Best and Worst Customer Service Experiences?

[Tarmac]

retailers:

how common is it to have to tell someone that they are not welcome to shop at your store any longer? couple times a year?

in such cases, do the problem customers try to come back and harass you somehow?

 

[LeatherSOUL]

Originally Posted by Tarmac

retailers:

how common is it to have to tell someone that they are not welcome to shop at your store any longer? couple times a year?

in such cases, do the problem customers try to come back and harass you somehow?

I've had one guy I had to ask to leave in 4 years. He was really bad, pretty much saying I was racist because I didn't carry any EEEEs in stock. He was pretty bad and confrontational. He was screaming actually as he left saying I would go out of business in a year. I didn't argue with him, I just asked him to leave politely.

We've been through our fair share of drunk guys as well since we are in Waikiki, but have kept our composure and actually sold a pair or two to them. We've also had guys who I would bet are Yakuza and have handled them fine as well.

 

[RJman]

Originally Posted by LeatherSOUL

I've had one guy I had to ask to leave in 4 years. He was really bad, pretty much saying I was racist because I didn't carry any EEEEs in stock.
Racist against whom? Ducks?

 

[jamaican]

WORST: Prada on Old Bond St. London Ca. 1999 (an elephant never forgets). I went in with my then fiancee, now wife, looking for a suit for work - I was so young, so foolish, anyway- and there are two sales people in the immediate area. I ask the price of the suit intending to purchase and the saleswoman says, no I can't deal with you now... she is just standing there. She isn't busy, she just refused to help me. The other sales assistant is ignoring me while holding on some phone call. I refuse to buy anything Prada AT ALL. EVER.

BEST: The guy who does my bespoke suits. Great ideas, a real friend... I knew him for years before he made anything for me.

Maybe general contact with G&G, when looking no pressure. Changed my mind. They cater to my whim. J

 

[jon836]

The worst for me was at a Hermes store in Atlanta; which surprisingly started out very well. I was looking at the ties, and inquired about a special edition tie that they were selling for the Wall Street opening. The woman called New York, found that they still had some of the ties, and ordered me one. I was fairly impressed. A few days later I found that they had charged my card $12 more than the price that I had signed for; so when I returned to pick up the tie, I told her about it and she fixed it; saying that the price of their ties had gone up since I bought it, and I was charged the higher price. Now, to many this might seem petty, but I couldn't help feeling like they just figured that the majority of the people who shop there don't pay that close of attention to what they pay for items, and even the people who catch the change wouldn't dare risk sounding cheap by pointing out the change... In any event, I didn't think that it was an accident.

As for sales people following me around, I prefer to shop by myself. It is nice to be greeted when I walk in, and have someone standing off somewhere monitoring customers; it is not hard to see when someone needs help with something. If I walk into a store, and a salesperson says hello to me, and when I leave they say goodbye (and that is the extent of the conversation) I take absolutely no offense to that, and appreciate that I wasn't pestered while in the store.

 

[EdenResident]

Originally Posted by RJman

Racist against whom? Ducks?

Shouldn't that be specist?

 

[LeatherSOUL]

Just remembered a bad Hermes experience a few months ago. I could go on and on, but the main thing was when I asked the price of a tie the guy said "oh, very expensive." When I asked,
"what $200?" he replied, "yeah expensive, something like that."

This was in the Hermes boutique in the Royal Hawaiian Center, the salesperson was a skinny Japanese dude in his 30's.

Oh, here's another one...I went into Ferragamo and asked if they made knit ties...the salesgirl didn't know what the heck a knit tie was and asked me if I'm looking for cheaper ties of a lesser quality (meaning not silk=cheapo). They then referred me to Armani Exchange and essentially walked away.

 

[taxgenius]

Best service was last year at Saks in NY. There was a major sale going on and the place was crazy busy. All I wanted was a certain inexpensive v neck wool sweater that wasn't on the rack in my size. This young black gentleman (I wish I remembered his name) went to some back room and found exactly what I was looking for.

 

[felonius monk]

My worst ever was Saks in Southampton. I was completely ignored service-wise, although one salesman did compliment my sweater. Best is usually at the local BR. The manager is always happy when I bring in Monogram for returns. We must be the same size

 

[Cordwinder]

Next time when you experience bad service from Polo Ralph Laren

From Polo Lawsuit Granted Class-Action Status

NEW YORK "” A federal district court judge in San Francisco Tuesday granted class-action status to a compensation lawsuit brought by former employees of stores operated by Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. in California, potentially allowing an estimated 5,300 other workers to join the case.

