Bad Bad Service Stories

[Jacque]

I've got several poor service stories I could share but I just hate it when you line up to be served in a store and when the phone rings, the customer on the other end gets priority! This happened earlier this year when I was lugging my half price Xmas tree to the counter at Myers at the Boxing Day sales- as you can imagine, the line was long and tiring, with nowhere near enough staff given the hordes of customers. After queuing up behind about 8 people, as my turn finally came the phone rings and the sales assistant answers:

"Hello.... Hmm yes I think we still have that ornament. Yes, I'll just go and check. Please hold on"....

She merrily went on her way to investigate and returned, ornament in hand, to pick up the phone and let the lucky customer on the other end know that yes she was successful.
"Now can I take your details and I'll leave it under the counter for you"

When my turn came, I was too tired to comment really but, on a better day, I would have made some wisecrack about doing my sales shopping by phone next year for faster service. I mean, really....

 

[Jacque]

Then when we pay, she makes a comment about being glad when this night is over & she's not looking forward to cleaning up. I assume she means when the restaurant closes, but no, she clarifies by advising she's not looking forward to cleaning up after Daisy.

What a pity Daisy couldn't have vomited on the way out as well
Really, some people just have no idea what the "service" industry means do they?! Well, they've lost your business for good then and serves them right.

 

[charlieandkath]

Had a good one tonight. Ring up for takeaway Chinese. Start ordering - could I please have Satay Chicken, Mongolian Lamb and a large boiled rice please. Answer I got was we don't put boiled rice in large containers only small. Then silence for 10 seconds.
My answer to that was are you sure. You mean you can't put boiled rice in a large container. I was told that is correct. What the ......

I then said OK I am going to cancel this order. Reply was Oh, I'll just go and check. Comes back to phone and says sorry my mistake of course we can do large boiled rice.

My reply, don't worry I am going to order burgers and chips instead from another cafe.

Half the time it is the staff that just don't care, this all comes down to a bit more training though I reckon.

 

[evand]

They hold off giving the price because they think the person is price shopping them. And will get the price and then take off to another dealer and do the same thing, and then another etc.

Thats why he asked 'are you ready to buy today...blah...blah..

In this case i think he was too stupid to realise he had the sale.

Broke the cardinal rule of sales...... "when you've got the sale, stop selling!"

Its amazing how many people do this though, even when trying to negotiate with the boss etc....

 

[Macca]

Broke the cardinal rule of sales...... "when you've got the sale, stop selling!"

Its amazing how many people do this though, even when trying to negotiate with the boss etc....

Hi Penny,

Got it right there, I used to have a guy I would employ as a casual over the Christmas rush period and no matter how many times I told him he used to just keep on talking.

I used to sack him every February and he would ask "Why" and I would tell him the same thing each year, went on for 4 years till he got a fulltime job elsewhere, Not in sales

 

[motivated 5555]

bunnings last weekend gave such bad service no help just sending me off to ends of the sotore to gaze at 30 options that i knew nothing about time and again. it was so frustrating and exhausting. I had to go back 4 times before they sold me what i actually needed. they sold me terrible stuff terrible mistakes totally the opposite of what i said i needed time and again all in one day.

officeworks tonight the lady serving suddenly dissapeared and when i went to see what she was doing she started telling me that other people were going to serve me but noone was in sight. so many customers were waiting and staff were wandering about but noone was serving.

my son needed urgent subject course advice and swinburn vce person never got back to us while year is passing and finally he calls a million times but never leaves a full message answering my questions. what is it with people who dont know what an answering machine is for and all they say is ' pls call me back' i have an answering machine for a reason

you all know about dvd store that accused me that my son had borrowed dvds that he hadnt and pressurised me into paying fines that i was not responsible for and told me all fines would stop when i paid them and then she still added more fines. really bad customer service and treatment, really pushy and rude.

I also have a pet peave about shops that wont answer questions over the phone they jsut try to pressurise peopl eto come in all the time as if we dont work have absolutely nothng to do but travel to shops all day to just see what they have when they might not have what we want or at the price we want.

 

[wylie]

I cannot stand it when internet searches for a particular product turn up the product but not a price.

The store involved would have a price for that product and I assume they want to be able to "haggle" and keep the customer's interest.

Unless I cannot find it anywhere else, if a site doesn't have a price, I move on to the next one. They have LOST me already.

 

[boods99]

This was quite a few years ago, but it was a classic.

My partner's son was staying with us for a few days and took a phone call from a vacuum cleaner salesman who must have been offering some sort of incentive to book an appointment so he did. By the time the appointment rolled around partner's son was long gone and we got stuck with the very young, just in from the bush, teenage salesman who was dropped off by his boss who said he would be back to pick him up later.

Hours rolled by and the boss was a no show. We ended up feeding the kid and were thinking we might have to offer him a bed for the night when his boss finally showed up. And no, we didn't buy a vacuum cleaner.

Leonie,
This is an almost carbon copy of what happened to us a few years back!

It wasn't a Kirby vacuum was it??

