Shopping Trip from Hell!

I just had the worst shopping experience EVER. Here is what I've just sent to Woolworths as 'feedback'.

I shop at Woolies every week and normally have a pleasant experience. Today, however was the shopping trip from hell. It was 4pm on Sunday 7th February at the Murray Bridge Store.

I have a 21 month old son and so I always park by the trolley bay in the car park so I have the opportunity to check the trolley for faults and use two hands to put the trolley cover on before loading my son in the trolley. Today the trolley collectors thought there wasn't 'enough business' to justify having the trolleys available to customers - so they locked them with a chain and padlock. This necessitated me carrying my son into the store to find a trolley. It was a 38 degree day and this made me very hot and bothered by the time I got into the store. The first trolley I loaded my son into had a very badly aligned wheel which made it veer right. So I had to find another one and reload my son and all our belongings into a second trolley (while blocking up the walkway). I conducted my shopping and when I got to the checkout (there were 2 open with 6 customers waiting). One man came and opened a third checkout but only served one customer before telling the second 'I'm closing'. Shortly after a second man came and asked me to head to another checkout - which I did. He served me promptly and kindly but began packing my refrigerated and frozen items into a regular bag and not the cold ones I had brought. I corrected him and he sighed at me. I then went to load the bag into my trolley only to see that he had been very careless with my good and had put a 2L ice cream on top of my romatherapy tomatoes (damaging them - but I didn't notice until I got home) and some watermelon I had carefully chosen as it was not bruised.

I told him I would pack my own bags and he got rude. He started shoving things at me as I was packing and stopped speaking to me except in grunts. I completed the packing and went to pay at which point the receipt printer had malfunctioned and he was going to give me a partially printed receipt (a large strip was missing in the middle) when I said I wanted a complete receipt - he seemed to get angry. He called over what I assume to be his supervisor who fixed the printer and gave me a receipt. At no time was an apology forthcoming about any of this and I am going to be shopping at Coles from now on.

I would appreciate my feedback being taken seriously and I would really like to see something done about more training for checkout operators to know how to pack goods that WE are PAYING for and also the trolley collectors should not be making random decisions like locking up the trolleys mid-afternoon on a stinking hot day. There should be something I can rely upon when I shop - like being able to get a trolley when I need one.

I'm really disappointed and angry with this experience and I hope to get a response ASAP.


Am I being too harsh? Reckon I've got :pms: at the moment, but still... :o

That is not harsh at all, good on you for making a complaint and I would follow it up if you don't hear back from them.

Regards,
Dianne

Not harsh at all hun. Reminds me of the type of complaints I make - all the time :redface:
Hope you get a response! xx

I dont think you were too harsh at all. If customers don't stand up and report unsatisfactory customer service, nothing will ever get done about it. Corporations like Woolworths make millions of dollars out of everyday people like you, the least you deserve for your effort is a decent level or customer service.

As someone who works in retail and has been a supervisor myself, feedback is welcomed and is always taken seriously (well was when i worked at target). That service you got was disgraceful, not to mention a mother with a child having to search for a trolley is just down right unacceptable. You should have tried to include names, or even describe what they looked like that way they knew which staff members to have a talk to but its one of those things all staff will need to be spoken to.

BIG :hug: that must have been horrible.

Nettie on your reciept it should have who served you and the time can you copy that part and send it too? that way they will be able (hopefully) to speak with the person invovled.

Yep reads fine to me, and i agree with OG, put the checkout number, the operator and the time in your letter.

I hate it when they pack the bags all wrong and put "squashables" on the bottom! You would think it was just common sense to put that sort of stuff on top, oh and ALL the cold stuff together!
If you are unsatisfied with your experience then you have every right to make a complaint, as you said, we are paying for the goods, and would like to get them home in one piece!

I just want to add: Well said!!! :thumbsup: Let us know what eventuates.

Thanks guys! :grouphug:

DH is a bit of a 'don't rock the boat' sort of person, so I really wanted another opinion on if I was being a bit irrational!

If they direct my complaint onto the manager (who I kind of know as he's the cousin of a workmate), I'm happy to go down there and point them out. They're all locals and I remember them.

I can always send though the receipt details if they want them.