The lawsuit accuses the company of denying employees proper payment for time spent in its stores, failing to provide rest breaks, improperly classifying all salespeople as commission-based earners exempt from overtime and improperly using an arrears program to reduce commisions earnings.

Judge Susan Ilston granted the motion after hearing deposed testimony by the four former employees bringing the suit and declarations filed by other class members, as well as competing declarations in defense of Polo Ralph Lauren filed by current employees. Her ruling further designated two subclasses of plaintiffs as the case proceeds: sales associates mislabeled as commissioned salespeople and sales associates from whom the company took back earned wages through its arrears program. Members of each subclass could stand to receive separate damages.

According to allegations in the complaint, originally filed in May 2007, employees at the stores were discouraged or prevented from taking breaks and were subject to bag checks for stolen merchandise before leaving the stores but after they had clocked out. The class certification includes any cashier or sales associate injured by an alleged violation from May 30, 2002, to the present. According to court documents, Polo Ralph Lauren operates 28 stores in the state.

As part of the ruling both parties were ordered to enter mediation within the next 45 days. Patrick Kitchin, of The Law Office of Patrick R. Kitchin, which represents the plaintiffs, said that his clients will make a good faith effort to mediate but that they are preparing for trial.

This is the second time in recent years that Kitchin has represented former store employees in a class-action suit against Polo Ralph Lauren. In early 2007 the company settled a suit, on which Kitchin served as lead counsel, that alleged its uniform policies violated several California laws.

A representative for Polo Ralph Lauren said that the company does not comment on pending litigation.

Last week, a Minnesota district court judge order Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to pay $6.5 million to compensate employees of its Wal-Mart and its Sam's Club stores in the state for missed rest breaks and work done off the clock, leaving open the possibility of civil penalties which could amount to as much as $2 billion.

 

[vinouspleasure]

When the kids were a little younger (4, 6 and 8) my wife would take them to nordstroms for shopping. One SA would sit with the kids while another helped my wife with the shopping.

 

[Casey]

I think Las Vegas in general has terrible customer service. At all the stores I stopped by with my family, including MJ, Chanel, and other stores I don't really care about, the SAs didn't really bother to help us. My mom said that nobody even greeted her when she walked into Kate Spade (We're Asian) and when a white girl came in, the SA at the front came to her side immediately and started talking to her, so my mom just left. At Bottega Veneta, however, a Japanese lady was very keen on showing us stuff, and wasn't pushy at all, even though my mom said she was "just looking." Basically, the only people who helped out in Las Vegas were the Asian SAs.

However, here in San Diego and Los Angeles, MJ, Barneys, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Gap, and pretty much anywhere else I go to has great service. I rarely ever feel pressured, but my favorite is the Barneys Outlet in Carlsbad. I was getting a pair of shoes but since they were on sale, it was hard to find sizes so the dude working there just pulled out every single color that was my size which made it really easy to choose. Barneys itself isn't exactly the best place for me to shop though, because I can only afford to shop there when there's a sale. That's why I tend to feel uncomfortable when people try to sell me stuff I don't want, and I never get any of that at Barneys. They always just let me be, and I don't know if it's because they don't like me or because they think that's what I'd prefer but it makes me happy.

I did a lot of shopping in markets while I was in China a few weeks ago. Talk about pressure. It's the worst when people grab you and don't let you leave. But that's a whole different culture, so let's not go there.

 

[clarity]

Originally Posted by Robert

I was a victim of piss-poor in-store service at Gap and Banana Republic today. Maybe this isn't a surprise to everyone else, but since I rarely venture into these stores anymore, I was overwhelmed by the dreadful, awful service. I could have been invisible. I walked around both stores for 1/2 hour each and not one clerk or manager acknowledged my presence. Noboby made eye contact, nobody spoke a word. I even did things like purposely drop items in the middle of the sales floor and walk away, mess up displays, and stare up at the ceiling. Finally, in both instances, I asked to speak to a manager, who were both surprised as all hell that I'd received such poor service. What the hell!? I was even half-ready to buy some sales items in both places but told them they'd lost their sales and any future business from me (the last being a lie--of course, I'll be back).

What is w/ this crap?!

The offending stores are both located in the Columbiana Centre near Columbia, SC.
Heh reminds me of the last Gap I went into. Basically I walk in the door and 2 young ladies that work there were complaining to each other about their boyfriends. They were completely oblivious to any of the customers.

 

[JR88]

^ I guess I just assume that there will never be good customer service in stores where the SAs treat their role as a job, not a career.

 

[Kuro]

customshirt1.com has great service.