Best and Worst Customer Service Experiences?

[JayJay]

Best:

BB, N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. On multiple recent occasions the salesman has found items for me from other stores and then come in on his day off to assist me. He even would come in on his day off when I would come to pick up altered items. He informs me of sales and locates whatever I want for in-store purchase or for shipment to my house. He consistently provides EXCELLENT service.

Not the worst, but...:

BB, 346 Madison Avenue, NYC. After splurging on multiple items, the salesguy never sent a pair shoes he was supposedly getting from another store. He assured me I would get them, but I never heard from him again. Fortunately, the salesman at the Chicago BB N. Michigan Ave. store was only too happy to get me the shoes.

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by Skyler

Best: Ron Rider, who deserves no intro on this forum.

Worst: ...in the end, the market will take care of its own
I have to second Ron Rider's service. Today I picked up two pairs of Rider Boot Company shell chukkas and a pair of RM monks. Ron directed me to the particular Franco's location for the shoes and had them waiting for me in my size when I arrived at the store.

It was great to see Ron's entire collection in person. He has great shoes that are made even better by his excellent service. Thank you, Ron, for making the shoes available, and thanks to Mike at Franco's for his patience and assistance.

 

[tlmusic]

Originally Posted by TCN

My worst, not suprisingly, came from Turnbull & Asser,
I have a bunch of T & A shirts purchased from Neiman Marcus and the Jermyn Street store. I think they make nice shirts. The telephone service from England has always been cordial, and mistake free. However, I noticed on this forum that T & A on East 57th was having a sale last month. I called them the first day of the sale, June 2. I asked, "are you having a sale?" Their operator said, "yes, what are you looking for?" "Shirts" I replied. I also told them I was not in NYC, and would like to mail order some shirts. The operator told me that all the sales associates were too busy, and someone would call me back or email. Sounded reasonable... At the end of that day there was no response. I called them, and was told again that the sales associates were too busy, and someone would contact me later. I called them again on the second and fourth days after that, and got the same line from their operator. I am still waiting for their response.

 

[justsayno]

Bad Customer Service Polo Ralph Lauren Store, Stanford Shopping Mall The Skinny: Short Hispanic SA wasn't able to order a RLBL jacket over the RL promotion and later called and continued to push me to a size up to a jacket available in store. When I was in the store they ran out of jackets my size, SA suggested sizing up. They had a '07 model in a bigger size! I wasn't sure whether I really wanted to size up and the SA began to exhibit bad attitude, appearing exasperated with my questions and looking quite sour. I said I'll place an order for the one in my size since it's in the system. SA took my card and said he needs to do it next business day since it's past 5pm in New York... I heard from him a few days later and he said the jacket he wanted to place an order on was snapped up, do I want to size up? Brooks Brothers, Santana Row San Jose black female SA, I asked to order a pair of shoes. She took my card, promised that the shoe would come in 2 weeks. I followed up a week later and she said they're arriving. It's been 2 months and she hasn't called back.

 

[Robert]

Originally Posted by greekgeek

Frankly, as nice as you sound in your posts I'm suprised that the Gap and Banana Republic people didn't drop to their knees and start sucking your c**k and handing you gift certificates the moment you walked into the store.
Seriously, me, too! At least if I complain enough to corporate, maybe they'll extend a discount of some kind. I don't expect much from clerks in places like Gap or BR. But I do bring my money in there. And I do spend my time there. When I was in retail, I was taught that you treat the customer like a guest. You greet him or her at a minimum and go from there. If they want to be left alone, leave them alone. But you at least acknowledge their presence and converse enough to know HOW to treat them. I was IGNORED completely. So trust me, I don't take kindly to discourteous and unfriendly service, to being ignored or treated with disrespect by sales clerks. Yes, I know I'm not a movie star, and yes, I know these are poorly paid employees. And no, I don't want them fawning all over me. But I do want a little recognition that I'm in the store and that at some point I might just want a little of their precious time for some assistance. Nobody should feel like they're unwelcome or unaccepted in a store, unless their behavior warrants it. And I was certainly made to feel unwelcome.

