There’s nothing more annoying than poor customer service. I know sometimes you can’t be fucked to crack a smile sometimes but please, when I come to your shop to purchase something, act like you’re fucking interested or better yet act like you know what you’re talking about. I’m not sure if it’s a growing trend but there’s a string of shops along Woolwich Road with what could be the shittest customer service. It started with Currys, then Harvey’s Furniture and finally Halfords. Monday morning or not, slow fucking day or not, act like you’re interested. There were two members of staff smoking outside Harvey’s when I walked in, virtually no staff in the store. This lady and gent did not acknowledge me and when I was leaving they were walking in, around seven minutes later, and whilst the gent gave a half-hearted greeting, the lady had a look of disgust on her face. With poor customer service like this, it’s no wonder why a lot of high street stores are closing down or going into administration, people would rather shop online rather than beg an employee to sell something to them or ask them questions.
Halfords is a different ballgame all together. There is never any staff available in their store, the aisles are too high to peep over and see anyone and then you have to walk to the till point from the back of the store to find someone. Once there I asked if here was anyone to talk to and the lady abruptly replied no, bearing in mind she was having a conversation with some guy at the till for the past ten minutes, prior to me walking in too. The guy interjected with, “Someone will be available in ten minutes if you wait“. So you’re telling me that you’re having a social with the one person who isn’t doing shit but sitting on her arse at the till and then you’re telling me to wait? That’s kinda fucked up and a big reason why I’ll take my business to an independent mechanic to advise me about car stereos. Fair enough the price may not be lower but at least you get treated with respect.
I believe that poor customer service is something Halfords seem to specialise in because upon visiting a store on Old Kent Road, I wasn’t asked for my name or addressed a sir but the sales adviser/stereo fitter addressed me as ‘Fam‘ and ‘Brudda‘, which is street speak for ‘Friend’ and ‘Brother’. The not so funny thing is that when he’s talking to someone who isn’t black he probably uses ‘mate’ and ‘sir’ but because I’m black, he must think it’s acceptable to address me as ‘fam’ and ‘brudda‘. That’s the most fucked up thing, the disrespect and total disregard to the sales assistant/customer relationship.
To all of the above retailers, retrain your staff in respect and decency in regards to dealing with the general public. As a prospective customer, whether or not I intend to spend £15.00 or £1,500.00, respect and relevant product knowledge is all I ask for. I shall be spreading word of my shitty experiences to everyone and I believe that its testament that independent stores provide a much more interpersonal and tailored experience as opposed to chain stores who ignore you, and fail to acknowledge you even if they are with customers.
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