dlcole
Joined: 10 Jan 2004 Posts: 38
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 6:45 pm Post subject: Freemans Catalogue: Nightmare on Catalogue Street!! |
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I recently purchased a Microwave from the Freemans catalogue, Having been a customer of theirs for 22 years I have seen it go downhill regarding customer service and the length of time it takes to speak to someone but the following events has had me tearing my hair out.
Two days after receiving the microwave, it just stopped working, After doing the usual checks I put it back in the box and called to have it collected. This was on the Monday. As I already got rid of my old microwave I went to Allders and found a really nice one and purchased it. The pick up was due on Thursday and as usual AM/PM was offered and I chose PM. PM came and went , having taken the afternoon from work...still no collection. I called and they told me they would have to arrange another collection..another afternoon off work. But they said Saturday was the next day available and as I was going away, I arranged a neighbor to take charge of the collection. They were to call on her and she would let them in. The house number and time AM, this time, was noted and arranged. When I came back Monday my microwave greeted me..still sitting in the hall. I AGAIN called and asked someone of authority to call me back. I tried to obtain a phone number other than the catalogue help line but no one would give me the number. I got the number from directory and when I called the number THEY put me through to the CATALOGUE help line. I called again and said I wanted to be put through to the head office (in otherwords the organ grinder...not the monkey). When I FINALLY gort a hold of a non catalogue number, the receptioist started to give me the CATALOGUE number!!! I stopped her in her tracks and she said to me "Dont give me a hard time, Im only the receptionists and I DONT NEED THIS TODAY!!!. Nice first impression eh!! I was put through to a Vicky Jolly who said she was assitant to the Director and took down my story and promised someone would get back. A "John" from Correspondance called me and as he could not give me an answer to why two attempts to collect faild...arranged a collection for today, Tuesday, same arrangement..neighbour etc. AND collection between 9-12. I also asked him to have a customer service manager ring me as I was really spitting fire by now. There was No call returned! Today, I arrived home and...YUP...you guessed it, there was that old familiar box STILL sitting there.
I now obtained Freemans Head office number in Sheffield which is 01142610261 just in case any of you need it!! I spoke to a guy at the swichboard and asked to be put through to a senior customer services person...AND he put me through...TO THE CATALOGUE HELP desk I Hung up and redialled and said DO NOT put me through to the catalogue help desk I want to speak to someone THERE in authority. I finally got through to a Sally Wilcox who assured me she would look at the history (more like a novel) and have someone call me back. I got a call from a Pam Gould, Shift co-ordinator who went over everything and agreed it was a nightmare and saw that everyone was following everyone else and ordering a courier (a local person who delivers and collects and if they feel the item is too heavy or to large, they just dont bother to respond, they dont call Freemans and decline the job, they just IGNORE it..Nice one Freemans). Pam said she would arrange a CARRIER to collect, call me first BEFORE they come, BUT it may take 7...thats SEVEN days, in case you readers have lost me in the shuffle ,but she would try to rush it through. She is the FIRST one to recognize the error,and faults of each person and step taken (or not as the case may be) that has lead to this sequence of events. I will NEVER order anything from Freemans again as their customer help desk is very unhelpful as they cannot do or WILL not do anything to continue to gain help if they cannot do it for you. It is to cut and dry, to robot like. Read this, and remember this when you decide to pick up their catalogue. There are many ways to buy goods other than catalogues. There are shopping channels(but they too can become difficult when returning goods) I will stick to the big department stores from now on. There is a lot of competetion out there so RETAILER beware.. GOOD Customer service begins at the beginning and should NEVER end. I have told Freemans I am writing this story on this forum and have told them to look it and LEARN!!!!!
UPDATE!!!!........
Well the very next day the Courier showed up to collect the microwave...AND the next day after that the Carrier showed up to collect the microwave, and neither one of them called first before coming as instructed..Good job I happened to be home for both of them. Its like buses. They never come when they are supposed to , then they all show up at once ![Laughing](images/smiles/icon_lol.gif) |
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