Customer Service and how Outsiders are treated in Kerry

rupamede

I would like to share something that happened to me in Listowel, Kerry in the hope that things improve in Kerry in regards to the level of Customer service and the way outsiders are treated here.

This is probably my worst customer experience in Ireland:

I refer to an eye test appointment I had with the optometrist at O'Connor's Optician Listowel on 10th June 2009.

A month has now passed and I am still waiting for a fitting for my glasses.

My initial reasons for choosing this optician was due to the very good impression one of the shop assistants made and she was very helpful when it came to choosing the frames. She also scheduled an appointment for me.

It was at this appointment that the nightmare really began. The optometrist who attended me was extremely rude. She enquired as to whether I was taking any medication to which I informed her "yes" because of migranes. Her response was rather strange with a sarcastic "oh really" . When testing my eyes with the usual small letters for sharpness etc. she was so impatient to receive my replies she actually requested that I hurry up. To me the letters were neither small nor sharp but I felt so confused, intimidated and pressurized to give some sort of an answer as quickly as possible. Seeing as we are dealing with my eyes and not a pair of shoes in Shaws, I thought this was completely unacceptable and unprofessional behaviour on [name removed by mod] part.

Bearing in mind the inaccuracy of this test and the long delay in being given an appointment for a fitting I feel that I cannot accept the lens any more and unless O'Connors Optician can provide me with a thorough and accurate test by a different optometrist, I feel it would be irresponsible and even damaging to my eyesight to accept those which [name removed by mod] has prescribed.

I am willing to pay for the frames, of course, but unless an alternative testing can be conducted I am no longer willing to pay for the lenses.

I don´t know if her behavior was the result of a "bad-hair-day" or she was over-challenged in some way by me but I feel it is important not to let this sort of behaviour in anybody go unmentioned. It is on behalf of those less capable of expressing themselves that I chose to go ahead and explain my experience. I would hope, of course, it would be in the interest of future good business at O´Connor´s Opticians as well.

We have informed O'Connors Opticians by registered letter. I know the letter was received because I have the receipt which can be verified with the AnPost website. No contact has been made for a fitting - is this the correct way to conduct business? I dont think so. I have dealt with other opticians in ireland before and none has been as arrogant as oconnors opticians, do they actually expect me to collect glasses without a fitting???

This is unbelievable and since I am a foreigner I cannot stop thinking they're just being racist...

Racism only occurred to me when after sending them a registered letter (which I checked they received with AnPost) the only thing they could do was to phone me and tell me the glasses were there to be collected. The fact that they did not even want to schedule an appointment for a fitting suggests to me that this is more than just a customer issue. Or am I wrong in thinking that the normal procedure would be to have a fitting, not just collect the glasses? I honestly do not believe they treat all customers this way... The optometrist who saw me treated me with disrespect as I have described above and now they have not replied to my letter and just phoned me to say the glasses are to be collected... I have been to other opticians in Ireland in limerick Clare and even here in Kerry and I do not think it is correct to just tell people to collect the glasses as they need to be fitted and an appointment needs to be made for that... This plus the way I was treated suggests to me that I am not wanted as a customer and I wonder why... I am a normal customer, no more no less, the only thing that makes me different is the fact that I am a foreigner. So it was not lightly that I have used the 'race card' on this discussion.

Inexile

Hi Rupamede.

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. I think though if you didnt complain at the time of the eye test it will be difficult to complain later on. As for an appointment for fitting the glasses I dont think opticians normally do this - at least I dont recall doing it. When you collect the glasses you should try them and if they need adjustment then the opticians will do the necessary at that time.

Nothing in your post suggests to me that there was any racism - may be bad manners but not racism.

Hope you get things sorted.

mikemac

Sorry to hear of your bad experience.

But I doubt it's racism, sure Irish people deal with lousy customer service every day. Stroll over to consumer issue forum and there a huge thread detailing shoddy service in towns all over the country.

You've set out your case very well and follow up on your complaint.
I wouln't say it's racicm.
And anyway, Kerry folk consider everyone from the other 31 counties to be outsiders

We've two small, family run opticians in our town.
But people don't use them realy, they go to Specsavers or some other chain in the nearest city which is Limerick.
Take your business to a company that wants it!

rupamede

Hi Mike and Inexile,

Thank you for your replies.

