Zellers Complaint
Complaint
April
Country: United States
Dear Sir or Madam,
I received a My Little Pony castle as a birthday gift for my now one year old daughter this past weekend. The gift is not age appropriate, as it is for children 3 years and up, nor is it appropriate for us to take home to Mexico with us. I do not have the receipt. I attempted to return the gift for a cash refund, and was not granted this. The store manager (Maple Ridge B.C.) offered me a gift card. I do not live here in Canada, I live in Mexico, and though a gift card is not ideal for my situation, the manager insisted that this was the only option. I was disappointed, but I accepted reluctantly. I was issued both a gift card, and a receipt bearing the value of the gift card.
I attempted to use the gift card to make a purchase approximately an hour later, and the card had a balance of $0.00. The cashier called customer service, and the representative inquired as to what I was attempting to purchase. She told the representative on the other end of the phone. I was directed to customer service, where I was handed a phone number, and no explanation. I asked for an explanation, and was told that the manager was in a meeting, and that she had directed the customer service representative to give me the phone number, and to retain both the gift, and the gift card. I was very upset at this information. This representative was adamant that she was not going to return either. This, I respectfully suggested to her, may be considered theft.
I called the number given, which was out of service. The customer service representative offered me a second number, I called and got a message service. Since I did not know what the current situation was, I did not know what to say, so I left my name and phone number.
I then told the 'customer service representative' in the store that I needed to speak to a manager, to get an explanation. She said I would have to speak to someone at the number she gave me. I told her that I would not be leaving the store without either my gift, of the gift card. She then spoke again to her manager, and directed me to lift the phone to speak to 'someone at another store'. I spoke to a representative in an 'investigation department' . She advised me that I would not be granted a gift card, nor would I receive my gift back. (note that when I originally brought the gift into the store, it had a large fluorescent 'Zellers' security tape across it, which the original customer service representative removed in my presence) I advised the 'Investigations Department Representative' that I did not wish to leave the store without either my gift, or the balance of the gift in a gift card. She said that if that was my position, then I had 2 options. I could leave the gift, and the gift card in the store, while 'an audit investigation' was conducted to 'determine the original purchase information' of I could leave with the gift, and there would be no investigation. I questioned why there would be an investigation, and she assured me this was protocol for gifts returned without a receipt. I was employed by Zellers some years ago, and I do not know this to be policy.
Is it also policy to issue 'fake' gift cards to embarrass customers as they attempt to make a purchase? Is it also policy to refuse an explanation for this behavior?
I asked this representative to replace the security tape to my gift, and I chose to leave with it. I am absolutely outraged with this disrespectful behavior. I am not a thief, nor a criminal, and I did not behave inappropriately. I did not, and do not deserve this mistreatment. I was not offered an explanation for the actions and decisions of the management of the store. I have now left Zellers, with no resolution for the unsatisfactory product that was purchased in that store. I was not offered a substitution, an exchange, or the balance in a gift card. I respectfully demand an explanation for this substandard quality of customer service.
I received a My Little Pony castle as a birthday gift for my now one year old daughter this past weekend. The gift is not age appropriate, as it is for children 3 years and up, nor is it appropriate for us to take home to Mexico with us. I do not have the receipt. I attempted to return the gift for a cash refund, and was not granted this. The store manager (Maple Ridge B.C.) offered me a gift card. I do not live here in Canada, I live in Mexico, and though a gift card is not ideal for my situation, the manager insisted that this was the only option. I was disappointed, but I accepted reluctantly. I was issued both a gift card, and a receipt bearing the value of the gift card.
I attempted to use the gift card to make a purchase approximately an hour later, and the card had a balance of $0.00. The cashier called customer service, and the representative inquired as to what I was attempting to purchase. She told the representative on the other end of the phone. I was directed to customer service, where I was handed a phone number, and no explanation. I asked for an explanation, and was told that the manager was in a meeting, and that she had directed the customer service representative to give me the phone number, and to retain both the gift, and the gift card. I was very upset at this information. This representative was adamant that she was not going to return either. This, I respectfully suggested to her, may be considered theft.
I called the number given, which was out of service. The customer service representative offered me a second number, I called and got a message service. Since I did not know what the current situation was, I did not know what to say, so I left my name and phone number.
I then told the 'customer service representative' in the store that I needed to speak to a manager, to get an explanation. She said I would have to speak to someone at the number she gave me. I told her that I would not be leaving the store without either my gift, of the gift card. She then spoke again to her manager, and directed me to lift the phone to speak to 'someone at another store'. I spoke to a representative in an 'investigation department' . She advised me that I would not be granted a gift card, nor would I receive my gift back. (note that when I originally brought the gift into the store, it had a large fluorescent 'Zellers' security tape across it, which the original customer service representative removed in my presence) I advised the 'Investigations Department Representative' that I did not wish to leave the store without either my gift, or the balance of the gift in a gift card. She said that if that was my position, then I had 2 options. I could leave the gift, and the gift card in the store, while 'an audit investigation' was conducted to 'determine the original purchase information' of I could leave with the gift, and there would be no investigation. I questioned why there would be an investigation, and she assured me this was protocol for gifts returned without a receipt. I was employed by Zellers some years ago, and I do not know this to be policy.
