Tesco Be Nice To Your Customers Or You Will Lose Them (Tesco)

Member Name: ickleannie

Product:	Tesco
Date:	28/01/09 (186 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Helpful Security Guard

Disadvantages: Certain Staff

Every Little Helps.....But Some of The Staff Don't

We all appreciate that the current economic climate has hit some of the giants of retail hard. Look at poor Woolworths, Zavvi and Marks and Spencer for example. Large corporations could do well to offer the best in customer service because we humans are a very fickle entity where bad experiences can put us off being loyal to certain outlets. I have spent a lot of time and money over the last few years shopping at Tesco as i have generally found there stores to be friendly and reasonably priced.

I was shopping recently in an unfamiliar Tesco store, (which shall remain nameless) just picking up a few bits and bobs for the weekend dinner and as I had a bit of time on my hands browsed around Florence and Fred and the electrical department where I picked up a reasonably priced iron. (well we women tend to get a bit over-excited when it comes to purchasing a new iron or am one of the sad minority cases). Anyway I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to buy some spices and approached a sales assistant to ask which aisle I might find these particular products in as I was unfamiliar with this particular store. Well I think that I must have been speaking Klingon to him due to the blank expression that stared back at me. "Spice aisle please I said again". We don't have any was the reply and then he turned his back on me and walked off!!!!

No spices in a Tesco store what was the world coming to!!! Well needless to say I managed to navigate myself to the correct place ten minutes later and made my selection. Just as well that I wasn't in my usual frenzied hurry really. I proceeded to the checkout where I duly stood in the queue. I noticed the familiar red and yellow checkout closing sign and was asked to move to another operator after and I hasten to add been waiting and unloading my shopping for a good five minutes by now. I'm closing the operator said to me. Surely it would have made a bit more sense just to serve me there and then but oh no, and off she went too!! By now I was getting just a little bit paranoid, that was two members of staff who had run away from me in the space of twenty minutes.

I have to admit that I am usually a pretty cool and calm person normally but I can honestly say that I was starting to get a little bit rattled by now. I finally managed to get my shopping on to apparently the right checkout, however my story does not end there. Being on my own and having quite a lot of shopping to load and unload I was becoming more and more flustered. I did not receive any offer of help to pack my items, indeed the operator seemed more concerned with blowing chewing gum bubbles and firing my shopping through the beepy thing at warp speed. In addition there was a lot of huffing and puffing going on as I obviously wasn't packing my shopping quick enough for her, and the queue behind me was growing rapidly as they had there usual three check-outs only open at peak time.!!! I asked her to remove the tag from the iron as I did not want to face the embarrassment of it beeping as I left the store. Without checking she said "there won't be one".

Well what do you think happened next as I left the store the security bell started beeping. Well my face went a shade of crimson. At last though FINALLY a pleasant person attended to me, a very helpful security guard. He removed the tag and eventually an hour later after entering this store I managed to thank someone for there help.

Overall Verdict.

Tesco it appears really need to vet there staff a little better after all isn't the customer always right? and shouldn't it be a requirement especially in these financially hard times to try and hold on to as many of there customers as possible. I have written to the store however wont hold my breath for a reply. I will not be returning to this store again and I hope that the staff who dealt with me fulfil their ambitions soon as it was very apparent that they definitely did not want to be there. I'm sure the newly redundant staff at Zavvi, Woolworths and Marks and Spencer would be happy to take their place.

An ex Tesco customer.

Summary: Every Little Helps ---------Not!!!!!!!!