I have been living in Ireland for 10 years now and always liked it here until I started having these kind of problems, which is recently. I feel very defenseless here...

Mike, I like Listowel, it's not as busy as Tralee and I appreciate that, also there are a few cultural events on St Johns Church and then The Writer's Week every year. I do not live in Listowel but it is a town that really appeals to me.

I normally get my glasses from CH chemists but this time they did not have any frames I liked (same for Specsavers) so I tried Listowel and liked the frames plus the way one of the assistants treated me, she was helpful and she found frames for me, little did I expect to be treated so rudely by the optometrist then...

Perhaps I am just being like Don Quixote... The way this optician is dealing with things really disappointed me and it just made me feel as if there was something wrong with me, this is why I thought it racism, what other motive could they have...

Anyway, I will follow your advice and just try and forget about it and go to a different optician. Things definately seem to be simpler than I thought...

Thanks.

ejmaztec

Rupamede, you should have gone to Feargal O'Domhnaill Opticians at 3 Charles Street, Listowel. They're good, and also arrange fitting appointments.

It's always a problem being an outsider anywhere when you haven't got that local knowledge, and as a result don't know the best place to go. I don't know enough about O'Connors to comment on the issues that you had with them.

Hasschu

Racism is rampant in Listowel. People from Lixnaw, Ballyduff, Ballylongford and Lyracrumpane have suffered from it for years. The solution applied is usually a hob nailed boot to the rear netherparts. You will find snippy bitches all over Ireland you have to respond immediately in kind by saying "Oh I'm wasting your valuable time am I. I'll leave now so as you can get on with more important things". Little businesses in Listowel are hanging on by their finger nails and the ones that treat their customers with disdain will go out of business.

JulesInKy

Proud daughter of a Listowel/Lixnaw union here, married to a Ballylongford man and have never seen either the Lixnaw or Ballylongford sides of my family being treated with anything but the utmost respect and friendship.

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience with O'Connors, but I'm sure no matter where one goes throughout their lives they will run into an issue of this type at some point or other, I sincerely doubt it has anything to do with race or creed or whatever label is painted on it. If you were unhappy with the service you should have dealt with it at that time rather than let it fester until the problem got bigger than it originally was. The owners of O'Connors are very nice people and I'm sure they would have been more than happy to see to your needs should you have but asked.

listowel1

Mountain being made out of a molehill, you wont be getting any sympathy from me,grow a pair pls!!

rupamede

You have failed to read my entire post. Mr Jerry O'Connor was contacted however has failed to reply and chooses to ignore the contact I made to him. Thank you.

JulesInKy wrote: »

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience with O'Connors, but I'm sure no matter where one goes throughout their lives they will run into an issue of this type at some point or other, I sincerely doubt it has anything to do with race or creed or whatever label is painted on it. If you were unhappy with the service you should have dealt with it at that time rather than let it fester until the problem got bigger than it originally was. The owners of O'Connors are very nice people and I'm sure they would have been more than happy to see to your needs should you have but asked.

listowel1

go to his premises and speak with him, dont be telling people here about racism. Speak up for yourself and dont be telling us!!

rupamede

Not looking for sympathy but justice and to have things done correctly but I see that contacting you is a waste of time because you cannot distinguish right from wrong.

listowel1 wrote: »

Mountain being made out of a molehill, you wont be getting any sympathy from me,grow a pair pls!!

rupamede

You were the one who was looking for sympathy when you emailed to reveal private matters about the O'Connors which I will not disclose here. I am very sorry for them but this does not excuse their lack of manners. If you have a business you have to have good customer service.

listowel1 wrote: »

Mountain being made out of a molehill, you wont be getting any sympathy from me,grow a pair pls!!

listowel1

rupamede wrote: »

Not looking for sympathy but justice and to have things done correctly but I see that contacting you is a waste of time because you cannot distinguish right from wrong.

