Welcome to Tesco Coonagh Cross where the customer is always wrong!!

BeanieBaby

Just come from Tesco Coonagh Cross, having had a rather unpleasant incident - future shoppers be warned.

Among other things, I was buying a couple of baguettes. The sign under the baguettes indicated that they were reduced from €1.55 to €1.00 each. So I thought they were better value than other sandwich rolls.

When I checked them out at the self-serve they came up at €1.71 each, which meant I was being overcharged by €1.42 so I went over to customer service and waited behind another customer.

The customer service agent then walked out without acknowledging either of us and then another employee walked in behind the desk and ignored us. I politely asked if there was anyone dealing with customer service and she told us that the other girl was dealing with a customer (I beg to disagree). After about 5 minutes waiting, the other customer walked off and decided to go to another shop.

The person who could not serve us then decided she could. So, I explained about the overcharge. She told me she would check.

She came back 5 minutes later and told me that I was wrong. That the baguettes were the right price. That yes, there was an erroneous sign underneath the bread but it had been moved by a customer.

I argued with her that regardless of whether the sign had been moved by a customer or not, that I should get the bread at the price indicated in the shop. She told me I should have known the difference between the €1.55 bread and the €1.71 bread....

I asked her, was it a Tesco policy that the customer was always wrong? She replied that she could not give me the bread at the price I thought it was because it shouldn't have been that price and that if there was a wrong price underneath it, it was because another customer moved it.

At that stage I was banging my head against a brick wall and asked for my money back and told them I was going to Dunnes.

So, a warning to those of you considering heading to Tescos - make sure that you know the subtle differences between different products and always ensure that no previous customers have been moving the price codes about.

I got some rolls from a lovely lady in Centra, St. James's Court. She smiled and was extremely pleasant.

Berty

Invitation to treat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invitation_to_treat

If the customer was always right then we could just move prices around the shop and get our whole trolley for 99% off.

Kess73

As the poster before me said, she is correct under the law of the land. A customer is not entitled to the product for the price marked on a shelf, it is the price at the till that is the final price.


Many people seem to think that if a product is priced wrong, either by a staff member or by someone moving/changing a pricetag, that they are entitled to it at that price, and often try to claim that it is the law to sell at the marked price. They are incorrect to think so.


Some stores will allow the difference, if it is small, as a goodwill gesture, but they are not obliged to do so.


Here is a link that may answer some questions for you.


http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Hot_Topics/FAQs/Price-display/


What I will agree with you on is the level of manners in the store you mentioned. It is generally of a very low standard, and the rudest staff there generally tend to be those of Irish origin. Anyone that feels they are treated in a rude manner in a store should simply shop elsewhere.

LadyTBolt

OP - I'm sorry you felt hard done by and things got so bad for you that you left to go to another store but I think Tesco were not to blame for your unfortunate experience.

There are various types of baguettes and if the sign displayed related to a different type of baguette that you were buying then you should have known the price tag could not relate to your item and you should have looked for the price sign for your specific item.

As for the employee who said first they couldn't serve you and then after a while they did. Did you not think that maybe they were not supposed to serve you but when they noticed the customer service assistant was taking longer than anticipated with the customer they walked off with, they felt a bit concerned and overstepped their position and then assisted you to avoid you waiting much longer?
It was wrong for the customer service assistant to take off without at least acknowledging the customers waiting and not so much as telling you she would be back in a couple of minutes. That is the only thing I read from your post that warrants a complaint.

If you still feel annoyed by this ring the store manager and ask him to have a word with the customer service agents about their behaviour towards waiting customers.

I don't work in retail btw but have had my fair share of complaining in stores over so many things that at this stage before I start my complaining I weigh up what just happened and if it's worth a complaint I go direct to the store manager.

grenache

Berty beat me to it regarding the 'invitation to treat' policy. The law on wrong pricing is also explained in The Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980. While it seems that the Tesco staff treated the OP in rude manner which is wrong, they were well within their rights to charge 1.71 for the baguette. If the incorrect price is a genuine mistake on retailer's part, then they are allowed charge the correct full price at the till.


It happens in the shop i work in the odd time. Mostly i stand my ground on the correct price while being as coherent and polite as i can. Sometimes if the price difference is only a couple of euro i will give a product to the customer at the lower incorrect price, just to avoid an argument or confrontation. But if the difference is 5 euro or more i will ask for the full correct price. What i do not like is when some customers get stroppy, claiming we are infringing on their consumer rights and attempting to con them. Genuine pricing errors will happen, customers have to realise this and not attempt to take advantage of the situation by crying foul play. The law is most definitely on the side of the retailer in this issue.

Aidric

That place is descending into a jokeshop. After waiting for five minutes at the meat counter on sunday afternoon I had to go ask someone at the till if there was anyone working there. She went off and got some guy who was stacking shelves to come serve me.

