Your best and worst customer service experiences [rant & praise]

dudara · 10-07-2008 8:36pm

groc17 wrote: »

I was in dunnes stores in the marshes shopping centre last week and i will not be going back. The so called checkout "manager" was so rude to one of the girls on the checkouts, I even over heard her tell another "manager" that she loves making the girls look foolish in front of the customers. I was shell shocked that she could get away with this. She looked like a right little hitler with no manners at all. I will never set foot in any dunnes stores again, not that they will miss the few euros I spend there but if anyone who saw what I did would do the same.

Walking away and not spending your money will not make any difference. Make an official complaint in writing to the head manager of the store outlining what you saw. That might change something.

Wile E. Coyote · 11-07-2008 1:45pm

What a useless, hateful, shower of B******S!!! :mad:

Sorry but had to get that off my chest. Went in for a look around a couple of months ago and there was a sale on. Saw a nice dining set but wasn't really sure if we really wanted/needed it. Sales woman told us we could put a deposit on the item to hold it at that price, go home have a think about it and then give her a call if we wanted to order it. So we went home and had a think and realised that leather dining chairs in a house full of animals just wouldn't last very long so decided to ring and get the money back.

This can't be done in the shop you have to ring some faceless Customer Service rep to cancel any order. She advised that it's in they're T's & C's that they don't refund deposits you can only have an in store credit. What a crock. If we had been told this at the time then we wouldn't have paid the deposit in the first place. Plus they're T's & C's are not posted in store.

Six months later still arguing with them. Store manager can't/won't do anything. We have a poxy in-store credit that we don't want or need and they won't even let us have it in a gift voucher that we can pass on to someone who might use it.

Toto Wolfcastle · 16-07-2008 1:34pm

Ryanair were brilliant when the flights in Dublin were cancelled last week. There were announcements every few minutes offering a refund or rescheduled flight, and the online refund form was quick and easy to fill out. I got my refund today no problem. I know that I was entitled to the refund but you hear stories of airlines trying to get out of giving what's due so I thought I should point out when airlines do it right.

Glowing · 16-07-2008 2:30pm

The good: Marks & Spencers - Dundrum - This is how customer service should be!! Excellent!

The bad: Tesco

The ugly: Irish Broadband. Say no more.

Glowing · 16-07-2008 2:47pm

useful_contacts wrote: »

Oh my GOD im so sick of the place!!! Same situation with buying electronics "Go to the manufacturer" even though id have the reciept!!!

And also was in there last week looking for something that i think they were out of but the might still have some in the store room so i went to ask a salesgirl

Her response "Im sorry i dont understand"

2nd person i asked " I dont know what your saying"

3rd person i asked "I dont know much english"

At this stage we went to the service desk where once again THEY DIDNT SPEAK HARDLY ANY ENGLISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whats the point of having staff who cant help the customers cos they dont understand them!!!!!

*RANT OVER*

Haha! A few months ago, I asked a fella to tell me where the Cornflour was - he said 'what?' and I said 'Cornflour' - then he said Ahhh, and brought me over to the .... Cornflakes .... :P

mcbads08 · 18-07-2008 11:44pm

RANT RANT RANT

MBNA... calling them incompetent and rude is an understatement - the most annoyingly process driven company i've ever dealt with. Staff seem to be brainwashed by the "process" and assume customers are robot clones who are happy to go along with the process

The stupidest process ive ever heard in my life - you can't pay (ie. GIVE them money) over the phone UNLESS you are in arrears - ie. to make sure you fall into arrears if you can't get to a post office or whatever and they collect the late payment!!

The only thing more annoying is the staff who clearly do not give a damn about their customers!

Davy · 18-07-2008 11:48pm

Can use online banking to do a transfer, its also possible to use billpay.ie using a laser card or a registered bank account.

Aseth · 23-07-2008 2:21pm

Raves:

Absolutely perfect customer service:
although I probably shouldn't promote this place as I'm afraid of not getting free seats but Da Vincenzo - italian restaurant on Leeson St. is divine! Not only with great food but also really friendly/polite staff and quick service.

UPS - had to change my delivery address last few times and they had no problem with that.

Permanent TSB - friendly and professional staff, everything sorted exactly as I needed.