Contacting me??????

rupamede

You should learn some English. You can contact people by email too. It was actually you who sent me an email earlier. Please learn how to express yourself in proper English and grow up before voicing your childish opinions, which are not helpful. You were the one who contacted me 1st to appeal for sympathy. See below. Please note you have now been blocked as I do not have to take any more of your insults! You are one of the worst examples of a Kerry/Listowel person that just says things for saying and to have the last word, a useless waste space and time. Any post/email will be ignored.

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL!
***************************

Dear rupamede,
dont
You have received a new private message at boards.ie from listowel1, entitled "Re: O' Connor".

To read the original version, respond to, or delete this message, you must log in here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/private.php

This is the message that was sent:
***************
if u have no interest in goin back,what are you makin big fuss about!

From working in a shop before i know what it is like to deal with difficult people who are never happy,this case may be similar!;)
- Hide quoted text -
***************

Again, please do not reply to this email. You must go to the following page to reply to this private message:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/private.php

All the best,
boards.ie

listowel1 wrote: »

Contacting me??????

listowel1

I thought you meant i worked in the shop!!

Typical

uriah

rupamede wrote: »

I would like to share something that happened to me in Listowel, Kerry in the hope that things improve in Kerry in regards to the level of Customer service and the way outsiders are treated here.

This is probably my worst customer experience in Ireland:

I refer to an eye test appointment I had with the optometrist at O'Connor's Optician Listowel on 10th June 2009.

A month has now passed and I am still waiting for a fitting for my glasses.

My initial reasons for choosing this optician was due to the very good impression one of the shop assistants made and she was very helpful when it came to choosing the frames. She also scheduled an appointment for me.

It was at this appointment that the nightmare really began. The optometrist who attended me was extremely rude. She enquired as to whether I was taking any medication to which I informed her "yes" because of migranes. Her response was rather strange with a sarcastic "oh really" . When testing my eyes with the usual small letters for sharpness etc. she was so impatient to receive my replies she actually requested that I hurry up. To me the letters were neither small nor sharp but I felt so confused, intimidated and pressurized to give some sort of an answer as quickly as possible. Seeing as we are dealing with my eyes and not a pair of shoes in Shaws, I thought this was completely unacceptable and unprofessional behaviour on [name removed by mod] part.

Bearing in mind the inaccuracy of this test and the long delay in being given an appointment for a fitting I feel that I cannot accept the lens any more and unless O'Connors Optician can provide me with a thorough and accurate test by a different optometrist, I feel it would be irresponsible and even damaging to my eyesight to accept those which [name removed by mod] has prescribed.

I am willing to pay for the frames, of course, but unless an alternative testing can be conducted I am no longer willing to pay for the lenses.

I don´t know if her behavior was the result of a "bad-hair-day" or she was over-challenged in some way by me but I feel it is important not to let this sort of behaviour in anybody go unmentioned. It is on behalf of those less capable of expressing themselves that I chose to go ahead and explain my experience. I would hope, of course, it would be in the interest of future good business at O´Connor´s Opticians as well.

We have informed O'Connors Opticians by registered letter. I know the letter was received because I have the receipt which can be verified with the AnPost website. No contact has been made for a fitting - is this the correct way to conduct business? I dont think so. I have dealt with other opticians in ireland before and none has been as arrogant as oconnors opticians, do they actually expect me to collect glasses without a fitting???

This is unbelievable and since I am a foreigner I cannot stop thinking they're just being racist...

Racism only occurred to me when after sending them a registered letter (which I checked they received with AnPost) the only thing they could do was to phone me and tell me the glasses were there to be collected. The fact that they did not even want to schedule an appointment for a fitting suggests to me that this is more than just a customer issue. Or am I wrong in thinking that the normal procedure would be to have a fitting, not just collect the glasses? I honestly do not believe they treat all customers this way... The optometrist who saw me treated me with disrespect as I have described above and now they have not replied to my letter and just phoned me to say the glasses are to be collected... I have been to other opticians in Ireland in limerick Clare and even here in Kerry and I do not think it is correct to just tell people to collect the glasses as they need to be fitted and an appointment needs to be made for that... This plus the way I was treated suggests to me that I am not wanted as a customer and I wonder why... I am a normal customer, no
more no less, the only thing that makes me different is the fact that I am a foreigner. So it was not lightly that I have used the 'race card' on this discussion.

