Customer Complaint

[sear]

i was more referring to this point you made:

so she starts going on about how she works in retail and she knows its the law and i have to charge her the price on the menu board. lol anyway im a law student and am doing contract law atm. so i said in my most patient voice - actually no that would be a store policy.

lol meh, I was just going on what I knew at the time, example we had been given was that if you advertised saying "this fridge cost $100" and you were referring to one specific fridge then you had to charge them that price but if you were just talking about a bunch of fridges in general then the ad was only invitation to treat and you weren't bound to that price.

I'm doing commercial and consumer contracts this semester and only just learn't about the TPA (exams on friday!) so if it happened now I'd probably just close the window and walk away (especially since i leave in 6 weeks) but oh well still the main point of my post was as if she has the right to ring up and abuse me over the phone calling me a horrible human being!

moral of the story- lady=crazy bitch me=awesome

(on an unrelated note - if anyone has any info... or already written essays on how the European union somehow relates to freedom in western Europe and how nothing mattered to them but everything mattered to eastern Europe during the cold war... and could condense it down to 5 pages of handwritten notes before tomorrow morning, that would be awesome. kthnxbi )

 

[james_omahoney]

According to the trade practices act that customer should have been given the advertised price. KFC can be fined up to $10 million for refusing to comply. (assuming the boards had the wrong price).

oi dr. dick! didn't you read that the board had the correct prices in the end anyway? FAIL.

 

[Liub]

I used to work as a Pizza Delivery Boy. One night I did a delivery and I asked the customer if they would like a receipt. She just said "no" without saying "thankyou". Or she might have said thankyou but maybe I didn't hear it because she had a one of those electronic voice things in her throat because of cancer or whatever.

But still, cancer or no cancer, she should have said it louder - RUDE.

Dude, are you kidding me...?

 

[footyfreak]

We have this promotion at work where you spend $300 and you get $100 off. The $100 comes off each item proportionately, so that if you want to return something you only get refunded what you actually paid for it (i.e. a discounted price). You can use the promotion once, even if you buy stuff and return everything you bought, you can't use it again.

So this woman comes in and spends over $400, she gets $100 off. A while later she comes back wanting to return something. So I refund her the lower price, and she says, "No, I should get the full amount back." I explain the policy to her. And she says, "Even without this item I would still be over $300, so I should get the full amount back." Again I explain the policy. She says, "I understand the policy, but YOU don't understand what I'm saying." I said I understood exactly what she was saying, but that I couldn't do it for her, because it was against store policy.

This went on for about 15 minutes until another staff member came up and totally undermined me by saying, "No that's fine, we can do it."

I was so pissed off

I have to agree with the customer. If she spent $300 on 3 items and got a $100 off then 5 minutes later spent $100 on another item and then returned that item then she'd get a full refund.

The question is, if they were all bought together, there is no way of deciding if this item was part of the $300 needed to make up the promo or not. It's impossible to know, so what you do is you refund the whole amount and hope that they will be a loyal customer and come back for more great deals.

I realise you are just following "store policy". The problem with "store policy" is it doesn't take into consideration individual circumstances.

Employees need to be given enough training and some flexibility in certain situations, as well as have half a brain to act on that (not saying you don't as it seems you are given no flexibility to decide if this situation needed to be looked into further by a manager) so they explain it once and then when the person argues they know it is time to go and get a manager as this is a unique situation/very good customer/a problem person that isn't going to give up easily.

No rules are hard and fast, ever. Any business owner would be happy to refund the whole amount in that situation. Most business owners understand that apart from a few situations or people that are impossible to deal with, you do whatever it takes to keep the customer happy.

Don't blame the customer, blame your employer for lying to you and telling you these rules can not be broken when they can, or blame yourself for not calling someone in earlier who can make discretionary decisions if that is something that can be done and you're aware of it (and I'm not saying that's an option you knew about where you work).

The only persons fault it definately isn't is the customer. They've done nothing wrong here at all. Can't be mad at them for not believing you when you kept repeating its store policy coz they showed that was bullshit.