Boods

 

[Andrew_A]

In 1994 I was traveling by train from Serbia to Hungary. At the train station and border checkpoint the guard politely inspected my passport and since I had already used my single entry visa to Hungary I was politely asked to leave the train. It was raining, past midnight and there seemed to be a lot of soldiers around with kalashnikovs and german shepherds. I was unimpressed with that level of service since my Russian traveling companion had assured me it would be no problem to bribe the border guards.

It took me a full extra day to travel the required 10k involved with getting a correct visa and returning back to the same train station. Since most people I met in those 24 hours enjoyed taking my cash (the visa price had to be invented just for me I think) I can only presume I was unlucky to meet an honest border guard in the first place.

 

[alplant]

Leonie,
This is an almost carbon copy of what happened to us a few years back!

It wasn't a Kirby vacuum was it??

Boods

I had forgotten the actual brand but now that you mention it, yes I think it was.

 

[vincenzo]

Funny how most of these stories are about car salesmen. Bloody disgrace. Just had a thought, has anyone run into a female car saleswoman. Big opening here I reckon. I think women would be good at selling cars. What do you reckon?

+1 vote for female car saleswomen from this satisfied customer

I bought my Toyota 4x4 from a female carsaleswoman. Not only did she give me a better price on the same vehicle after trade in compared to the other two male car salesmen I visited at other Toyota dealerships, she also threw in the optional 6 stacker mp3 player and bluetooth head unit.

I wouldn't know if male carsaleswomen or female car salesmen are any good however

 

[Xenia]

I wouldn't know if male carsaleswomen or female car salesmen are any good however

LOL, they can't offer great service if they have an identity confusion

 

[charlieandkath]

+1 vote for female car saleswomen from this satisfied customer

I bought my Toyota 4x4 from a female carsaleswoman. Not only did she give me a better price on the same vehicle after trade in compared to the other two male car salesmen I visited at other Toyota dealerships, she also threw in the optional 6 stacker mp3 player and bluetooth head unit.

I wouldn't know if male carsaleswomen or female car salesmen are any good however

Vincenzo, which dealership was that? I might have to give them a ring.

 

[vincenzo]

It was Brighton Toyota on the nepean hwy, and I think the saleswoman was Rebecca Cook.

This was a couple of years ago, so I dunno if she still works there, but you can give them a go.

 

[recruit2]

Anyone got really bad service lately that they want to share their story? A bloke called Justin Herald in his book "How to Grow your Business Without Spending a Single Cent" (worth reading if you are a business owner) tells a story similiar to mine below.

Kath and I are looking for a second hand pewter Landcruiser wagon and we saw one in Orange the other day. I walk in and old mate (young fellow) leans back in his chair and first of all says nothing for about 20 seconds, looks me up and down and then says " what do you want" in a pretty rude fashion.

I say I wanted to look at that landcruiser. It was very inconvenient for him but we went and had a look. I said thankyou politely and then told him I was off to Bathurst to buy one there as he was so rude. I then ring the manager and tell him what happened and told the manager I was off to Bathurst aswell and Orange Toyota would never get any of my business again. Also told the manager that Lawsie would be ashamed of them (apparently he is back on the radio, should ring him up about this) and customer service very bad.

Have not bought yet but can't wait to drive back to Orange Toyota with my new or secondhand wheels and say stuff you. Made me so angry and takes a lot to get me angry usually.

I've had a very identical experience to this. A place in Canberra where the main sales manager guy was later busted for being a meth head and got sacked from his job and banned from playing cricket in the ACT. He was a complete jerk and treated me like a piece of 5hit for booking a test drive and then refused to let me drive the car. The thing was I had my lease finance totally approved and just had to send a fax to authorise payment. He ****ed me off so much I caught the next flight to Melbourne, bought the car from down there and then drove it back to Canberra the next night. Dense or what!!! Anyway, that's drug addicts for you.

 

[Jonathon]

I know the topic is bad service, but I'm sure a little good service story will be tolerated - a couple of weekends ago we're having lunch at De Bortoli in the Yarra Valley, with 1 year old and 3 year old.

There's a very clean carpet floor, 1 year old in high chair eating spaghetti in tomato sauce, any parent on here knows the outcome. Mess all over the carpet, several white linen napkins covered in sauce, etc.

The staff had nothing but smiles, definitely very kid-friendly, and considering it's one of the best restaurants in the Yarra Valley, that's pretty good. It probably helped that we did our best to pick up stuff form the floor, but it was still very messy.

Now that time we took our then 1 year old to a cafe in Surry Hills to catch up with a Sydney friend, that was hilarious. The young male wait staff were absolutely aghast at having a baby in their pristine cafe, so we hung out all morning just to annoy them!

Cheers
Jonathon

 

[rugrat]

PS - what's cotton chipping?

Walking up and down rows and rows of cotton plants in 40degree heat chipping out all the weeds (which are sometimes taller then myself) with a hoe. Lots of fun. Did it for years earning money in the uni holidays. All my in laws used to work on cotton farms.