Expecting to much

[Dan_H]

Do people expect to much from shops for their products they buy.

I was in John Lewis today, looking for new shoes for my 2 year old and there was a woman in there having a right pop at a floor manager about her sons shoes.

Basically he had worn a hole in his shoes, being a young lad its probably not that uncommon, and who knows what he does in them, football, skidding around on his bike etc.

But because she was saying she hadnt had the shoes that long (i didnt hear how long, but from the state of the shoes im guessing it was at least 4-6months, maybe longer), she had no receipt for proof, but she was demanding they replaced the shoes because she expected the shoes to last longer than they had and not have holes in them.


Now i personally would have told her to sod off, and that she should perhaps not let her child wreck his shoes so quickly (id understand if they had fallen apart but they had a hole in the top of them, so he had clearly wrecked them).


So yeah, do people expect to much now a days? Sorry for the long post, it just made me laugh how she was demanding new shoes.

 

[strumstrum]

wherever there is something to wrangle someone will try to wrangle it..

hole in the top of shoes, football in the playground my lad goes through them like wildfire whether they cost £10 or £80 as we have tried them all.. would never try to return a pair of shoes unless the fault is clearly with the manufacturing.

 

[Dan_H]

Well that was my way of thinking.

The problem with John Lewis is that they will accept returns on pretty much anything with or without a receipt. (my misses works for them).

So you only need to kick up a mild fuss and they would exchange it or possibly even refund.

 

[NickD]

My li'l brother is like that. I envy him for having the neck to do it... saves him a fortune!

 

[Dale_tem]

I heard a story of someone on the radio whose dad would take their rugby boots back after a year complaining of the state of them and they should last longer. Their dad caused hell until they offered to replace the boots, the dad then sked for the next size up as the child had grown. Apparently the dad only bought each son 1 pair of boots, bud had them replaced every year for 5 years.

Some people are like that.

 

[AJQS]

I have the misfortune of working with a woman like that, she is the worst nightmare of every customer service department in the land I'd never want her as a customer. She also fits nicely in the jobsworth thread too!

 

[mxfun]

I couldn't work in the retail business ,pure and simply because of the ignorant society we live in, and I take my hat off to those that do

 

[neil_g]

Some people like to screw retailers for every penny without realising its the staff that get screwed because of the company having to cover the costs.

 

[munch]

Care to expand on that?

 

[Davec223]

The answer is yes, the big shops have made a rod for smaller retailers back with their return policies. When I was managing a shop, people would return products they had brought from us which they had brought to do a job then return it saying they had changed their minds and wanted a refund, when refused they always said well (insert large shop chain name here) do it no questions asked, it's the law, you have to. The number of times I had to explain this wasn't true was unbelievable, I even had one customer phone 999 and report that he had his money stolen by me and could then police cone room the shop and get it back, the police did come but for a different reason, to the customers shock they took him away for wasting police time, which he couldn't understand. Lol

 

[big soft moose]

Some people like to screw retailers for every penny without realising its the staff that get screwed because of the company having to cover the costs.

not to mention customers generally, becauise as well as cutting staff to save cash retailers also increase prices to cover it

john lewis may have a no quiblle return policy, but not coincidentally, they are far from the cheapest place to buy

 

[Davec223]

Care to expand on that?

Really simple not only is it staff but customers too. Staff pay is effected as pay rises and the such are passed on performance of the company, so returning thongs as in the op come off bottom line so reduce profit. Customers in the long run pay more due to shoplifting and other loses.

 

[Yanzi]

I used to see this a lot in my old job. I worked in the kids dept. of a different high st retailler and you'd often get folk coming in conveniently a week or so before the sale was due to start.

"I only bought this about a month ago, he's only worn it a few times and it's fallen to bits! I don't expect this to happen after paying this much for it!"

About 9 times out of 10, we'd replace them/offer a refund (even without a receipt). It was frustrating because some folk were clearly at it - they'd hand you a gift card they'd been given from something they'd returned previously to do the refund, when the receipt prints out you get to see the balance. I'd had a few folk accumulate nearly £200 on their gift cards.

There really wasn't much you could do. If you refused, they'd usually ask to speak to a manager who would normally just put it through to avoid it escalating further and if they refused, we'd more than likely get a call from Head Office telling us that the customer is coming back to the store and we must process it for them!

 

[Davec223]

not to mention customers generally, becauise as well as cutting staff to save cash retailers also increase prices to cover it

john lewis may have a no quiblle return policy, but not coincidentally, they are far from the cheapest place to buy

John Lewis are not that bad on price, having said that I don't buy that much on line and am willing to pay a premium to get it when I want and have face to face service and a bricks and mortar shop to take it back to if I have an issue.
Good example is John Lewis extended free warranty on tvs and electrical goods, a mate had a problem with the top he brought, it was nearly 3 years old, they supplied him a loan to while his went for repair, after a few weeks they phoned him and asked him to come in and pick a new tv to the value of the old one as it was taking your long to get repaired. Worth paying a little extra for that type of service.

 

[wegotitugetit]

i work in motorcycle retail and i honestly dont know how i keep calm sometimes
we get alot of people trying to blame parts but they just wanted to borrow it to test it when if they just asked in the 1st place we could of told them that part was not going to cure the problem we refuse any items ordered incorrect regardless of who it is

we have alot of parts the rest of the country don't once a customer has learnt not to bring the part back they normally come and ask our advice 1st then order the correct part has saved us more hassle then you would think

 

[neil_g]

not to mention customers generally, becauise as well as cutting staff to save cash retailers also increase prices to cover it

john lewis may have a no quiblle return policy, but not coincidentally, they are far from the cheapest place to buy

Absolutely.

All because of the bend over and take one for the customer culture to try and keep people coming in through the doors. Kinda backfires a little on the profit margin but reputation is king..

 

[Dan_H]

I think with John Lewis it depends what you are buying.

Don't forget that if you can buy it locally cheaper they will price match it. So you end up with a good price and great service.

I am of course slightly biased as I get 25% discount and 12% on electrical items.

Some stuff is just expensive though.

 

[onomatopoeia]

Now i personally would have told her to sod off, and that she should perhaps not let her child wreck his shoes so quickly (id understand if they had fallen apart but they had a hole in the top of them, so he had clearly wrecked them).

When I'm unelected dictator, I'll introduce a law which makes getting arsey with anyone in a customer service role a crime punishable by hanging.

I am opposed to capital punishment, but something needs to be done. No-one should have to put up with customers throwing a tantrum like a two year old, usually because they want something for nothing.

 

[Dan_H]

When I'm unelected dictator, I'll introduce a law which makes getting arsey with anyone in a customer service role a crime punishable by hanging.

I am opposed to capital punishment, but something needs to be done. No-one should have to put up with customers throwing a tantrum like a two year old, usually because they want something for nothing.

That should say someone helpful in a customer service role. Nothing worse than ringing a customer service helpline to find someone in India on the other end of the phone. No offence intended here but its not easy to understand their english when they have such a strong accent, and i have found myself getting rather frustrated.