If i believe I've been mistreated or a mistake has been made I'll keep pushing through levels of staff and management until i get to someone who either sorts it out or explains to me why I'm mistaken in my belief in a way that makes sense and is reasonable or i get to the owner or CEO and they tell me to piss off.

As i am usually always reasonable in what i am trying to achieve (I'm not being ridiculous in my request, i'm not asking for $100 worth of free food coz my fries were a bit cold), you nearly always hit someone who sees your point and/or knows ****ing me off is bad for business.

 

[footyfreak]

well they only get re-embursed from VB when they sell 2 on the single receipt.

fair enough, I'd understand that if they told me that at the bottle shop as then my beef would be with CUB for not being smarter in the way they ran their promo.

 

[footyfreak]

Heard a hilarious one today.

I didn't get the call, but my boss did.

We advertised tastings in some of our stores. One of them was on Saturday, 12pm - 6pm. Customer rang up to complain that this is wrong. He claims that 12pm = 12 o'clock at night, and that this would mean the tasting is running for 18 hours.

My boss tried to explain to him that 12pm is 12 o'clock at lunch time.

Customer explains, that it goes 11:59pm, 12:00pm, then 12:01am.

I thought he was joking, but nope... he was dead serious apparently.

Customer was explaining his 'logic' for about 5 minutes before giving up and hanging up.

You wonder how some people get through life.

holy shit
that's a double whammy!!!! Imagine being that stupid as well as that petty. If you are going to be a pedantic toss bag, make sure you are right.

This guy rang up a local talk back radio station the other week complaining that the government are telling us to conserve water coz of the drought and there are water restrictions etc etc and then they have the nerve to start daylight saving in SA a month earlier than usual!

Dead silence, presenter, ok, what's the problem with that?

Stupid ****: "Well they want us to save water but for a month it's getting dark at 8:30 instead of 7:30 as it would normally so there's an extra hour of daylight drying up the lawns and plants etc which causes us to use more water"

5 seconds of astonished silence and one of the presenters chimes in with "mate, the plants don't know what time it is" LOL

He did not get it, even after having it explained. It was so astonishingly stupid that i felt like i was tripping at 6 am in the morning. This guy is allowed to vote, operate a vehicle and walk around in the society we all live in. That's bloody scary, and dangerous

 

[footyfreak]

Dude, are you kidding me...?

it's one of 3 things, a piss weak attempt at a troll or being funny or suzi got a new username

I think he was serious. Either way, he has no idea. Lets hope he he only failed "trolling 101" and not "life 101"

 

[footyfreak]

I hate when managers or whoever can be so weak like that. Last night we had someone come in and order about $70 worth of food on drive through which is annoying enough. Anyway i repeat the order to her and she says yes and drives through. She gets to the window and I repeat it again and she says yes again. I pack it all and double check to make sure its all in there. Anyway about half an hour later we get a call and shes fuming about not getting 4 pieces of chicken or something that she claims she orders. So the manager decides to replace the entire $70 of food I go to check the order and she didn't even order it, or if she said it, I obviously didn't hear her and didn't charge her for it.

IM SO SICK OF REPEATING ORDERS TO PEOPLE, THEM NOT LISTENING THEN BLAMING ME WHEN THEY DONT GET EVERYTHING THEY WANT!!!!!!!!

The most annoying thing though is that manager didn't even point this out when she came back, he just apologised - for her mistake!! and gave her all that food again

And they wonder why we have so many people scamming us making fake complaints to get free stuff

lol, quit your job if you don't like it. Otherwise STFU and cop it. Whilst she was very generous replacing the whole lot, people making a lot of money have worked out that keeping customers happy is worth much more than the scams people pull.

You're also unfortunately stereotyped as the majority of your co workers are so stupid that quite often they are incapable of taking an order correctly and filling the bags with the correct items so on the balance of probabilities there was a fair chance that the staff screwed up.

It;s not fair if you have a brain but the facts are if you work in a florist people will think you are a **** and if you work in fast food people will think you are extremely stupid.

