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Poor customer service: would you write to the business?

cygnet

cygnet

Brilliant_Rock
Trade
Joined
May 24, 2012
Messages
536
I had a friend in town on Saturday and I took her to a local jewelry store because she wanted to see some unusual diamonds. We received the absolute worst customer service I've ever had. I've never written to a business before about a negative experience, but we were treated so horribly that I couldn't not write to the owner about it.

How about you? Do you frequently decide to contact a business when you've had a bad experience? Or do you just decide not to go back there again?
 
I only write in if I think they should be fired for it, because that is not an uncommon consequence of such letters.
 
Absolutely. I contact them, and if that goes nowhere I go online and post reviews.
 
I write and post a review on Yelp. They often dont want you to post a review butI figure if they didn't want that they should have had better service to start with - no amount of apologizing can erase my experience after the fact, and I think it is important to let other potential customers know what they may encounter.
 
I would feel slightly guilty if someone got fired because of me, but then again, the saleswoman was so awful, I don't think I'd ever go inside that store again if I knew she was there.

Here's what happened (it's an excerpt from my letter because I don't want to write the whole thing out again):

On Saturday I had a friend visiting from out of town and I'd told her all about the wonderful jewelry I'd seen at [...]. She asked me to take her to your store and show her some of my favorite diamonds. Unfortunately, we did not have a good experience. We went inside and there was a saleswoman facing the door, but she didn't greet us and barely looked at us. I said hello to her and she very curtly asked if we needed something and after I said that we were browsing at the moment she walked away without saying anything. Even though there were a few times when my friend got excited about something she saw and really wanted to see it, even when the saleswoman was watching, she wouldn't come over and help us. She never smiled at us and she made us both feel extremely uncomfortable and unwelcome. I don't know this saleswoman's name (because she wouldn't talk to us or introduce herself), but she had short, straight dark brown/black hair. There was only one other couple in the store at the time, and they were being helped by someone else, so I knew she wasn't too busy to help us. At one point I asked if there were any examples of the Lighthouse cut in the store, and she walked over to a display case, pointed at it, said "there it is," and walked away. I have never been treated so rudely by a salesperson in my life. My friend felt so uncomfortable about the experience that she said she'd never come back to [...] again.
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Seriously, I was really upset by the time we left the store. No salesperson has ever treated me like that before. I don't know if she thought I didn't look like I was worth her time or what (I'm 25 and this is a very high-end store, so perhaps I'm younger than their usual clientele) but she was dead wrong, since I was actually considering having my SO look at their wedding bands and now I'm not sure I ever want to go there again. That really sucks, because there aren't many stores in Seattle that carry diamonds that even a PriceScoper would love! I would have actually shopped there, but now I don't think I ever will unless they write back to me with a serious effort to make it better. Am I overreacting? I thought one of the first rules of sales was treat everyone who walks in the door as a potential customer, because you really can't tell who has money just by looking at them (and for the record, I did NOT look like a slob when we went in there).
 
IMO if you call the owner and tell them, you're doing them a HUGE favor.
Maybe the owner will return the favor and offer you something of a special deal.
Hopefully no one loses their job- but instead the offending employee gets talked to, and some better training - if they don't change, they'll be out before long anyway.....
 
I have no problems writing about customer service, good or bad. I know that if I owned the store I'd want to know.
 
I'm pretty direct. I'd go into the store and speak to the owner, if I had previously had good experiences there and felt comfortable.

If not, I would call and ask to talk to the owner. IF it is a locally owned store. If it's a big chain, I'd probably not speak with the manager, I don't find they have any authority. If it was a big chain, I'd just post on yelp and send them a note to their corporate offices.
 
It would depend upon how incensed I was by the encounter. I could just be annoyed at the time, then walk away and let it blow over. But if it is something I'm still churning about after a bit and I really felt it was exceptionally rude/inappropriate, I'd want the owner to know. Not from a retaliation stand point, but because as a consumer, you are expecting good service/knowledge from the shops you frequent and if this person can not deliver it, the owner needs to know.

I'm not very good at standing up for myself, but there are times, when I surprise myself and just won't tolerate things! As others have mentioned - small business - talk to the owner; big business, talk to the manager and then follow up with a letter to head office. Small business owners would want to change their customer perception if they have had a bad experience. Big business --- I'm not sure if they care enough, depending upon the size of the firm, but its still worth reporting.

Good luck!
 
I think I would had the fact that you were considering looking for a ring there because they have such nice pieces but your treatment has turned you off to purchasing from them.
 
In this instance I would not even write, I would go back, ask for the owner, and explain exactly what happened and point out who the person was. I would also state that he or she could easily review the sales floor video footage for the date if they need to see any sort of confirmation of the events and that this individual cost that person at least one sale, probably two.
 
No, don't go to the store, send the letter.

If you send the letter, you are forcing the owner to apologize or defend the salesperson. You don't need the awkward scene. Send the letter, make sure you include the date and time that you were in the store. Then leave an honest review on Yelp. Don't visit the store.

Most brick and mortar jewelry stores are such BS, I avoid them like the plague. :cry:
 
It's a small business-- just one store. But it's a pretty high profile store and the merchandise is very expensive. I got fantastic service the first time I was there, I couldn't have asked for a better salesperson. She went above and beyond and was kind enough to offer me a drink while I browsed, etc. She had interesting and informative commentary on every piece she pulled out of the case for me, and she never hesitated to show me anything that caught my eye. That's the kind of service I expect from a luxury retail store like that.