I'll let you know what sort of reply I get back! IF I get one! :o

Defnitely going to Coles next week regardless...

Is it supposed to be Roma tomatoes or Romatherapy tomatoes?

I think you got your point across in a reasonable way though. It's not like the things you're asking for are difficult requests!

Good on you for speaking up! Customer service has gone further and further downhill. Sometimes, we don't even get a 'thankyou' as we purchase something! I know some customers aren't all that nice either, but it's called customer service because they're getting PAID!

I think you've written the letter really well, you've explained everything clearly. It'll be interesting to see if they reply!

Sorry you had to go through such a horrible shopping trip!

Good on u for making the complaint
U were treated appalingly!!!!
I think u excersied great self control in the message too (I have a temper and it would have been nasty coming from me lol) I hope they take ur feedback into concideration and do soemthing productive to help other customers

I have not yet had a response... typical! :rolleyes:

If I haven't heard by later in the week, I think I'll be sending another - harsher - Email... :o

Thanks for your support.

Nelle - yes, Romatherapy tomatoes... the little long ones.

I think it's a brand of tomatoes Nelle?

Big thumbs up from me too! :thumbsup: Great feedback letter and I hope it gets results. It's so frustrating, especially with a toddler in tow. I'm over tardy service and self serve checkouts (had to leave half a trolley load of shopping at Big W on Saturday because it was the close of business and they didn't have any staffed checkouts open. Me with over-the-shopping DS ramping up for a big scream, clearance items that can't be put through self serve checkout as well as items that needed tags removing.) I'm going to start sending feedback letters online too.

Wow that's shocking mate!
Have you heard anything back from them yet?

Nothing yet. When I get the chance, I'll be sending another STRONGLY worded Email...

Sent another reply tonight and see that they say 'will reply within 7 working days'...

Pfftt.. surely they can work faster than THAT! :protest:

I got a phone call today (well a few until I answered) from the local branch manager.

I'm meeting him Monday night to discuss my issues. He's buying me a coffee! ;)

He's already said that he'll give me a wish card to replace the value of the damaged goods (tomatoes) which I think is a minimum. He's also interested in hearing the whole story so he can address the issues (such as packing and the trolleys).

Will let you know how that pans out (if anyone's interested!) :hide:

oooh I hope you get it sorted out!

Atleast your concerns have been taken seriously!
Let us know how you go on Monday :)

You would hate living in the UK - we have to pack our own groceries into bags and we always get grunted at! Customer service is shocking here!

I'm interested to see what they say!

When I was 9 months pregnant with DS. I took 2yr old DD grocery shopping. We just bought a BRAND NEW camry. When I got home, opened the boot, the whole boot smelt of marinated green olives. I bought some from the deli, and they didn't close the lid properly. I was FUMING! My brand new car smell had VANISHED! $28,000 2 month old car, smelt of OLIVES! I wrote a rather nasty email, explaining i was pregnant, with a DD, I did not have the time to clean up olives from my brand new car, blah blah blah. I promptly got a phone call apologising, and they paid to get my car detailed. That was woolworths too.

So point is, if you do complain, they do take you seriously, and try to solve the problem for you.

Let me know how you go!

I didn't realise I hadn't updated this thread! Sorry! :hide:

We talked, he gave me a wish card ($25 from memory) and since then I've only had one trolley 'incident' which I phoned and let him know about. The Manager definitely took my concerns seriously and got extra training for the staff and talked to the trolley people. I even went back to the same operator a few months later and his service was much better! :)

It's worth saying something. Years ago, DH and I went to woolies on a Saturday evening and did a full shop. The girl serving us totally ignored us, instead chatted to her friend, also serving at the opposite register. They were mouthing off about someone they knew and were throwing stuff into the bags without a care. I coped with all of that, thinking, hey, its Saturday night, whatever....until we paid. Our bill was nearly $200, we gave her that in cash and she took the money, leaned over the conveyer belt and waving our money around, continued with her conversation. We complained to a supervisor as we walked out, who replied with "Oh are they at it again?" and laughed, so we wrote into head office and complained. We got a voucher (which we didn't bother using) and were told that one girl had received her final warning from them. We've only just recently started shopping at woolies again. Good on you for standing up and making a complaint.