 

[ashley12]

This post is just breaking up footyfreaks posts...

To that guy who had someone not say thank you. GET OVER IT. I did the same job and if someone says thanks then thats their problem, Im not going to be a manners police and crack down, that said, if there extras etc... get "lost" in transit it too, is there problem, and I will not search that hard for them...

 

[james_omahoney]

This post is just breaking up footyfreaks posts...

To that guy who had someone not say thank you. GET OVER IT. I did the same job and if someone says thanks then thats their problem, Im not going to be a manners police and crack down, that said, if there extras etc... get "lost" in transit it too, is there problem, and I will not search that hard for them...

i wasn't serious mate. to the guy that thought I meant it - LOL.

 

[footyfreak]

yea once i saw your avatar it all became clearer. Sometimes it's hard to read posters on here with all the nutjobs that post, maybe we should all have avatars that reflect better who we are? That would be good coz I'd get to keep mine. whahahaha

 

[LondonCalling]

I think I'm about ready to quit the bank.

Had a customer come in yesterday, wanted to withdraw $15k in cash over the counter. Told him it's bank policy that if you want to withdraw over 5k, you need to give us 24 hours notice, as there's just not enough cash on premises to deal with such a thing. Besides, there's currently a Reserve Bank enforced $100 note shortage in retail, so you'd be walking out with a shitload of $50's.

This guy again asks me to point out where in the T&C's of his account there was anything that said that. Told him it's just standard trade practices that we reserve the right to withhold the product if it is unavailable, similiar if you wanted a particular set of denominations in change from a supermarket, the supermarket isn't legally obliged to give you the tender as requested, just as the actual figure itself.

This guy's cracking the shits, wanting to speak to a manager, telling other customers in the queue how shit this branch is, and what not.

Manage to calm him down, after he realises the reason I'm not giving him the money isn't due to insufficient ID, but rather insufficient cash to give to him. By the end of it, not only is the manager not needed, but I've convinced him to invest it in a term deposit account.

The manager oversees all this, and I'm expecting some hefty praise at the end of it.

Instead, I'm hauled over the coals for not asking "Out of curiosity, how would you rate our service out of 10?"

I could have headbutted that woman.

 

[ShearMagic9]

According to the trade practices act that customer should have been given the advertised price. KFC can be fined up to $10 million for refusing to comply. (assuming the boards had the wrong price).

What section?

There's no way you'd be fined $10m for failing to comply (I just did a Commercial Law exam yesterday).

 

[Hooley McBoob]

I have to agree with the customer. If she spent $300 on 3 items and got a $100 off then 5 minutes later spent $100 on another item and then returned that item then she'd get a full refund.

The question is, if they were all bought together, there is no way of deciding if this item was part of the $300 needed to make up the promo or not. It's impossible to know, so what you do is you refund the whole amount and hope that they will be a loyal customer and come back for more great deals.

I realise you are just following "store policy". The problem with "store policy" is it doesn't take into consideration individual circumstances.

Employees need to be given enough training and some flexibility in certain situations, as well as have half a brain to act on that (not saying you don't as it seems you are given no flexibility to decide if this situation needed to be looked into further by a manager) so they explain it once and then when the person argues they know it is time to go and get a manager as this is a unique situation/very good customer/a problem person that isn't going to give up easily.

No rules are hard and fast, ever. Any business owner would be happy to refund the whole amount in that situation. Most business owners understand that apart from a few situations or people that are impossible to deal with, you do whatever it takes to keep the customer happy.

Don't blame the customer, blame your employer for lying to you and telling you these rules can not be broken when they can, or blame yourself for not calling someone in earlier who can make discretionary decisions if that is something that can be done and you're aware of it (and I'm not saying that's an option you knew about where you work).

The only persons fault it definately isn't is the customer. They've done nothing wrong here at all. Can't be mad at them for not believing you when you kept repeating its store policy coz they showed that was bullshit.

If i believe I've been mistreated or a mistake has been made I'll keep pushing through levels of staff and management until i get to someone who either sorts it out or explains to me why I'm mistaken in my belief in a way that makes sense and is reasonable or i get to the owner or CEO and they tell me to piss off.