Bravissimo - had no problems with returning my order, they exchanged it for what I needed - all correspondence done via email.

Rant
Iwantoneofthose - the worst place to do the online shopping, they couldn't find my order, didn't really bothered to, one girl managed to find it - the next couldn't for some reason. I never received a promised callback. All this just before Christmas while waiting for presents for my family. A nightmare.

timmy69 · 28-07-2008 7:17am

Worst:
Laptopsdirect.ie
directtvs.co.uk

They are the worst place to deal with, customer service is straight up rude to the point they keep bouncing you back an forth with sales. The sales people are straight up liars! and even bad mouth fellow salesmen. They even tried to get more money out of me on the phone, when I could have bought on their website for about 50 euro less. STAY AWAY FROM THEM and laptopsdirect.ie (same company).

hussey · 28-07-2008 8:17am

My sister bought a TV a few years ago from the electronics store of ESB. When delivered, it had a small crack/scratch on the top right hand side.
She rang the store and they agreed to replace.
A day later a knock on the door with a new TV, my sister asked were they going to take the old one too (as very small apartment) they said someone else would pick that up later in day as they only do deliveries.

Since they never picked it up, I then became the recipient of a new (with small scratch) tv

Mitch Connor · 28-07-2008 8:22am

Aseth wrote: »

Permanent TSB - friendly and professional staff, everything sorted exactly as I needed.

Some woman (don't know who she is) gained access to my friends online bank account with TSB a couple of months ago. She had been trying to access her own account but managed to open his instead. She rang TSB and, according to her, they could not have cared less. My friend only found out about it because this woman actually called to his house (got his address from the account) to tell him what had happened.

My mate rang TSB to see what the story was, they put him on hold, tolld him they would call him back (never did ) and when my mate rang them back, no one had any idea what he was talking about!

He has since closed his accounts with them.

Kashkai · 06-08-2008 9:59am

I bought a tv from Richersounds and I wasn't too happy with teh picture. Their MD, John McDonald rang me up and offered a replacement or a refund, no questions asked. Now thats damn good customer service. Thats why I'd buy from them again.

jahalpin · 10-08-2008 10:30pm

I've just gotten home from a few days in Cork. I was staying at one of the airport hotels and had to get a bus into the city if I needed to go anywhere.

I used the Skylink service several times and was very impressed. For a start, there is a bus to the city every half hour and, unlike Bus Eireann, the buses actually arrived and departed on time. The staff were cheerful and helped people with their luggage etc.

I would never use Bus Eireann's crap service again after using this company

Bigeamo · 11-08-2008 11:47am

I never seem to remember the good ones but I never forget the bad ones...

Ryanair - Almost lead to me being arrested in an airport in France

Perlico - I know that they have changed but I could never bring myself to ever give them another chance

CDWOW - just go to HMV, honestly.

foggy_lad · 12-08-2008 11:34am

sent my nokia away for repair to some place in sandyford and when it returned it had the reciept from someone elses N80 internet tablet attached showing his name address where it was purchased etc rang the company but after the 1st minute on hold i hung up and posted it back to its rightful owner with a note explaining who i was.

o2 customer care are fantastic, very efficient and professional. dealt with them once and was reassured that they knew what they were talking about!

Rebel021 · 12-08-2008 11:46am

foggy_lad wrote: »

sent my nokia away for repair to some place in sandyford and when it returned it had the reciept from someone elses N80 internet tablet attached showing his name address where it was purchased etc rang the company but after the 1st minute on hold i hung up and posted it back to its rightful owner with a note explaining who i was.

o2 customer care are fantastic, very efficient and professional. dealt with them once and was reassured that they knew what they were talking about!

Mobile Phone Repair Company
http://www.mprc.ie/default.asp

A bad company who would replace their staff for somebody who would work for
2p less a day.
They have another company in sandyford who do all of Vodafones phones
Packaging and deliveries to stores who were fined a few years back for
having a complete illegal work force.

limbovski · 20-08-2008 5:05pm

So I bought quite an expensive bed from Dekko up north. The delivery company they use imo were pants. 5 times over 10 days I rang them and they didn't return my calls. I don't want to get into it but it was bad enough to make me never go in there again (they have some real nice stuff too :mad:)

So I actually bothered to use the feedback form on their website to let them know about this. Within 2 hours they called me :eek:, apologised , refunded my delivery and assured me if there was any problems with the bed they'd sort it out. Absolutely outstanding outcome in my opinion. I will definitly shop there again. This is the essence of good customer service imo.