Paulegend

while yes all the previous posters are correct that youd unfortunatly have to pay the price at the till.... i have it on very very good autority that the hiring policy in tesco really needs to be looked at. they will either hire foriegners (which im not against for the record) or they hire irish people who think that they are above the rest of the foriegn staff. the irish especially in all tesco stores are rude and obnoxious and if you do experience any problems ask for a manager and dont take the whole i am the manager crap because only the ones in suits are. otherwise theyare babysitters for the manager

Berty

If a staff member is underperforming Tesco have a system of monitoring performance through KPI's. (Key performance indicators)

Your attitude will always come back to bite you in the a*s if you are not pleasant to deal with.

So fear not the bad apples will always become easy to spot as time goes on and get replaced with sufficient staff.

Lord knows there are enough of them out there and as times goes on the attitude of "working in Tesco/Dunnes is beneath me" will soon wear thin.

Insect Overlord

Storm in a tea-cup thread is a mountain out of a mole-hill...

Paulegend

An File wrote: »

Storm in a tea-cup thread is a mountain out of a mole-hill...

yea to be honest no offence to the op but the quicker this thread is closed the better because someone will say something slanderous about people working in these stores and it will get outta hand:)

Saruman

BeanieBaby wrote: »

So, a warning to those of you considering heading to Tescos - make sure that you know the subtle differences between different products and always ensure that no previous customers have been moving the price codes about.

That is just common sense. If you ever see anything that seems on special, check the barcode number matches. If so then you are grand, if it does not match then someone has been moving things around.
Unless of course you are talking about loose bread that has no barcode, in which case there was no way for you to know.

Goes for any shop.

If there is in fact a price issue, correct barcode but the advertised price is different to the scanned price (what you pay) then it is the policy of Tesco to give it to you for free.

There is no excuse for the bad customer service you got though.

Paulegend

Berty wrote: »

Invitation to treat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invitation_to_treat

If the customer was always right then we could just move prices around the shop and get our whole trolley for 99% off.

i agree wholeheartedly but i was working in a shop awhile back and my manager at the time made me check the prices in the shop becase the shop can aparantly be fined for having false prices on/under any item.

i dont know if its true or if she was just being a muppet. prob the later but does anyone know how true this is as it would be an arguement that th OP was in the right technically. but the invitation to treat is real i studied all that crap back in school

fl4pj4ck

and what happened to tesco's famous "no quibble" policy?

Saruman

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

and what happened to tesco's famous "no quibble" policy?

It never existed, what no quibble policy? They have a policy like I stated above but there is no such thing as a no quibble policy. If there was, as someone else pointed out we would be getting our shopping for 99% off because "someone" moved prices around!

Clareman

Tesco didn't have to give you the price, the Customer Service person should have given better customer service, but to be honest, I don't know how nice I would be to someone on a Bank Holiday Monday afternoon, especially as she was going out of her way to help

BeanieBaby

Thanks for all the observations.

A few points:

1. Where does the responsibility of the store end and the customer begin in relation to pricing? Bertie raised the issue that customers could go around the store moving price indicators in order to benefit. But surely it is also within the realm of a store to do the same.

Now, I am neither intimating nor am I even suggesting that the aforementioned store has ever done this, but it is not within the bounds of possibility.

Surely the store has a responsibility to make sure that prices are in the correct location.

2. I completely accept the information provided by those more knowledgeable than me, that the store was right. That the lady in question was right.

3. Bertie, regarding KPIs. Please don't make me laugh. I have a post-graduate qualification in a HR related discipline. KPIs are just window dressing. They are used when they are handy but ignored most of the time.

4. Finally, regardless of whether I am a "Muppet" or not (I beg to disagree but I accept the right of others to form their own opinions ) the customer service record of Tescos in Limerick, generally, is not the best.

Have a nice day.

Saruman

BeanieBaby wrote: »

4. Finally, regardless of whether I am a "Muppet" or not (I beg to disagree but I accept the right of others to form their own opinions ) the customer service record of Tescos in Limerick, generally, is not the best.

Umm no one called you a muppet or even came close to it. Did you just read the word muppet that another poster used and assume he was talking about you? Try reading what was said again, you do not enter in to the post at all.

The store has a personal responsibility to check the prices but with so much stock, so many prices and stores that are so busy, combined with people getting pissed that they are queuing for so long it is impractical to assume that every price is constantly checked. There will always be mistakes, it is human nature.

The only issue here I can see is that you were ignored at customer services for so long.

RonMexico

1: Regarding the bread roll - maybe Tesco could have a clearer indicator of which roll is which.

2: I have experienced similar treatment at customer service in Arthurs Quay Tesco. There is a girl working there years now and she is a moody obnoxious pig. You'd swear she wasn't getting paid to do her job.

3: The Arthurs Quay store in general is very badly run. Always out of stock, loads of products out of date and staff with major attitude problems.

Mac 3

I was in Tesco (Coonagh) last week. Included in the shopping were 2 of the treat size bags of cadbury bars on special offer, 2 for 4.50. I had a look at my receipt afterwards and saw that no reduction had been made.Charged 6.44.