As i am usually always reasonable in what i am trying to achieve (I'm not being ridiculous in my request, i'm not asking for $100 worth of free food coz my fries were a bit cold), you nearly always hit someone who sees your point and/or knows ****ing me off is bad for business.

I asked if she wanted to talk to a manager and she said yes, but my manager was on a break so I told the customer she would have to wait until my manager got back. In the meantime I tried to deal with her, but she wouldn't have a bar of it.

My point was that I had absolutely zero authority to do what she was asking me to do. Even if the store policy is bullshit - which I don't think it is - it's my job to stick to it. I don't have the authority to give discounts because some customer comes in and abuses me. I'm not going to put my job at risk because someone is standing on the other side of the counter yelling at me.

The offer clearly states you can only use it once. Even if you return everything, that's it, you've used it. It's valid for 3 weeks, so you don't have to rush your decision to use it. By using the promotion you agree to those terms. Considering it is a free offer - as in, you don't have to pay to be a cardholder and yet you still get lots of discounts and benefits - I don't think the terms are unreasonable.

I really hate it when people come in and are deliberately difficult ("a problem person that isn't going to give up easily", like you said) because they think that if they kick up enough of a stink they will get some kind of discount.

 

[james_omahoney]

I asked if she wanted to talk to a manager and she said yes, but my manager was on a break so I told the customer she would have to wait until my manager got back. In the meantime I tried to deal with her, but she wouldn't have a bar of it.

My point was that I had absolutely zero authority to do what she was asking me to do. Even if the store policy is bullshit - which I don't think it is - it's my job to stick to it. I don't have the authority to give discounts because some customer comes in and abuses me. I'm not going to put my job at risk because someone is standing on the other side of the counter yelling at me.

The offer clearly states you can only use it once. Even if you return everything, that's it, you've used it. It's valid for 3 weeks, so you don't have to rush your decision to use it. By using the promotion you agree to those terms. Considering it is a free offer - as in, you don't have to pay to be a cardholder and yet you still get lots of discounts and benefits - I don't think the terms are unreasonable.

I really hate it when people come in and are deliberately difficult ("a problem person that isn't going to give up easily", like you said) because they think that if they kick up enough of a stink they will get some kind of discount.

I agree with Hooley here. It's up to the customer to check all the terms and conditions of a promotion before entering into the transaction. To claim ignorance or to claim that the policy is unfair is a blatant disregard for the original agreement. If they just walked in, bought some stuff, took the promotion on a whim and were fine with it, then it's their fault for not finding out more about the terms and conditions.

My biggest gripe with customers is that the feel that private businesses owe them something in terms of customer service. Outside the provisions of the law, there are a lot of things that customers seem to expect without realising that they are actually being done a favour because the service is available to them in the first place. For example a grocery store - it doesn't have to be there. The owners didn't have to set it up. It's an overall benefit to the community that the grocery store is there in the first place, so if anything customers should be far more grateful than some tend to be.

I actually hate watching rude customers treat service staff like crap. I'm much more likely to think highly of a store if they don't put up with poor customers. It's really the fault of the industry and management. In an effort to always please the customer and remain competitive, service staff or not empowered to deal with badly-behaved customers properly. Instead they have to do whatever they can to keep the dollars going through the registers. This means that customers in our society as a whole have been effectively trained to expect a level of service that realistically they don't deserve. I understand the business side of it, but I'm frustrated with the other side of it.

As a customer I try to take this approach: if I am not receiving good service I won't complain or carry on about it because I know the private business owes me nothing outside of the law. I'll either put up with it or take my business elsewhere. For example, if you line up at Maccas or wherever and they are serving really slowly, don't have a cry about it. When you line up you are taking on a risk that service could be poor. Lower your expectations!

Public services, on the other hand, are a completely different matter. I'm more than happy to complain to Connex for example, because they tendered for a public service paid for by taxpayers, and therefore agreed to take on responsibility of ensuring an outstanding level of service, for which they have failed miserably.