Toto Wolfcastle · 27-08-2008 4:54pm

Dell were great again recently. My laptop battery decided to go a bit mad and I e-mailed them about the problem. Within a day it was sorted and a new battery is now on the way, free even though the year warranty is just up.

Dues Bellator · 27-08-2008 5:04pm

janeybabe wrote: »

Dell were great again recently. My laptop battery decided to go a bit mad and I e-mailed them about the problem. Within a day it was sorted and a new battery is now on the way, free even though the year warranty is just up.

oh i do love that out of warrenty after sales service, sign of a company that really cares about there customers.

TequilaMockingBird · 02-09-2008 10:24am

Kevin
Talk Talk
Nice chap. Very helpful. The rest of Talk Talk...hmm...

all the stars · 05-09-2008 3:01pm

Young girl, dark hair at till. Has to be one of the most helpful and friendly store assistants in ages.
And it was early when i went in...

ergonomics · 05-09-2008 5:37pm

Halfords in Kilkenny.

I used to be a very loyal customer but there customer service has gone so bad that I won't be going back.

Three times recently I have run in to get something small and have been left standing at the till for an unreasonable amount of time. There were staff on the floor trying their hardest not to make eye contact and last night one staff member was outside the shop messing about with his friends while I was left at the till. Twice now I've walked out without what I need because I refused to wait any longer.

Last night I was told they could not install a bulb as I had no receipt, despite the fact that it said Halfords on the packet. I also bought a steering wheel lock which doesn't fit my car so I wanted to exchange it, but I had lost the receipt. I know this is my fault but the box says 'exclusively made for Halfords' on it. Anyway they will only exchange it for something of equal value and I was told that I could not part exchange it for something more expensive and pay the difference. I had a 15% discount on the lock so it's an awkward price meaning there is no way I can make up the price again and am stuck with a lock that I can't use.

All of this goes on when the manager isn't there. She is brilliant - really helpful and knows her stuff. But the rest of the staff are dire.

SerialComplaint · 06-09-2008 8:58am

Worst: In the last week, I've got 'deleted not read' email receipts from both Tesco and O2 for emails sent to them 16 (O2) and 23 (Tesco) months ago. See http://serialcomplainer.com for more details.

Best: Aer Arann, and in particular their American-accented steward Troy who entertained me with genuinely funny jibes and commentary on an internal flight this week.

Thoie · 07-09-2008 5:11pm

:mad: Rants:
NTL - 8 months to cancel an account and receive a refund. Finally sorted with legal action.

Nintendo - 3 months now waiting for a faulty Wii to be replaced. They finally sent one Friday, and that's not working at all - even worse than the one they replaced.

GLS couriers - surly, unpleasant and generally incompetent.

Raves:
Homebase, Fonthill - fantastic quick friendly service - they even recut a piece of wood for me that I had mismeasured.

AIB - both my own branch and 24 hour service have always been extremely pleasant and helpful.

Halfords, Liffey Valley - have bought a number of things from them recently and they've always been very pleasant and efficient. From the other tales on here, maybe it's just that shop though.

keyboardist · 08-09-2008 2:14pm

I bought furniture in Cork (no names mentioned) and found after I had bought it that the company was advertising a Summer Sale on their website with large discounts. I should have read Ten Top Tips before Buying Furniture before my shopping trip. Some good sound advise there like bringing a camera and a note book and a tape measure.

PeteK* · 09-09-2008 4:40pm

Arsenal's Online shop, Good Service .. received a broken item.. sent a new one out with no problems

stakey · 09-09-2008 4:48pm

Clearwire: Utterly appalling experience that resulted in them selling non-existant debt to a debt collection agency. Me notes my framed apologies from both companies

Dell: Bought a laptop from them for a Christmas present, they delivered to wrong address and took 2 weeks to reclaim it from that address whilst all the time refusing to send out a new one to me. They intended to reclaim it, check it and reseal it if necessary and send back out to me, i demanded a brand new one. I eventually prevailed after spending two hours on the phone refusing to get off of it. Won't ever buy from them again, incredibly rude staff who lost the information on my case over and over.

