Erm, excuse me Miss ... over here ... yes, me - the customer !!!!

[upsidedown]

I would have thought that Next's Market sector is pretty competitive, my kids won't touch it and will go to Primark or New Look for the same stuff at half the price.

 

[Theseus]

Last time I was in Next we had fantastic service helped by the fact that one of the staff was a family friend and let us use her staff discount. Mind you, the other shoppers were left hanging around trying to get her attention until we left.

 

[SquareDaff]

I find picking items up, seeing if they'll fit inside your jacket, then putting them back whilst trying to spot the security cameras gets you all the attention you want from assistants

 

[rodgy-dodge]

Poor staff in our NEXT run for cover when they see me and my MAM, well you try taking your 80year old mother shopping in there. She holds knothing back...always complains that they don't do clothing for her age group! even had the staff taking stuff into the changing rooms for her to try on. She had no intentions of buying anything as its all too expensive on her pension. so embarrasing

 

[ThePainInSpain]

Don't know how you lot would get on over here, there's no such thing as customer service.
All the staff are miserable little cows.
Carrefour in Malaga is the worst, out of 36 tills, there's never more than about 5 open, and it matters not how long the queues are, they'll never open another. In fact they will close one and send everyone in the queue to another queue.

One of main reasons is, that the labour laws here make it virtually impossible to sack anyone, so the staff just don't give a toss.

I could tell you some real horror stories, and maybe one day I'll get around to updating my blog and tell people about REAL life in Spain. Not the sanitized version that you get on holiday.

 

[Moodyman]

Aldi and Lidl Customer Service is excellent.

The bracket of a cycle light I bought from Lidl broke off. I rang Lidl Customer Service and they rang their Chinese suppliers. Within 2 weks I got the part to my home address.

No proof of purchase asked for.

The big high street shops like Next, are a bit hit and miss.

 

[bobg]

I obviously visit the only consistently poor one then. Mind you I expect my enthusiasm for customer service might wane a bit after 8 hours on a checkout an min wage.
BTW I popped into Home Bargains a few weeks ago ( yes I am a cheapskate ) and on the way out next to the wine shelves I noticed these little clear plastic cups with pull tops which contained about two swallows of wine. I sauntered over peeled back the sealed top and took a gulp, it was disgusting, I binned the empty container and chose not to buy the wine having tasted the free sample. Seconds later I was grabbed by an enormous security guard, escorted to the checkout where I was accused of stealing wine and asked to pay up........ What a dick..... I've not been back since

 

[taxing]

When I was in Next last week a middle aged woman served me and she ignored me as much as possible. The older the staff the worse they seem to treat me. Primark is bad for customer service but I don't mind so much when the clothes are so cheap, you get what you pay for. They treat their staff like crap, no wonder they're all miserable.

 

[vernon]

We had a similar instance to this in a supermarket we had not visited before. We chose the shortest queue but it turned out to take the longest - the shopper in front of us decided to engage in a prolonged and leisurely conversation with the woman on the checkout (they clearly knew each other), and the checkout woman's processing of items grew slower and slower as she got engrossed in what they were talking about to the point where she was virtually at a standstill. She must have seen we were getting more and more fed up, but it didn't make any difference.

No apology to us when we finally got our turn, so we decided there and then not to go back. There's plenty of supermarkets around. One experience like that is all it takes!

When that happened to me, I quietly seethed until I got to the check out and told the cashier that I couldn't wait any longer and could she possibly put the stuff back for me. There was no one behind me to inconvenience so I had a clear conscience.

 

[JamesAC]

When that happened to me, I quietly seethed until I got to the check out and told the cashier that I couldn't wait any longer and could she possibly put the stuff back for me. There was no one behind me to inconvenience so I had a clear conscience.

My friend did the same. Stood at the checkout for several minutes whilst cashier had chat with mate. Eventually cashier turned to my friend and said "Can I help you sir?" "Yes", he said, "you can put these back on the shelves" and walked out. I've been waiting for a chance to do the same, but at our local Co-op the staff seem pretty much on the ball.

 

[snorri]

Check out queues are a regular feature of shopping at my local Morrisons. I got particularly fed up waiting recently and seeing a group of management types in a huddle I went over and asked them if they could get some more checkouts staffed in order to clear the queues. "There are no queues sir" one of the cheeky barstewards replied.

 

[EssexRider]

Do you work in retail, and do you take customer services seriously?

i dont.. but on minimum wage i wouldnt care either.

 

[Krypton]

i dont.. but on minimum wage i wouldnt care either.

Good attitude. Maybe you'd stay on minimum wage with that kind of thinking.

I like the "dump everything at the checkout" one - I've come across the ignorant chatty self-involved checkout staff too, so that's a good tactic to keep in reserve.

At least it seems like most people expect a certain minimum level of service. Maybe I should start a company training retail sales staff to be good mannered.

 

[gbb]

Don't know how you lot would get on over here, there's no such thing as customer service.
All the staff are miserable little cows.
Carrefour in Malaga is the worst, out of 36 tills, there's never more than about 5 open, and it matters not how long the queues are, they'll never open another. In fact they will close one and send everyone in the queue to another queue.

One of main reasons is, that the labour laws here make it virtually impossible to sack anyone, so the staff just don't give a toss.

I could tell you some real horror stories, and maybe one day I'll get around to updating my blog and tell people about REAL life in Spain. Not the sanitized version that you get on holiday.

I suspect one of the other reasons is the Spanish are just a miserable lot anyway...perhaps particually to tourists / foreigners. I've often found it in their shops as a tourist.
Also, they have THE most miserable cabin staff in the world. I once flew Business Class to South America and asked for a cup of coffee. The dead pan answer was ' we're doing lunch soon'...in other words you can wait then. I looked at her and said 'no coffee then' She just turned and walked off. Ive flown lots, never had such bad service. In typically British fashion....i did nothing . Should have complained. I'll never willingly fly iberian again. Even Czech Airways was better.

My story similar to OP...went into a trinket shop in Gt Yarmouth once, the wife had picked up a couple of nicknacks and was stood at the till....while they (the owners i assume, certainly not uncaring teenagers) ignored her and were poring over a car brochure, something like a Mondeo brochure.
My wife said something...and they continued to ignore her. I picked the bits up off the till, threw them back on the shelf and said...'if you were a little more caring about your customers...you could afford a BMW, not a Mondeo'

For some reason this really upset the younger one (about 35) behind the till and he got really shirty. I wound him up a bit more and left. he was nearly apopleptic . I made sure on our way back down the same street later, to wind him up a bit more. We laughed about it all the way home.

 

[pepecat]

I used to work in retail, and wouldn't DREAM of talking to colleagues when a customer was waiting. Plus, in the second place I worked, the manager would be on us like a ton of bricks if we did - and rightly so. It's bad customer service. You're being paid to serve customers, so that's what you do. Not rocket science.....
But maybe I just have a weird attitude to this kind of thing. Now I work in a library, and act in exactly the same way - you don't talk to colleagues if there's someone waiting for service.
I dislike it when I go into a shop and they're all chatting away, and then continue to do so when they're dealing with my transaction. No eye contact, no 'here's your change' or anything...... Grumpy sods.
Yes, I know working in a shop is pretty sucky, and yes, I know customers can be the soddiest grumpiest people ever; I have worked in shops and know this. But it's not an excuse for crap customer service.