 

[Norfolk & Clew]

I think I'm about ready to quit the bank.

Had a customer come in yesterday, wanted to withdraw $15k in cash over the counter. Told him it's bank policy that if you want to withdraw over 5k, you need to give us 24 hours notice, as there's just not enough cash on premises to deal with such a thing. Besides, there's currently a Reserve Bank enforced $100 note shortage in retail, so you'd be walking out with a shitload of $50's.

This guy again asks me to point out where in the T&C's of his account there was anything that said that. Told him it's just standard trade practices that we reserve the right to withhold the product if it is unavailable, similiar if you wanted a particular set of denominations in change from a supermarket, the supermarket isn't legally obliged to give you the tender as requested, just as the actual figure itself.

This guy's cracking the shits, wanting to speak to a manager, telling other customers in the queue how shit this branch is, and what not.

Manage to calm him down, after he realises the reason I'm not giving him the money isn't due to insufficient ID, but rather insufficient cash to give to him. By the end of it, not only is the manager not needed, but I've convinced him to invest it in a term deposit account.

The manager oversees all this, and I'm expecting some hefty praise at the end of it.

Instead, I'm hauled over the coals for not asking "Out of curiosity, how would you rate our service out of 10?"

I could have headbutted that woman.

Haha mate i am guessing you work in one of the big 4 banks that are all about selling your products to the customers and meeting monthly targets etc.??

I'd hate to work for a bank like that, where i work is more about customer service which you seemed to have done perfectly, can't believe you didn't get praised for that!

But i'm hearing you about the customers complaining about only being able to withdraw a certain amount, happens all the time!

 

[footyfreak]

My biggest gripe with customers is that the feel that private businesses owe them something in terms of customer service. Outside the provisions of the law, there are a lot of things that customers seem to expect without realising that they are actually being done a favour because the service is available to them in the first place. For example a grocery store - it doesn't have to be there. The owners didn't have to set it up. It's an overall benefit to the community that the grocery store is there in the first place, so if anything customers should be far more grateful than some tend to be.

Holy shit

I'm gathering this isn't another "voice box no thank you" scenario.

you are being serious this time aren't you

 

[footyfreak]

Haha mate i am guessing you work in one of the big 4 banks that are all about selling your products to the customers and meeting monthly targets etc.??

I'd hate to work for a bank like that, where i work is more about customer service which you seemed to have done perfectly, can't believe you didn't get praised for that!

But i'm hearing you about the customers complaining about only being able to withdraw a certain amount, happens all the time!

yea, pretty crazy that people might think that a big branch of a major bank would be the place to go and withdraw some cash

 

[Niximus]

yea, pretty crazy that people might think that a big branch of a major bank would be the place to go and withdraw some cash

Nah I have to go with them on this. A bank doesn't actually have your money sitting out the back in cash, all they ask is 24 hours notice if you need a large amount, that's not too much to ask.

Seriously though, who could possibly ever need over $5k in cash at short notice for legitimate means? Who would even want to be walkling around with that?

If you're buying somehting big (car/house) you get a bank cheque, sure it costs $15 or so but that's shitloads cheaper than someone mugging you when you walkout with a few grand in cash.

 

[LondonCalling]

Haha mate i am guessing you work in one of the big 4 banks that are all about selling your products to the customers and meeting monthly targets etc.??

I'd hate to work for a bank like that, where i work is more about customer service which you seemed to have done perfectly, can't believe you didn't get praised for that!

But i'm hearing you about the customers complaining about only being able to withdraw a certain amount, happens all the time!

Ever since the whole financial crisis spin has started to peak, the focus has certainly gone away from sales targets and selling products, toward "non-negotiable" customer service factors...

* - Must always use the customer's name. This one irrits me, as the majority of customers who come into the bank are racial minorities with ridiculously difficult surnames, who usually get offended at the teller's pathetic efforts at pronouncing their surname. Not to mention, also elderly which makes it inappropriate to call them by their first name. More often than not, "Sir" or "Madam" makes the customer service seem a lot better than "Want $50's or $20's, George?"