 

[slipperywhenwet]

Best Service:

Paul Smith - Osaka's Daimaru department store. The staff there was unquestionably the best I've dealt with. The girl who sold me my suit was patient and kind for the whole 90 minutes that I hummed and haaed about the purchase. Even when I walked away the first time, she was polite and didn't let any disappointment show. Hard to do after I'd used over a hour of her time on a Saturday. I bought the suit and explained to them that I was only in Osaka for a short time, so I wouldn't be able to wait for it to be tailored. She told me that they would put a rush on it and I could have it back with the sleeves and pants shortened in 4 hours instead of the regular wait. To top it off, she had excellent taste in ties.

Louis Vuitton - COEX, Seoul, Korea. I bought a messenger bag a year earlier and it was wearing horribly on the flap where the shoulder strap and the bag touched. I had issues getting it fixed in Canada and decided to talk to the shop in Seoul. They didn't even ask questions. They just asked me to bring the bag in and they would try to fix it, if they couldn't they would replace it. I told them that I didn't have my receipt, but they said that if I could remember where I bought it, they would call the store and get it faxed. The next day I returned with the bag, and they had found the receipt. They looked at the bag and it turned out that they could fix it, but had decided that it was the result of poor design and replaced it for free. It took all of 3 days for them to take it in, decide to replace it, and have a new one in their store for me. I can't say enough good things about that place.



Worst Service:

Louis Vuitton - Holt Renfrew, Calgary, Alberta. After 6 months of owning a messenger bag that I bought in Hawaii, the strap had worn against the flap so much that the stitching on the flap was cut, and the inner and outer linings were separating. I finally had enough time away from work and school to travel to the nearest LV store (3 hours away), and get it looked at. The first guy refused to even touch it, saying that it was already too damaged and that no one would ever fix it. I was furious. The whole time I was there, he treated me like I was wasting his time. He even stopped in the middle of our conversation to fiddle with the products, and to wave at his friends. After getting angry with him, he said that they could take it in, but the would have to send it to California to have it fixed and it would take 6 weeks. He also said that they wouldn't replace the damaged material, they would just put a coating on it and reseal the two pieces. I was disgusted with the way he handled my issues, I haven't been back to that store, or even Holt Renfrew since.

 

[kaxixi]

At RL in Palo Alto, ask for Dae Caldwell. I hope this helps.

Originally Posted by justsayno

Bad Customer Service
Polo Ralph Lauren Store, Stanford Shopping Mall
The Skinny:
Short Hispanic SA wasn't able to order a RLBL jacket over the RL promotion and later called and continued to push me to a size up to a jacket available in store.

When I was in the store they ran out of jackets my size, SA suggested sizing up. They had a '07 model in a bigger size! I wasn't sure whether I really wanted to size up and the SA began to exhibit bad attitude, appearing exasperated with my questions and looking quite sour. I said I'll place an order for the one in my size since it's in the system. SA took my card and said he needs to do it next business day since it's past 5pm in New York... I heard from him a few days later and he said the jacket he wanted to place an order on was snapped up, do I want to size up?

Brooks Brothers, Santana Row San Jose
black female SA, I asked to order a pair of shoes. She took my card, promised that the shoe would come in 2 weeks. I followed up a week later and she said they're arriving. It's been 2 months and she hasn't called back.

 

[GY!BE]

Don't know if it was the best service, but definitely the most interesting

When I was younger I went into the Lacoste (yes, I know) store in soho and was trying some stuff on, after a couple of polos that fit horribly, the saleswoman told me that spending my money there would be a complete waste and recommended some other stores where clothing would't fit like a box

yay for honesty!

 

[Harry Lean]

had great customer service at the drug store the other week. l hadn't slept for two days and l was cross eyed. l had a long drive ahead of me, so l dropped in to get an eye patch. The 40 year old hot beauty ripped open a packet and got a patch out. lt didn't fit. Then she opened up another packet. lt didn't fit. l asked her how much l owed her for the two opened packets. She said, no charge. Then she opened up another packet. Again it didn't fit. After going through $20 worth of packets, l insisted that l pay. She held my hand, touched my face and said that she would not accept my money.

l used to be the number one customer at a certain shoe shop too (some years l bought 20 pairs). When l was away, l even had the owner hold shoes for me for as long as 18 months. People wanted to buy them, but he kept them for me. He would always ring me first when new shoes came in.