Is it also policy to issue 'fake' gift cards to embarrass customers as they attempt to make a purchase? Is it also policy to refuse an explanation for this behavior?
I asked this representative to replace the security tape to my gift, and I chose to leave with it. I am absolutely outraged with this disrespectful behavior. I am not a thief, nor a criminal, and I did not behave inappropriately. I did not, and do not deserve this mistreatment. I was not offered an explanation for the actions and decisions of the management of the store. I have now left Zellers, with no resolution for the unsatisfactory product that was purchased in that store. I was not offered a substitution, an exchange, or the balance in a gift card. I respectfully demand an explanation for this substandard quality of customer service.
Comments
Hello,
May I have your attention to my problem of insulting attitude of two of your employees.Ms.Joy and Mr.Greg @ 45 over lea blvd East York Ontario. M4H1C3. This racial, discriminative and prejudice incident happened Friday December 17, 2010 2 about 6.30 pm. Their attitude was very much disappointing, dissatisfying and targeted. A written complaint in form of comments kept at the store has already been filed. I have been searching your mail in information on the net but could not succeed. I may proceed for a legal action if not responded in a professional way.I have to take it to some forum to get it acknowledged.The details will be given to the appropriate authorities. I have read your article which ends with the saying as" The future looks hopeful and bloody". you are very right to say about and fits in for your chain quite rightly.
Thanks for your time
Zahid Nawaz
by picking them out and having zellers send them store to store I was shocked to hear that you dont do that anymore In my heart I love to pick their gifts and they appreciate it to. They know I care enought to do it I was very disappointed this year I had to send money and gave my daughter an extra job to go shopping for me I hope you with change your policy back to the way it was
by picking them out and having zellers send them store to store I was shocked to hear that you dont do that anymore In my heart I love to pick their gifts and they appreciate it to. They know I care enought to do it I was very disappointed this year I had to send money and gave my daughter an extra job to go shopping for me I hope you with change your policy back to the way it was
Try asking the associate to check the store that you want the items shipped to. If they have the items in-stock, suggest they do a paper-transfer. It's much easier then shipping physical stock :)
I hope that helps.
Maybe you should have a little more respect on how to conduct yourself in a store?
I'm glad that this was just a part time thing for me to make some extra cash after I moved to a new city. The people relying upon a Zellers job to make ends meet are more compliant than the average person; they put up with a large amounts of B.S. on a daily basis.
This job was the by far the worst I had in my 10 years of working retail. It's no wonder people complain about customer service considering the impossible expectations placed on employees: I was hired for ladies fashion but on my second day I was told I had to work not only ladies fashion, but kids & infants clothes area, infants furniture and basic needs, men's fashion, accessories (for men ladies and kids), plus the jewelry counter, and provide backup cashier service whenever I was told (which means leaving the sales floor to go help at the till). There were days where I was the only salesperson designated to ALL of these areas, and it was impossible to help customers properly. I felt stressed out, and felt bad for the shoppers who received little or no service because I wasn't able to be everywhere at once. To make matters worse while I'm trying to help a customer the intercom system would be paging me (the only fashion working) to go another area to be backup cashier or go to jewelry counter for customer assistance, then seconds later another a page would call "fashion associate to fitting rooms" or "infants furniture associate you have a call on the line". I would like to see a manager handle all of that at once without making a single customer wait, plus keep all accessory, jewelery, and fashion areas clean and organized.
Luckily, I did not have a 'obnoxious loud customer from hell' experience while working at Zellers, but I noticed a disturbingly large amount of grumpy, rude and/or just plain stupid shoppers: Like ones that expected me to be their personal shoppers and ignore all other customers to fetch things for them, or those who couldn't understand that socks are sized based on shoe size not on age, or those who wanted me to find things in the stockroom (even though I'm not supposed to be in the stock area), there were those who got pissed off at me for the wrong sales signs being up, and then there were customers that were snooty toward me because I "only worked here". A customer actually said that to me, that one really boggles my mind..really, who the hell thinks shopping at Zellers gives them the right to look down their nose at anybody!? And there were many customers that believed that when they picked an item off a shelf that had a sign reading "%40 off listed brands" that they were entitled to %40 off even if their item is not the brand listed on the sign. Or shoppers who get grumpy at employees for things scanning in at higher prices: it's either a computer system screw up or because previous customers switch price tags, which is a form of theft! It has nothing to do with employee's customer service abilities.