SerialComplaint · 09-09-2008 8:24pm

stakey wrote: »

Dell: Bought a laptop from them for a Christmas present, they delivered to wrong address and took 2 weeks to reclaim it from that address whilst all the time refusing to send out a new one to me. They intended to reclaim it, check it and reseal it if necessary and send back out to me, i demanded a brand new one.

How would you tell the difference between a brand new one, and a checked/resealed one?

mixer101 · 12-09-2008 3:09pm

A big thumbs up to Amazon.com - Quite simply the BEST of service, always efficient and faultless transactions. Have used them about 10 times and every transaction was a pleasure and delivered in the blink of an eye!!

Marks & Spencer - Whatever training / induction courses they use for their staff should be recommended to every other grocery outlet.... I have found them to be always helpful, polite and nothing is ever too much trouble. They are lovely people. Well done, esp. those at the Naas branch!

Barker & Jones bookstore in Naas - very courteous friendly staff always ready to help you and nearly get upset if they don't have what you're looking for! Brilliant.

:mad: Eircom, useless call centre, ignorant obnoxious engineers, disinterested 'supervisors' - I use the word loosely - mostly these bad apples seem to be the junk left over from the old P&T days and have major chips on their shoulders...mustn't have been offered the right redundancy wad a few years ago and so we customers must suffer....

:mad: Superquinn Walkinstown - I remember a few years ago it was a pleasure to shop there but now they have some of the rudest staff that simply do not care what you have to say or what you want, they couldn't give a flying phuck if you never come back.
Watched one day while the checkout beast nearly jumped out her pelt when she was handed a €200 note and says she'd never seen one of those and therefore couldn't accept it .... demanded the customer give her some other 'ordinary' money, the customer insisted it was legal tender. After much tut-tutting the checkout beast gets up and goes over to another cashier and they have a natter about the offending note for a few minutes while shooting suspicious glances at the customer, comes back and announces, she'll accept it this time. Customer says not to bother asks for her €200 note back and walks away leaving a week's worth of groceries piled up at the checkout while the beast nearly gags herself with rage! Well done that customer...!

Lollipops23 · 29-09-2008 3:10pm

Worst: have had horrible trouble with meteor-they overcharged me before and after a lovely girl promised me they'd reimberse me i had an absolute git of a manager telling me she made the whole thing up:rolleyes: he was actually shouting down the phone at me!

PCworld-every time i go in to my local branch there's no sales staff!!like literally nobody around!!and the last time i was in i went to ask a staff member something as he was rushing passed and he shouted(without even turning around!)that we'd have to wait for someone else!

Best:Vision Express; the receptionist and optician were fantastic, the optician spent ages with me,really great and couldn't do enough for me(sales team were a bit of a pain in the bum though!)

tbh · 29-09-2008 4:25pm

mixer101 wrote: »

Eircom, useless call centre, ignorant obnoxious engineers, disinterested 'supervisors' - I use the word loosely - mostly these bad apples seem to be the junk left over from the old P&T days and have major chips on their shoulders...mustn't have been offered the right redundancy wad a few years ago and so we customers must suffer

just as another side to the coin there - I've had my problems with eircom broadband support in the past but I rang on Friday with a weird problem, and the guy who answered the call could not have been more professional. He took the details, advised me what he could do to help, and than rang me back a couple of hours later to say he'd been thinking about the problem and it might be something else - went through all my options and fixed the problem. Richard, from Eircom broadband support - I tip my hat to you, first class job.

Toto Wolfcastle · 29-09-2008 6:24pm

Lollipops23 wrote: »

PCworld-every time i go in to my local branch there's no sales staff!!like literally nobody around!!and the last time i was in i went to ask a staff member something as he was rushing passed and he shouted(without even turning around!)that we'd have to wait for someone else!

It's the same in Harvey Norman. There's never any staff around. Once I went in there and they were all standing in a corner drinking coffee. When I finally got someone to help me he couldn't have been less interested. I asked him the difference between two webcams and he said 'well that one is more expensive.' No sh1t sherlock, I can read prices! Your job is to explain to me about things I don't understand and then to get me to buy something.