There is absolutely nothing in your story that suggests racism - apart from your thread title.

Isn't it OTT on the basis of one bad experience with one company to suggest that there is a problem with customer service in an entire county.

In my experience, you have your eyes tested and select the frames you wish to purchase. When the lenses are ready, (some prescriptions take longer than others) the optician contacts you (by telephone in my case) and asks you to collect the glasses. When you come in to collect them, they are fitted and adjusted as necessary. Job done.

If the prescription is not correct when you collect the glasses, this will be obvious when it will be tested by the optician.

If you have attended other opticians as you say you have, you should know that this is the procedure.

the_syco

rupamede wrote: »

To me the letters were neither small nor sharp but I felt so confused, intimidated and pressurized to give some sort of an answer as quickly as possible.

So, because you didn't give correct answers, it was their fault?

rupamede wrote: »

This is unbelievable and since I am a foreigner I cannot stop thinking they're just being racist...

This is making a mountain out of a molehill.

rupamede wrote: »

Racism only occurred to me when after sending them a registered letter (which I checked they received with AnPost) the only thing they could do was to phone me and tell me the glasses were there to be collected. The fact that they did not even want to schedule an appointment for a fitting suggests to me that this is more than just a customer issue. Or am I wrong in thinking that the normal procedure would be to have a fitting, not just collect the glasses?

You are slightly wrong. Whenever I've gone to collect my glasses, they do the fitting there and then.

Also, when you go in, they'll do a test to ensure that the lenses are correct. In the past, the lens for one of my eyes was out by a bit, so they had to order in another lens for the glasses.

11811

Crappy customer service in Ireland happens to everyone. End of.

Ok fair enough you've had a bad experience dealing with this opticians but wouldn't taking up your gripe with the management there be a little more constructive?

pog it

I agree with everyone here. There was nothing that suggested racism in how they dealt with you. It's just bad customer service.
Wow. Can't believe you are here 10 years and you are labelling this as racism. Ridiculous.

sheesh

Discrimination and MAYBE Racism in Ireland
how my friend philippino girl was treated

---

A few weeks ago my friend from the Phillippines told me something that really disgusted me about the way the Irish treat people when they are foreigners in this country.

She is actually married to an Irishman for sometime and she's been working in Ireland for a few years too - thus paying her taxes like any Irish citizen - still she is not a citizen yet, although she is married to an Irishman!

But let me go straight to the point. They are buying a house and applied for a mortgage. In order to get this mortgage, my friend had to go through an HIV test, a full blood count and a thorough health check up with many embarrassing questions (of intimate nature) for the Life Insurance. Her husband did NOT because he is IRISH so he was automatically not required to do any tests!!!
It is like they are just doing things much more difficult for foreigners in Ireland, which does not seem fair, does it? As if they expect you to either give up or suffer here...

I am an European Union Citizen and I also would like to buy house in Ireland and stay here but recent events are making me think twice, especially this episode that happened to my friend...

I dont think I want to stay in a country where Life Insurance discriminate you because you are a foreigner when you are paying the same tax as an Irish citizen. The whole thing just does not seem to be fair, does it?

I know I am going to get nasty replies from Irish posters telling if you dont like this country go away as this has happened to me before on boards.ie but I just thought I had to say it and of course those rude remarks will be totally ignored for what they are.

Boards.ie in my opinion should NOT be a place for posters to attack each other and see who wins the best argument and who has the last word. I have seen a lot of that in here. Those posts are not helpful and will be ignored.

What I am reporting is trully a discrimination issue! Perhaps you're Irish and you have suffered discrimination too for your sexual orientation, health issues, etc. Discrimination should not be allowed anywhere and this is what my post tries to debate. Instead of attacking the poster to say you have also been discriminated and that's life get over it I do not think is helpful and if we do not stick together against the way companies and institutions discriminate then nothing will ever be done.

Thanks.

this is from Rupamedes post in this thread

@Rupamede: you should not go off accusing people of being racist just because they didn't ring you back. There could be other reasons. I think you have jumped to conclusions.