I spoke to a check out operator who said to go to Customer Service. I went over and explained what had happened, she re-scanned the 2 bags and no special offer. SHe went and got 2 more bags and these scanned the reduced price. She refunded me what I had orignally paid for the 2 bags and said because there was an error in scanning, I was entitled to those items free of charge.

So a positive outcome. Although in the past I have gone to that desk to do the lottery and had to wait while the girl behind the counter was telling a customer about her night out/holidays....

Paulegend

Clareman wrote: »

Tesco didn't have to give you the price, the Customer Service person should have given better customer service, but to be honest, I don't know how nice I would be to someone on a Bank Holiday Monday afternoon, especially as she was going out of her way to help

WHAT???????? are you being serious?

Paulegend

Paulegend wrote: »

i agree wholeheartedly but i was working in a shop awhile back and my manager at the time made me check the prices in the shop becase the shop can aparantly be fined for having false prices on/under any item.

i dont know if its true or if she was just being a muppet. prob the later but does anyone know how true this is as it would be an arguement that th OP was in the right technically. but the invitation to treat is real i studied all that crap back in school

BeanieBaby wrote: »

Thanks for all the observations.


4. Finally, regardless of whether I am a "Muppet" or not (I beg to disagree but I accept the right of others to form their own opinions ) the customer service record of Tescos in Limerick, generally, is not the best.

Have a nice day.

hey beanie i used the word muppet but it wasnt aimed at you what so ever i was meaning i dont know whether its true shops can be fined for having wrong prices or if my exx boss was just a muppet. sorry beanie i was actually trying to help your arguement.:o

Berty

Am I the only one thinking that possibly it was the customer being at fault and being difficult here?

Paulegend

Berty wrote: »

Am I the only one thinking that possibly it was the customer being at fault and being difficult here?

but if a customer is waiting for ages to be seen and then is eventually seen by some1 who was doing nothing.................

and when the customer feels they are being overcharged................

this is a basic customer service problem!!!

if the person at customer service was polite and confident they can say "i'm sorry mam/sir but unfortunatly that price was moved and i cant give you the bread rolls at that cost. but what i can do is call my manager/supervisor if you would like?".

its a simple thing just be polite!!!

that way you dont turn a customer away who will go onto the net and possibly cost you 10 more families(maybe more) from going to the store. specially when that coonagh store aint doing so well. if staff dont have basic politness they dont deserve to be in jobs!!!

Berty

Paulegend wrote: »

but if a customer is waiting for ages to be seen and then is eventually seen by some1 who was doing nothing.................

and when the customer feels they are being overcharged................

this is a basic customer service problem!!!

if the person at customer service was polite and confident they can say "i'm sorry mam/sir but unfortunatly that price was moved and i cant give you the bread rolls at that cost. but what i can do is call my manager/supervisor if you would like?".

its a simple thing just be polite!!!

that way you dont turn a customer away who will go onto the net and possibly cost you 10 more families(maybe more) from going to the store. specially when that coonagh store aint doing so well. if staff dont have basic politness they dont deserve to be in jobs!!!

In theory.

My follow up opinion is one where I now see the OP as being of a character where they may be of the mindset where they made a mountain out of a molehill.

Paulegend

Berty wrote: »

In theory.

My follow up opinion is one where I now see the OP as being of a character where they may be of the mindset where they made a mountain out of a molehill.

oh yea maybe the OP was but what i mean is that any good business is sure to have customer service personal that have been trained in customer services??

i wont give names of people or stores or companies but i know a girl working in customer services in a supermarket who is the rudest(she is a friend of mine) most obnoxious when it comes to customers. she has cost that place business because if you have a bad experience you tell people and then companies lose business through "word of mouth".

apart from the OP's experience the customer services personnal have a responsibility to ensure customers, not only are satisfied but also understand that the store has offers but cant give everything on offer. its a bit of common sense on customer services behalf.

and as posted by some1 that they wouldnt blame the person working for been peeved because its a bank holiday!!!!!! PEOPLE THAT DONT WANT TO WORK................... QUIT, there are alot of people out there willing to work bank holidays and sundays and any day for that matter. count yourself lucky you dont work in my store because you wouldnt last a day!:D

Osk

Just to post a positive Tesco Customer Service story

I purchased items from one of their €11.50 meal deals last week and noticed when I got home that I had paid full price for all items and not got the meal deal price. The wine for this deal was not clearly indicated in the wine aisle and I had to get a staff member to find the correct wine (she in turn checked with 2 other colleagues before the wine was found....)

I went back with my receipt and it was the wine that was the problem - it wasn't the meal deal wine. I explained what had happened and I got an immediate refund.

Paulegend

Osk wrote: »

Just to post a positive Tesco Customer Service story

I purchased items from one of their €11.50 meal deals last week and noticed when I got home that I had paid full price for all items and not got the meal deal price. The wine for this deal was not clearly indicated in the wine aisle and I had to get a staff member to find the correct wine (she in turn checked with 2 other colleagues before the wine was found....)

I went back with my receipt and it was the wine that was the problem - it wasn't the meal deal wine. I explained what had happened and I got an immediate refund.

nice to hear a positive experience:)