Oryx · 30-09-2008 5:26pm

tbh wrote: »

just as another side to the coin there - I've had my problems with eircom broadband support in the past but I rang on Friday with a weird problem, and the guy who answered the call could not have been more professional. He took the details, advised me what he could do to help, and than rang me back a couple of hours later to say he'd been thinking about the problem and it might be something else - went through all my options and fixed the problem. Richard, from Eircom broadband support - I tip my hat to you, first class job.

I rang eircom to get a wireless modem. Weve been using a wired version with them for about 4 years. "Sorry, but no. Wireless modems are free for new customers only, thatll cost you €80". I thought this was a bit daft, I could leave them and sign up again ten minutes later and get a new modem (they agreed I could) AND Id been a loyal customer for 4 years.

It took almost a half an hour of me refusing to accept no, or pay eighty quid, and being passed from one level to another, before I got some person in a position to agree to send a new modem foc. And it was only because it was either "give it to me or I disconnect altogether". He was quite grudging about it, maybe he gets a kickback from the payment.

Bad form, not looking after existing customers, eircom. I wonder how many less pushy people paid up for the modem?

tbh · 30-09-2008 10:12pm

Oryx wrote: »

I rang eircom to get a wireless modem. Weve been using a wired version with them for about 4 years. "Sorry, but no. Wireless modems are free for new customers only, thatll cost you €80". I thought this was a bit daft, I could leave them and sign up again ten minutes later and get a new modem (they agreed I could) AND Id been a loyal customer for 4 years.

It took almost a half an hour of me refusing to accept no, or pay eighty quid, and being passed from one level to another, before I got some person in a position to agree to send a new modem foc. And it was only because it was either "give it to me or I disconnect altogether". He was quite grudging about it, maybe he gets a kickback from the payment.

Bad form, not looking after existing customers, eircom. I wonder how many less pushy people paid up for the modem?

you know what makes that worse? I was offered a free replacement router without asking for it. I hate the honeytrap deals with a passion.

ScumLord · 07-10-2008 1:58pm

Is there any establishment or product you refuse to waste your money on? Due to poor service, ethical reasons or bad experiences. We're always told that we should vote with our feet when it comes to value for money among other things but in the past the Irish had a reputation for excepting poor standards. I'm not one for complaining anywhere I just say to myself, lesson learned. They'll never get another penny out of me.

Aerlingus where once my first preference airline but ever since they moved out of the west of Ireland I won't use them unless completely necessary.

I avoid chicken even though I love it. Battery hens are disgusting. Only organic chicken will do.

I refuse to get Sky.

brianthebard · 07-10-2008 1:59pm

I only get free range or organic eggs and chicken....that's about it I think.

not yet · 07-10-2008 2:01pm

Most of these people dont give a rats arse if you never come back.....

If on the other hand it amounts to 100s of people thats a different matter.

I honestly believe staff dont give a f8ck anymore.

Slow Motion · 07-10-2008 2:11pm

PC World, was about to spend a cuple of hundred € on a new video card, wanted to ask some questions, asked a girl on the floor and she sent me over to the techie guy at the desk, he proceeded to ignore me, there was no one around, fiddled around with a pc, rang one of his mates, 10 minutes I was standing there, I had finally had enough when he "noticed" me and proceeded to ask if he could help, I replied no and walked out of the shop, have not been since and never will again. BTW I have gone in there before this a few times and got crappy / ignorant service, this was the last straw!

Silenceisbliss · 07-10-2008 2:13pm

I wont buy a drink in our college bar. theyre a pack of obnoxious gobsh1tes.

I wont get a taxi unless my limbs are falling off because in my experience(although some are honest and decent) , many of them can be theivin backstards

I will not support or entertain PC world in the slightest. they should all be in prison IMO

and for ethical reasons I will never ever ever get a hooker...I really cant see the point

Heisenberg. · 07-10-2008 2:14pm

This post has been deleted.

Soby · 07-10-2008 2:14pm

not yet wrote: »

Most of these people dont give a rats arse if you never come back.....

If on the other hand it amounts to 100s of people thats a different matter.

