A Horrible Case of Mistaken Identity at the London Drugs

[Purdee]

Well, I don't know if this will work for you but when I had a problem with The Brick I emailed Global TV trouble shooter in my area. The Brick refused to fix my bed frame that I just bought for a few months, I even bought an extended warranty, anyway, long story short I didn't get a result from their head office so I emailed a very long a detailed email to the Global and I guess they contacted the Brick and shortly after the manager called, apologized, set up a date for the tech to come and replaced my bed frame.

[winkerstones]

Wow! Whatever happened to customer service? Where do they find some of these employees. It's almost as if they want to get fired.

[lekate]

WOW that is completely ridiculous! I definitely would get in touch with Head Office.

[Junerose]

.

[thecountess]

You have a right to shop where it's convenient for you Junerose; I would try to find out that cashier's schedule and see if they are certain days she definitely doesn't work due to her availability and then go on those days. That way you can continue to shop there and stack.

The manager's apology leaves a lot to be desired and sounds scripted. The problem I think is many employees, including some managers are now task oriented vs. customer service oriented. They think as long as they show up and stock the shelves and perform essential job functions then that's enough, irregardless of how they talk to people.

That mentality is a great way to decrease sales and get customers going up the street to the competition.

[Junerose]

The manager's apology leaves a lot to be desired and sounds scripted. The problem I think is many employees, including some managers are now task oriented vs. customer service oriented. They think as long as they show up and stock the shelves and perform essential job functions then that's enough, irregardless of how they talk to people.

well said, countess, and so true. i really miss the days when service actually meant talking to the customer like a person and actually offering help. it's a sad thing when you encounter someone with good customer service, and you are astonished by it.

[thecountess]

well said, countess, and so true. i really miss the days when service actually meant talking to the customer like a person and actually offering help. it's a sad thing when you encounter someone with good customer service, and you are astonished by it.

Very true

[Nice Sass]

Two years ago I had the opportunity to attend a seminar where the guest speaker was Jeff Mowatt, a Canadian who speaks about the "art" of customer service. Afterwards I subscribed to his monthly "training tips" that are e-mailed for free.

One of his recent points has been that in this economy, as businesses are hurting for business, there are only a few ways that you can set yourself apart:

1. Lower your prices. Most companies can't afford to to this; they're hurting already.
2. Offer something new. Coming up with new products and ideas costs money, and most companies lack the capital right now. And investing in new ideas that may tank is not the smartest move currently.
3. Focus on your customer service. This costs NOTHING, and brings businesses back to some really elementary marketing truths about how we spread the word about our experiences (unhappy customers usually tell people while happy ones tell the business). By enhancing the customer service offered, you retain current customers and hope that they bring in new ones.

Without adequate customer service in this economic climate, you have nothing setting you apart, unless it's price, which perhaps is what LD is focusing on. As Junerose mentioned, the manager's response seemed scripted and from what I read, disingenuous. The circumstances of this mysterious twin don't even need to be addressed; unless a customer is acting in an abusive manner, retailers simply should not treat people like that, and I would be willing to bet that HQ would appreciate knowing about this incident, including management's reaction. Change usually comes from the top, but the top needs to know about it first.

If you're interested in receiving the monthly tips, here is the link to subscribe (look at the left side menu). It's free and helpful; I don't work retail, but I appreciate the tips!

http://www.jeffmowatt.com/trainingtips/index.html

[thecountess]

Without adequate customer service in this economic climate, you have nothing setting you apart, unless it's price, which perhaps is what LD is focusing on. As Junerose mentioned, the manager's response seemed scripted and from what I read, disingenuous. The circumstances of this mysterious twin don't even need to be addressed; unless a customer is acting in an abusive manner, retailers simply should not treat people like that, and I would be willing to bet that HQ would appreciate knowing about this incident, including management's reaction. Change usually comes from the top, but the top needs to know about it first.

I have had some incidences of such deplorably rude service I wished I had a hidden camera with audio to record it and send to the store's Head Office. When the store is contacted by the District Manager, I'm sure 99.9 % of the time they deny any wrongdoing on the part of the staff and say that it was the customer who was being rude and difficult. Would be much harder to do if the incident was caught on tape.

Companies should be appalled to hear how some of their employees are interacting with customers. One of these days, that cashier who was obnoxious to Junerose is going to pull the same stunt on another customer, only to be confronted by Head Office with a written evaluation submitted by a mystery shopper posing as a customer.

[pippinelkhound]

You raised an interesting point.

How much business is LD actually gaining by stacking? From what I've read here, people go for what they can get for next to nothing. LD gets the money back with a very small handling fee from the manufacturer.

