common decency is not too much to ask for, especially when they’re
asking you to part with your hard-earned money? Maybe it’s just me; maybe I’m
just a crotchety old buffer who thinks please and thank yous are important
when working in a retail environment, because they seem so rare these days. I
normally let it slide and keep my mouth shut, but just occasionally I’ll say
something, perhaps ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you say please’ or ‘thank you’
or whatever it happens to be. One such occasion was a recent trip to the local
supermarket where the check-out lady was, let's just say, not the most customer-focused of people. In fact, the whole shopping trip had been a bit of an
issue, so much so that when I got home I
decided to write a letter to the store Manager –
Dear Mr 'store managers name edited out'... I like Morrion’s as a supermarket, I find the own brand items great value and impressive quality and whilst it’s a slight distance more from me than ASDA in Silverhill, I choose to do at least one of my two weekly shops at your store each week. The special offers are usually good as is their stock level, with most items in plentiful supply. The freshness of the perishable food items at the front of the store is another positive mark for your supermarket. However the only drawback about visiting your store is the staff – there are some that are happy to help but more often than not, especially recently, they couldn’t give a damn about customers or offering even passable customer service. My last shopping experience with you was a classic example of this ‘uncaring’ attitude and bad service. The fresh fish counter was left unattended, the man in the apron wasn’t far away, he was too busy chatting to two other members of staff – about non-work related issues at the display area to the left of the counter. They didn’t notice or didn’t care about an elderly lady waiting, I myself bought some ‘packet’ fresh fish rather than wait to be served by staff too busy chatting to serve. My next port of call as was the bakery area, I was going to get some fresh rolls, however, I decided against this when I watched one of the bakery staff carry a basket out to replenish stock, wipe his nose on the back of his hand and then with the same hand (ungloved) place the rolls in their respective baskets. Now whilst it was the back of his hand and not his fingers that was touching his nose, it doesn’t really inspire confidence of cleanliness nor that fresh bread will be free of nose debris. It was a busy day at the checkouts, so a little wait was to be expected and I didn’t mind that at all, however, as soon as my items were at the front, there was a changeover of staff, both of which ignored me, their customer, neither apologized for keeping me waiting as they changed over and the incoming staff member complained about the absence of a stool. After some muttered assumption about my ability to pack for myself she started to rather uncaringly pass my items through the scanner. Now whilst I wouldn’t say she was being rough with the items, I would say she was rather firm, so firm in fact that at least three strawberries were squashed. Once all the shopping was passed through and scanned she asked for the money, although when I say she asked for the money, I actually mean she just said the total, no please, or anything like that, just the amount. I asked her to repeat it, twice, just to make sure there was no ‘please’ and give her the opportunity to offer at last the resemblance of manners, but no none came. ‘I thought you might have said a please’ I said, ‘but evidently not’ I continued, to which this lady just pursed her lips, tutted and snatched the twenty pound note out of my hand, before I had chance to retrieve a five pound note. Change was given, with receipt, but a thank you was absent. Its customer service like this that let down Morrison’s dramatically and whilst you are the only large supermarket in the town centre itself that you can rely on having constant custom, the terrible service doesn’t inspire those with many more supermarket options available to us to shop with you. Morrison’s is spending millions on advertising this year, yet that money is completely wasted if such poor customer service drives shoppers away and to your rivals. I’ve enclosed my receipt so you may perhaps trace the checkout operator and offer her a little more training or encourage her to treat customers a little more like human beings rather than just an inconvenience to her day. Yours
Over three weeks later, still no reply from the manager, not
that I expected an apology; just an acknowledgement would have done, but nothing
came, and I have to confirm it was that lack of contact that pissed me off more
than the bad service in the first place. It really rankled me that my letter –
yes, a real-life paper and ink jobby letter with a stamp and everything – was simply
ignored. So I fired off a copy to the customer service department on the store's
website. A couple of automated replies and a week later I got a reply, simply a
standard copy-and-paste job apologising for the poor service; nothing mentioned
about the lack of reply from the store manager, or any of the contents of the
letter, just a sorry. Still, it was a reply, and I was grateful for that; they also sent a letter in the post, ‘sorry to hear
of the issues you brought to our attention ’, and sent me a £10 gift voucher as a
token of regret for my inconvenience. I
used it on Sunday to buy wine, bread and chocolate.