I feel really sorry for the people working sales till. I swear the sales till is decades old in the store I worked in, not user friendly at all. New employees or ones that are just back up cashiers like I had been, are not properly trained for all of the sales till functions, but customers unaware of these issues only get frustrated at the cashiers, and wrongly assume that the cashiers are too lazy or stupid to zip them through the lineup.
It all boils down to higher management not giving a crap about how the store is operated as long as they continue making money...they save money by not hiring more staff, and make money off the people who continue to shop there.
Today, I called the store and requested that the interest I had paid for 3 months, be deducted from my bill. This was done!
A call to the assistant manager, who was pleasant, said that the rain-checks were not being honoured and I should come in to get a refund.
This left me in quite a dilemma, after waiting for 3.5 months for an item I would never receive. I could have purchased the same set from Sears 2 weeks ago, but waited for Zellers.
I phoned the Hudson's Bay Home store and there I received the best service.
A visitation gave me a Serta set (floor model) for less than the price at Zellers. We are also getting free delivery. The salesman also phoned Zellers on my behalf. He asked if I would be getting any compensation for waiting for so long for something that I would never get. The assistant manager's quick answer was NO.
I am positive that HUdson's Bay or Sears would have at least offered me a gift card of some sort, or a discount on some other purchase
For many years, I chose Zellers over Walmart for needed items, but I no longer will do that. Zellers to me has very poor customer relationships. They should never have offered a rain check for something that they were never able to provide.
POOR BUSINESS PRACTICE, ZELLERS..........YOU LOST A LOYAL CUSTOMER.
It isn't seniors & children that mess up the washrooms. It's all ages, employees are the biggest PIGS !! I was cleaning a washroom, had to leave as a female employee had to use it. When I returned, she PISSED ALL OVER the toilet set. In the staff washrooms, they don't flush their crap. Dirty tampons & pads left in the toilets & floors. So who are the true PIGS ???
Does the manger care?? He doesn't give a Rats ASS.
As many people know, customer service can be a very trying job. You have to have the personality, the patience and major empathy towards people. If you lack any of these qualities and cannot stand up for yourself and your rights, your self esteem will in fact be crushed.
As a customer myself I have had bad customer service provided to me at many other different stores. I have learned from these experiences what to do, and what not to do while doing my job. I try everyday to provide the best customer service I can, and can say the same for every single person I work with.
When I first started at Zellers, please take into consideration I was only 16 years old, I had a gentleman come up to me while I was helping another customer and proceeded to yell in my face, and curse at me over something that was beyond my control. He would not calm down and I had to remove myself from the situation and call my manager to get this man to stop harassing me. This situation is NOT uncommon and has happened to a majority of people I have worked with on a regular basis. I have also been on cash, trying my very best to fix the problem my customer had only to be a called a b*tch. Professionally, even though being very upset I finished the transaction only to start being harassed again after wards. Later I found out this customer complained about me and got a gift card from the store as an apology for their 'worst experience EVER at Zellers' although I was the one left crying and humiliated in front of a very busy line of customers. I have also been sexually harassed by elderly men on a regular basis who apparently think its funny to make young girls feel uncomfortable.
Contrary to popular belief we are PEOPLE TOO. I for instance am college educated in law and have two degrees under my belt. Just because somebody works at Zellers or in retail in general does not mean we are lower class people. It may seem like a 'simple' job to clean departments but it takes time and effort everyday to maintain the cleanliness with no help of customers who treat our store like a dump. Although it technically is our job to pick up after you, it does not by any means give you the right to purposely throw clothes over the racks and not pick up when you knock over a whole rack with your careless behavior.
With our economy it is only to be expected that we have cut backs. This makes our job a lot harder, and we realize that it effects our customer service. With saying that we take on average 5 different jobs in very different areas of the store and are being pulled all over with doing our job, taking phone calls and helping customers. Not only do we just clean we also have to do stock, set up the store specifically to head offices orders, prepare for the sale each week and make sure our signing is done the best our ability. Considering we are understaffed sometimes signs get left up from old sales or new signs may be forgotten to be put up but I know for a fact at MY store we honor all prices. However the motto 'the customer is always right' is very incorrect. It is not our fault that some people choose to NOT read the signs at all and expect everything in the proximity if the item they want to be on sale. Its unfair for you to push and push to get the sale price you want when clearly the sign indicates that a very different item is on sale. This costs us money and how are we supposed to run a store if we give everything away.
The security calls that you complain about are MORE then necessary. We constantly have people coming into our store thinking that this is their own home and that they can just take whatever they want and get away with it. If you personally owned a store, would you not try to the best of your ability to save your store money and catch the thieves? If you're not guilty then you shouldn't be bothered. Approximately $500.00 a MINUTE goes out of our store unpaid for, and you wonder why we try and have such high security and try to scare away thieves.
With this said, I'm mortified that people have the audacity to go out of their way to complain about us and the 'horrible' customer service we provide. I hope this has opened some eyes and people will begin to understand what we go through everyday and that we are just everyday normal people like you trying to earn a living.