BUT how many customers who only use one coupon in an order are ticked off by the delays incurred by the stacking queens? I usually have one or two coupons in my basket when I shop there and spend around $60 on top of the coupon stuff between general merchandise and prescriptions.

Who would be a more valuable customer to a store manager? A stacker who spends under $5 or a moderate coupon user who spends over $20?

[thecountess]

Who would be a more valuable customer to a store manager? A stacker who spends under $5 or a moderate coupon user who spends over $20?

A large sale is still a large sale whether it is paid for in coupons or in cash. As you mentioned, stores are fully reimbursed for the coupons and also get a small handling fee to boot, which, granted, is not much per coupon but definitely adds up over the course of a year to a nice chunk of change in the store's coffers.

Customers who shop almost exclusively at stores like LD where they can stack are therefore not giving their shopping dollars/coupons to the competition. Stores who allow stacking are laughing hysterically all the way to the bank.

[pippinelkhound]

I think you missed my point. Stackers appear to swoop and for lack of a better word, grab their purchases and leave. They go in with a plan and stick to it.

Other shoppers walk around and spend real money. I know I've gone into LD to get something on special with a coupon and then wound up in the makeup department, dog treat aisle and the imported chocolate. Meant to spend $3.99 less $1.50 coupon. Wound up spending a $100.

Yes, I'm an impulse shopper but I still probably spend more than a stacking queen.

[kaimui22]

It shouldn't matter who their "target" consumer is nor how much money one is spending .As long as one penny is spent, we should be still be respected, as a customer and as a human being.

Even if a stacking queen is only spending $5 to get $100 of products, it doesn't mean LD is only getting $5. They will be getting the $95 from the manufacture. So does that mean LD should value customers who spends $95 out of pocket? NO. And also, everytime I stack (which is like once a year!) , I always end up spending an extra $20 on snacks and food and stuff that I probably could've gotten cheaper elsewhere.

Junerose :
You're not the only person who's been accused of "ripping them off". This lady at the No.3 Rd store in Richmond once told me "You must be buying these, then returning them to make money off us. You are ripping us off. You must do this for a living." I was SO embarrassed and wanted to cry after that. As I was leaving the till, she told the customers behind me "Sorry for the hold up..you know how THESE (points at me) customers are. And the funny thing is, I maybe stacked $3 off a $8 bottle of Tide. I didn't even get 50% in savings. I spent over $15 in that transaction getting 2 bottles of Tide, 1 toothbrush and a bottle of mouthwash. I then went home and fired an email to LD and the manager got back to me with a response similar to yours. The lady then disappeared from my LD for a couple months. Now I've heard she's back from her long vacation and she has once again embarrassed and accused another SCer of fraud by using similac cheques. That member had maybe 3 x $10 cheques and the lady questioned where she got them from and wouldn't believe that similac would send out $10 cheques to its consumers. In the end she almost made that SCer cry. Oh, and that staff IS a coupon stacker herself, and so is the manager.

Is this how LD treats their customers? Is it jealousy? coupon-envy? Either way, we're giving them business, whether its money out of our pockets or out of the manufacture's pocket.

[thecountess]

It shouldn't matter who their "target" consumer is nor how much money one is spending .As long as one penny is spent, we should be still be respected, as a customer and as a human being.

Even if a stacking queen is only spending $5 to get $100 of products, it doesn't mean LD is only getting $5. They will be getting the $95 from the manufacture.
Is this how LD treats their customers? Is it jealousy? coupon-envy? Either way, we're giving them business, whether its money out of our pockets or out of the manufacture's pocket.

[Evil.Kitten]

E-mails rarely get read [or read properly].

I suggest you contact head office by phone personally to address this. The woman/woman had no right to treat you that way.

It's outright disgusting. The company should be ashamed for having these kinds of employees. Please please please[!!] call them; just incase. The employee should have been severely punished--fired, even. I would have expected myself fired on the spot for behaviour like that. I was always worried when I worked at penningtons because I had to deal with angry customers... I watched a customer steal a $50 bra and my supervisor [whose a huge kiss ass of the manager] just laughed and said the woman did nothing of the sorand go back to work.. The woman had run into the bathroom with the bra than back into the changing room.. I went back there [she'd taken off while I was distracted with a customer] and the found the woman's nasty smelly bra lazily stuffed in the seat cushion her changing room. The manager said oh it could have been anybody but we both knew that was a lie.. I quit there after.. I woudln't be made otu to be a liar and forced to buy clothes just to work at a store..

EDIT: Also in the future ALWAYS get the full name of the employee and verify it with a manager/other employees before leaving incase they are lying. For head office contact purposes. =)