bad after-sales service
A couple of months ago, I bought a pair of utterly lovely pair of black leather heels from Primavera. Yesterday, while I was out, I realised that the heel felt funny, so I took off my shoe and checked it. Apparently the rubber outsole on the heel had cracked and come off even though I haven't even worn it for more than 72 hours totalled up. So today, Hubs and I brought it down to the outlet where I bought it, to get them to fix it up.
Considering the fact that I paid a good $70 for them, I would expect that they provide some sort of after-sales service. But that was obviously not true.
First of all, the Chinese female sales assistant could not speak English. She did not ask if it was okay for her to converse in Mandarin, and we didn't tell her that she could, so what did she do? She utilised the language as well as she could, which was not very well at all, and did the worst explanation EVER as to how they do not provide shoe repairs.
Secondly, she told us to bring the pair of heels down to the cobbler which, in her words, was "at 7-11 there". We went down to the next level, walked towards the 7-11, and found NO COBBLER. We promptly started heading back to the shop, and then we saw it. THE COBBLER WAS MORE THAN FIVE SHOP SPACES AWAY FROM 7-11. Is that what you call "at 7-11 there"?!
So we went in and showed the cobbler the damage, and the only material he could offer to us to fix it up was plastic, not the original rubber outsole. So we politely declined his services and stormed up back to the shop.
The same girl attended to us, and she gave her boss a call before she came up with a lousy, lengthy explanation (in really bad English) of how the outsole is from Italy and how they are not able to find the same material to replace the broken outsole.
Unable to withstand her bad English any longer, I told her she could speak in Mandarin, because we can understand it. Her response? She collapse on the counter nearby in the most childish fashion (and least to mention, entirely unprofessional) and said "Why didn't you say so earlier?" in Mandarin.
WTF?!
Hello? If you cannot speak English, why don't you tell us earlier too instead of pretending that you could handle it? And in any case, you ARE supposed to serve your customers in whatever language it is that they are comfortable with, unless of course, they are speaking some foreign language that you completely do not understand.
She then proceeded to explain in Mandarin, the SAME fucking reasons WHY they could not fix up my heels for me. Like huh? Does speaking a different language now make the circumstances different?
Hubs and I got extremely agitated at that point and told her that if we fix up the shoes anywhere else that doesn't have the same material, it compromises the quality and comfort, and if that's so, then why do we have to bother buying shoes from them at that kind of price when we can jolly well go to Bata and pay $20 for a pair of heels?
The girl could not answer our query. So she started to explain why they could not fix it up. Again.
At that point, her boss came in and halted what could turn out to be a horrid unsatisfied customer and staff debate. He was very nice and polite, and in the same fashion, I smiled and him and explained the whole situation to him.
He said that even though they do not usually provide after-sales service or shoe repair, he understands why I want the outsole to be the same material, because as I told him, changing it to another material would compromise the quality of the footwear. He said that if I don't mind, I can leave my heels and my number with him, and he will source for the closest material possible and fix it up for me within the next two weeks.
That, my folks, is customer service.
Being rigid is NOT the way to go, if you wish to serve and keep your customers. Not to mention having a language barrier AND displaying your childish behaviour in front of your customers is being completely unprofessional as a sales personnel. I do not even know why they hired that girl.
And now you know why some people can be managers and some cannot.
Considering the fact that I paid a good $70 for them, I would expect that they provide some sort of after-sales service. But that was obviously not true.
First of all, the Chinese female sales assistant could not speak English. She did not ask if it was okay for her to converse in Mandarin, and we didn't tell her that she could, so what did she do? She utilised the language as well as she could, which was not very well at all, and did the worst explanation EVER as to how they do not provide shoe repairs.
Secondly, she told us to bring the pair of heels down to the cobbler which, in her words, was "at 7-11 there". We went down to the next level, walked towards the 7-11, and found NO COBBLER. We promptly started heading back to the shop, and then we saw it. THE COBBLER WAS MORE THAN FIVE SHOP SPACES AWAY FROM 7-11. Is that what you call "at 7-11 there"?!
So we went in and showed the cobbler the damage, and the only material he could offer to us to fix it up was plastic, not the original rubber outsole. So we politely declined his services and stormed up back to the shop.
The same girl attended to us, and she gave her boss a call before she came up with a lousy, lengthy explanation (in really bad English) of how the outsole is from Italy and how they are not able to find the same material to replace the broken outsole.
Unable to withstand her bad English any longer, I told her she could speak in Mandarin, because we can understand it. Her response? She collapse on the counter nearby in the most childish fashion (and least to mention, entirely unprofessional) and said "Why didn't you say so earlier?" in Mandarin.
WTF?!
Hello? If you cannot speak English, why don't you tell us earlier too instead of pretending that you could handle it? And in any case, you ARE supposed to serve your customers in whatever language it is that they are comfortable with, unless of course, they are speaking some foreign language that you completely do not understand.
She then proceeded to explain in Mandarin, the SAME fucking reasons WHY they could not fix up my heels for me. Like huh? Does speaking a different language now make the circumstances different?
Hubs and I got extremely agitated at that point and told her that if we fix up the shoes anywhere else that doesn't have the same material, it compromises the quality and comfort, and if that's so, then why do we have to bother buying shoes from them at that kind of price when we can jolly well go to Bata and pay $20 for a pair of heels?
The girl could not answer our query. So she started to explain why they could not fix it up. Again.
At that point, her boss came in and halted what could turn out to be a horrid unsatisfied customer and staff debate. He was very nice and polite, and in the same fashion, I smiled and him and explained the whole situation to him.
He said that even though they do not usually provide after-sales service or shoe repair, he understands why I want the outsole to be the same material, because as I told him, changing it to another material would compromise the quality of the footwear. He said that if I don't mind, I can leave my heels and my number with him, and he will source for the closest material possible and fix it up for me within the next two weeks.
That, my folks, is customer service.
Being rigid is NOT the way to go, if you wish to serve and keep your customers. Not to mention having a language barrier AND displaying your childish behaviour in front of your customers is being completely unprofessional as a sales personnel. I do not even know why they hired that girl.
And now you know why some people can be managers and some cannot.
Shelly breathed again at 11:58 PM
<< Home