Tut Tut Asda
I love shopping online. It is such a great time saver.
I don’t have to walk over and punch some guy in the mouth for parking in the parents space (when he has no kids with him) and I don’t have to queue which is my most hated of pass times.
I used to shop online at Tesco but I got tired of paying for rotting fruit so I decided to switch to Asda. It has been going pretty well to be honest but they made a mistake the other day. It showed that even the biggest companies can lack simple systems which will make life easier for them and their customers.
The drivers always used to call us when they were about thirty minutes away from delivering. We got used to that and then they stopped. A little annoying but oh well.
Yesterday they didn’t turn up and after being an hour late nobody had called so we called them. The number is a generic customer service line or what I refer to as the Business Prevention Department. She said she was unable to get through to the store. It was about 7pm so she said she would leave a handover note for the morning shift!
Oh dear.
Meanwhile I was hungry, my wife was hungry and my three babies were hungry. Sure, we had a few things to eat but not really much to make a nice dinner.
We tried again an hour later and was told they would be with us before 10pm. The van had broken down and they had to transfer all the shopping to another van after towing it back to the warehouse.
I don’t get angry at such petty incidents but it does leave me feeling somewhat bemused that such as massively successful company as Asda don’t have a simple ring round procedure when something like this happens. Especially as it should really be part of their contingency plan.
When the guy did arrive he apologised. I would have been happy with a free something to make it up to me but I got nothing, apart from a few replaced items for the ones I ordered but weren’t in stock.
Rant over.
Paul Browning
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8 Comments
Write a complaint letter. Gets it off your chest and will pretty much guarantee something free especially if you threaten to leave and take your business elsewhere.
It’s always satisfying to finish such a letter then get a good response.
Post it up here when you’ve done it!
I agree with the comment about writing a letter about your experience.
I recently experienced some really awful customer service at a restaurant, and, like you, I was a bit surprised at how annoyed I got. I emailed the company and I was shocked that they actually took my complaint seriously! Not only was I recompensed for my meal, but I also received a phone call from the manager to probe the situation and to be assured that it wouldn’t happen again.
Companies really should compensate such experiences with something other than an apology. If they had done something extraordinary, such as give you a voucher for the next time you shopped, or maybe taken a percentage off your bill as an apology for wasting your time, you would have been writing about what a fantastic company they are. But, they did not do that for you, and now we all know about it. Very short sighted of the company.
What a let down!
I’m surprised that the company didn’t see how much their service had disappointed their customer. If they continue with that kind of attitude they will lose many more customers.
I hope that they don’t complain about not making enough money. I think that there is a lot of blame shunted off on a poor economy and weak market, but really the problem is an inferior product and lack of commitment to customer service.
I don’t understand why companies don’t have better ways of keeping track of things. In a digital age, it is so easy to send someone a message that they can receive instantly in order to avoid situations like this.
Well if the suggestion box doesn’t work, we can always cancel subscription. Then again we’d start all over. I do agree though that companies should pay a little more attention on operations more rather than marketing and sales. after all operations is at the front line facing the customers themselves.
I hate it when companies don’t have contingency plans or back up plans. Especially if the company has logistics involved. your problem seems to involve food so I reckon that is more critical as you have to battle with hunger all the way through. I have found Pizza places to be good in this area since most of them offer free pizza if they’re late.