* - Must never turn your back on the customer. Understand the semantics of this, however, in practice, the logistics just doesn't work. For example, in some branches, coin weighing machines are up against the back wall, which, unless counting coin bags behind your back is your thing, is quite impossible.

* - Ensuring that you ask the customer whether they were satisfied with the service provided, and if it wasn't 10/10, to ask what can be done to improve it.

The reason for this is Roy Morgan Research ring customers the day after they've been into a branch, asking the same question, what they'd give it out of 10. The average response is an 8 or a 9, which to most is good. Unfortunately, unless it's a 10, it's considered a fail. As such, we need to harass our customers into giving a score out of 10. That's just brilliant customer service.................

Absolutism never helped anyone.

yea, pretty crazy that people might think that a big branch of a major bank would be the place to go and withdraw some cash

We're talking suburban branches here, not city branches. If you want more than 5k in cash, generally it's for a purpose, rather than hiding it under the bed, you think they'd be organised enough to call in advance.

Same with foreign currency, I can't get over how amazed people are when we haven't got enough *insert obscure foreign currency here* to last a month's holiday just behind the counter without any notification.

 

[footyfreak]

Nah I have to go with them on this. A bank doesn't actually have your money sitting out the back in cash, all they ask is 24 hours notice if you need a large amount, that's not too much to ask.

Seriously though, who could possibly ever need over $5k in cash at short notice for legitimate means? Who would even want to be walkling around with that?

If you're buying somehting big (car/house) you get a bank cheque, sure it costs $15 or so but that's shitloads cheaper than someone mugging you when you walkout with a few grand in cash.

I walked into the CBA in Alice springs and withdrew 15K cash and was at the counter for 5 mins tops. I needed it in a hurry, i had a legitimate biz opportunity fall in my lap. No way was i going to wait 24 hours and have it potentially fall over. The associate wanted cash, none of my business why. All i cared about was that the deal was there to be done and the CBA, who make plenty of money out of me, accommodated my needs very well.

 

[LondonCalling]

Nah I have to go with them on this. A bank doesn't actually have your money sitting out the back in cash, all they ask is 24 hours notice if you need a large amount, that's not too much to ask.

Seriously though, who could possibly ever need over $5k in cash at short notice for legitimate means? Who would even want to be walkling around with that?

If you're buying somehting big (car/house) you get a bank cheque, sure it costs $15 or so but that's shitloads cheaper than someone mugging you when you walkout with a few grand in cash.

Ahh bugger, pretty much what I just said.

Bank cheque is $5.40 btw

 

[Norfolk & Clew]

I walked into the CBA in Alice springs and withdrew 15K cash and was at the counter for 5 mins tops. I needed it in a hurry, i had a legitimate biz opportunity fall in my lap. No way was i going to wait 24 hours and have it potentially fall over. The associate wanted cash, none of my business why. All i cared about was that the deal was there to be done and the CBA, who make plenty of money out of me, accommodated my needs very well.

Majority of the time it can be done, if you came into my work now i'd be able to, but its just on some occasions when the holding gets very low we're unable to do it. If 20 people come in on a given day all demanding $15k on the spot it is very unlikely!

 

[footyfreak]

Majority of the time it can be done, if you came into my work now i'd be able to, but its just on some occasions when the holding gets very low we're unable to do it. If 20 people come in on a given day all demanding $15k on the spot it is very unlikely!

yea that's fair enough

 

[james_omahoney]

Holy shit

I'm gathering this isn't another "voice box no thank you" scenario.

you are being serious this time aren't you

yeah nah not taking the p*ss this time. customers are jerks. they expect way too much. they don't realise private businesses don't owe them anything (unless a product/service has already been paid for - this is a different because an agreement has already been made). if nothing has been paid for yet, then customers have no right to complain about poor service, and no right to treat service staff like crap. And no, I don't work in customer service, it just disgusts me how some adults act like children when they don't get their way. We live in an awesome country with a very high standard of living and you have idiots complaining and insulting people because of dirty 2 dollar coins.