I honestly believe staff dont give a f8ck anymore.

all comes down to one thing.
Whether they get commission or not

EcoGirl · 07-10-2008 2:18pm

We dumped SKY too. I really resented giving them my money anyway, but the last straw was when they showed graphic trailers for murder programmes during the ads for innocuous programmes which my 10 year old was watching - and a) it was almost impossible to find somebody to contact to speak to about it and b) they didn't care when I did get to talk to somebody.

They said things like: It was after the 9.00 watershed. My argument: 1) We were watching the +1 station and it was after 9.00, but the programme was originally shown at 8.00, 2) The watershed means that parents have to judge whether a programme is suitable, and the programme we were watching WAS suitable, but I as the parent had no chance to make a judgement on those ads, and 3) I didn't want to see these images either even though I'm an adult.

BTW we were watching the documentary channel and these programmes were going to be on the crime channel.

Another argument they came back with was that these trailers (and indeed the programmes) were just reconstructions, not the real thing. Like, Duh! I didn't exactly think they were snuff movies! But just as everything in the cinema is fiction doesn't mean we don't have age ratings.

Anyway, they wouldn't/couldn't help me, I cancelled and they suddenly started courting me again with offers to rejoin. But of course these offers have no contact e-mail on them so you can't get back to say why you won't be rejoining. And they have no phone numbers either except for the sign-up one.

So they'll never know, and yes, I know they probably won't care. But I'm definitely voting with my feet on that.

Quazzie · 07-10-2008 2:19pm

I won't go back to YORE MA till she loses some weight!

Raytown Rocks · 07-10-2008 2:20pm

Irish ferries

Never will use them after the crap they pulled a few years ago.

Degsy · 07-10-2008 2:21pm

DID electrical.Went in to buy a washing machine and the bloke sort of amled up and stood there staring at me.
I said hi and he sort of inclined his head a little.Told him i wanted to buy a washing machine and he pointed over in the general direction of where they are.
I asked him a couple of questions about the model i wanted and he alternated between tutting,rolling his eyes and smirking.I eventually got tired of being nice and told him to piss off,being the fat bastard that he was.
Thats the third bad experience i've had in that place.I also didnt buy a VCR and a microwave.They dont want to sell you anything unless its 42" plasma tv's and the shops are stocking less and less other products to make room for them.
Oh yeah,and in spit of what they tell you,power city are much cheaper and without all the attitude.

Evil_Clown · 07-10-2008 2:22pm

I used to love ballymaloe relish
But since the alleged child porn with Mr Allen I havent bought it
I'm not even sure if has anything to do with it but just incase he is getting any of the profits I avoid buying the stuff

I might be crazy about this so if anyone can put my mind at ease its appreciated, so I can eat the stuff again

Cuddlesworth · 07-10-2008 2:25pm

EcoGirl wrote: »

They said things like: It was after the 9.00 watershed. My argument: 1) We were watching the +1 station and it was after 9.00, but the programme was originally shown at 8.00, 2) The watershed means that parents have to judge whether a programme is suitable, and the programme we were watching WAS suitable, but I as the parent had no chance to make a judgement on those ads, and 3) I didn't want to see these images either even though I'm an adult.

It was after the watershed, just because it's +1 doesn't mean the ad's are the same. Quit whining and find another activity for your kids after 9.

Degsy · 07-10-2008 2:25pm

Evil_Clown wrote: »

I used to love ballymaloe relish
But since the alleged child porn with Mr Allen I havent bought it
I'm not even sure if has anything to do with it but just incase he is getting any of the profits I avoid buying the stuff

I might be crazy about this so if anyone can put my mind at ease its appreciated, so I can eat the stuff again

Nothing alleged about it.He was found guilty of possesing paedo porn.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/0116/porn.html

What sickens me to my stomach is his daughter-in law Rachel Allen getting her own cookery shows all over the place after she publicly defended him.

Duckjob · 07-10-2008 2:25pm

Made a fairly consious decision a couple of years back that I was fed up with being ass-raped by the relentless and unjustified M50 Toll Bridge increases.

Since then I'll take an alternative route unless it's an absolute emergency. With the state of the M50 now, it's not like it's even a time-saver anyway.

I'll use the M50 alright, just not the N3-N4 bit.

Glowing · 07-10-2008 2:27pm

Irish Broadband
Eircom

They just don't give a crap ....

Your best and worst customer service experiences [rant & praise]

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