I made sure to mention the date I visited and what her haircut looked like so that the owner could probably figure out who it was (the bad salesperson, I mean-- though I did start my letter with telling them about the wonderful saleswoman from my first visit). Unfortunately I am completely face blind, so I probably won't ever be able to recognize her for sure, but I'd avoid the store if I saw a brunette with a bob behind the counter.

I was livid on Saturday, and I waited until today to reconsider writing, but I was still upset, so I wrote to them.
 
Yikes. That kind of "service" would definitely turn me off from shopping there again too. That is how my worst service interaction at a jewelry store started - unfortunately mine ended with the saleswoman insulting my mom's wedding ring and saying it was good for nothing but the trash (!!!!) which made my mom cry (her ring is beautiful, antique band with 4 to 6 point OECs - however given its age the stones have little chips, but none are visible to the naked eye). So anyway I am letting my yelp review stand for all time even though different people from the store have contacted me asking what they can do to get it taken down. The answer is that they should have not hired a raging b---- who insults people's moms, and since they did they can reap the consequences. So anyway, I am glad you didn't press for more interaction with that saleslady because it could have ended in tears!

I'd leave a Yelp review anyway, with both your good and bad experiences at the store described in detail. That way other consumers can make the choice on their own whether or not they think it's worth risking the bad if they visit.
 
I agree that you should send the letter and then follow up later (if they don't contact you first, which I'm sure they will) to make sure the employee is getting some re-education on basic customer service skills. I think your complaints are definitely justified, and hopefully they can rectify the situation if they don't want to lose out on your potential future business. Good luck!! ::)
 
I would definitely contact the business. I also like to write reviews on Yelp
 
I would be more precise with the letter. Exact date and roughly what time it occurred is helpful, in case there are two similar employees who may have been on different shifts. I'd bullet-point issues so it's easier for them to read because it sounds a little soft right now. You want to be firm, yet not bitchy.
 
Well, as an employer, it is important to know if the customer service is bad.

As a small business owner, I wince when I read that people would paste a bad review on the internet rather than contact the employer direct. It's a shame. :(sad
The business will be punished years after the uncommitted employee has moved on.

For employees, a business is often 'just a job' - especially for the poorly performing employees, who probably don't like the job.
Yet for the business owner, it's a livelihood, and a huge responsibility financially and emotionally.

One employee who stays for six months or even less can have a huge and lasting bad impact on a business due to an bad internet review.
 
If this had happened to me, I would have probably addressed the woman directly, pushed for the items that I wanted to see. If she continued with the attitude, I would have made it a point to wait for the other helpful employee to be available, and then approached them to let them know how poorly I had been treated by their companion. I like to address the issue at the time, to make sure that there is no confusion as to the identity of the employee, circumstances, etc.

Had i not addressed it at the time (if I didn't have time to wait for the other employee, for example), yes, I would contact the company. They need to know that they are losing business thanks to a rubbish employee. They should be thankful for that information.
 
When I've been in that situation, I usually leave for a little bit to calm down, and then go back and ask for the manager. I figure the employer won't know anything is wrong if somebody doesn't speak up, and then other people will get the same terrible service. I think my story about when I did this at Tiffany's is floating around here - basically I went back and told the manager what had happened (in pretty vivid detail), and why I was disappointed with it. I told them I thought the experience I had wasn't what their brand stood for, and that it didn't seem like the kind of customer service I expected to have a salesperson be rude and dismissive towards customers. The manager handled it very well, and I've seen the woman still at the store, so I know it didn't cost her her job (thank goodness, that wasn't what I'd have wanted at all!). But it gave them a chance to improve, and since I value constructive criticism, I'm happy to give it when it seems needed.
 
I always leave reviews on Yelp. Many companies (especially larger ones) now have a person they hire to specifically keep an eye on internet comments about them and they do read what is posted on Yelp. There was one place - an organic food place - that had tons of positive reviews and I was reading through them and then came a negative review and the owner of the resturant had responded to the review's comments and explained the situation.
 
You know, in situations like this it always has me wondering - what was she thinking?!!!
 
This doesn't happen to be a very popular custom jeweler that PSers often mention, is it? I would be very disappointed in them if it is.
 
MichelleCarmen said:
I always leave reviews on Yelp. Many companies (especially larger ones) now have a person they hire to specifically keep an eye on internet comments about them and they do read what is posted on Yelp. There was one place - an organic food place - that had tons of positive reviews and I was reading through them and then came a negative review and the owner of the resturant had responded to the review's comments and explained the situation.
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I agree with this completely--I always remain fair, honest and diplomatic in my reviews. It's never my intention to trash the business, but I do want others to know my experience so they can make the decision to give the business their patronage or not. Often if a business has poor customer service, their CS reps/SAs/whatever will not give the owner your message, or if it's a large business you may not be able to get in touch with upper level execs who could actually implement change.

I had a terrible experience at a local sandwich shop--I had been there several times and really liked it, but had one TERRIBLE experience: FI got a sandwich with gray, slimy, disgusting rotten salami. We called and told the guy who made the sandwich and his response was, "yeah--I was wondering about that... I thought it looked kinda iffy..." WHAT?!? We asked that the guy leave a message for the owner. Several days passed and we didn't hear anything from the owner so I wrote a Yelp review... We got a call within an hour. The guy working the counter didn't give the owner the message until he was pressed for it, and if I hadn't written the review, the owner would have never known. The owner sorted out the problem, and I deleted the review because I didn't want it to cause the business negative repercussions. Yelp is great because you can edit or completely delete.
 
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