 

[Harry Lean]

Originally Posted by ghulkhan

the worst is at any armani store

When l walk into any Armani store, l am always invisible. l've never been ackowledged by anyone ever. Dreadful stuffy atmosphere.

Louis Vuitton is pretty stuffy too. l asked to see a wallet but they wouldn't get one out and show me.

 

[houserichichi]

I work in a retail shop and am surprised that this customer hasn't written up about me yet. I was working alone in a 10,000 sq ft store (my boss was out conducting an interview or something to that extent). Store was unusually busy, I was running around trying to help as many people as I could, answering questions, finding pieces of clothing, shoes, what have you. I guess a man and his family snuck into the store without me seeing and, to be fair, I wasn't able to tell who was new to my eyes and who wasn't due to volume. He couldn't have been in the store longer than five minutes when he came up and asked me (as I was checking something in the computer for a customer), "do you work here?" to which I replied, "yes I do, is there something I can give you a hand with?" He retorted with a huff and, "I guess you don't greet your customers in this store." I apologized as best I was able and offered to give him a hand with whatever he was looking for to which he responded, "forget about it." He rounded up his kids and walked out the door. I apologized again as he left to which he offered me a dirty glance. I like to think I did the best I was able to given the poor circumstances.

Prick.

 

[acidboy]

Best in my recent United States visit would be Saks 5th Ave, Houston Galleria. Isaac went out his way to make me feel at home, and once he found out I was new in town he was genuinely helpful with my questions about Houston. I was just taking a peek at the suits and jackets on sale, particularly Corneliani, which he handles, and he gave me a tour around the whole floor level from Kiton, Cucinelli, the shoes department, denims, casual.... and he even showed me the Fox Sports bar downstairs outside the store. A very fine gentleman, and definitely an asset to Saks.

 

[Enfo]

Robert - Which Banana Republic were you at????

because if you were messing up the visual displays in my store... I'm gonna be pissed lol.

 

[amerikajinda]

Originally Posted by CitizenK

My worst experience by far was at Brooks Brothers in Washington DC.
Mine too! I elaborated on it in a different thread, but basically the sales "help" at this BB are (with exceptions, of course) aloof, snooty, snotty, lazy, fake, etc. I was in a few months ago, and the salesman refused to check the price on a pair of shoes, or even to see if they were on sale. He brought up a pair of 12s from the basement, when I had asked for 11.5s... I tried them on and, as suspected, they were too big, but Mr. Clairvoyant Salesdude -- while just looking at them on my feet from afar -- was able to surmise that they were a "perfect fit". I almost laughed out loud. He asked if I'd like to take them - the whole time looking around surreptitiously for other customers. I looked at him like he was from another planet. It was an almost surreal experience. I thought that surely, there must be a hidden camera somewhere recording this scene to be replayed on some Candid Camera-type show. Sure, it must be hard to work on commission - worrying about putting food on your plate. So I guess his type survives on clueless customers who don't care about being slighted or made to feel like they're imposing on the salesperson's time. Really - the whole experience was so off-putting that even if the shoes were the perfect fit, I wouldn't have bought them because I didn't want to give that salesguy a penny of my money - I'd go out of my way to order them online. In a perfect world, when a salesperson approaches you to help you, you shouldn't be able to tell whether or not that salesperson works on commission. But it's just painfully obvious when walking into the BB on Conn. Ave, or the Neiman Marcus men's department (or men's cologne counter) in Tysons II, that when you walk in, you're raw meat and the sales sharks will zoom in for the kill in a matter of seconds and say whatever it is they think they have to say to make the sale - very similar to walking into a car dealership. It's really disgusting. That being said, the BEST customer service experiences, hands-down (no comparison, really) have been in Japan and Korea. Perhaps the best example was, after returning from vacation in Japan, I found a letter from Japan with a beautiful hand-written note in it from a sales lady from a small shop in Nagoya -- somehow I had left the receipt for my purchase in the shop but she took the time and expense to mail the receipt all the way back to me in America, accompanied by a hand-written note thanking for my purchase and hoping that I had a lovely time in Japan.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

I've found the best way to get good customer service in most places is to treat people with respect, and not act as if i'm the center of the universe like many people do.