A frugal life is an easy life!

New catagory for 2011, the customer service quiz. Every now and then frugal ways will be testing high street companies on how they treat their customers and posting the results.

So off we go with our first high street company: CURRYS

Curry's sold her who must be obeyed, a camcorder. Curry's test comes from the sales patter, to their back up service.

• "Does the JVC camcorder you recommend, produce a file type that can be uploaded to a PC and used in conjunction with pinnacle and windows movie maker video editing software?"
  "Yes" replied the assistant - WRONG!
  Most hard disc recording camcorders do not create file types that work with either movie editing programs. Least of all JVC camcorders, who rely on the software that comes with the camera itself. Score 0/1
• Before returning the camcorder, we spoke to Currys via their national customer service number:
  Call 1 - Finally got through to customer services on their phone menu, the advisor told me they couldn't help as they were the "technical help department" - they did however transfer me to the branch I had asked to speak to, to obtain a swap for "the same model" - I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one, despite me asking to swap it for a different model, not the same one (Failed to listen), at least I was able to speak to the branch. Score 1/2
• The assistant at the branch answered the phone with, "Yes?"
  He didn't realise I was a customer speaking on an outside line, once we had established this, I gave him the product code of the camcorder I wanted and asked if it was in stock, a short delay, he came back on the phone and said they didn't have any instock.
  Did they know when they would have them in stock again?
  "No" was the answer
  When were they due to come into stock?
  "I don't know!" was the answer
  When is your stock delivery?
  "Try again on Wednesday" - the call was ended.
  Not very helpful, had I not continued to prompt him, I would have had even less information.
  Information about stock delivery and ringing back on Wednesday (today is Monday) was completely wrong and would have wasted my time, as this branch do not stock them at all. Score 1/3
• About 10 minutes later I was back on the national phone line again to customer services. I had forgotten to ask which branches had them instock and if one of the camcorders I wanted could be transferred across for me to collect.
  The advisor on the phone told me that he couldn't check any stocks as "our systems have been down since lunchtime today"
  "But your website is fine"
  "Our stockfile for stores is kept on the internet and we cannot access it. Even the branches cannot access it, we are very busy"
  Score 1/4
• I rang the national phoneline again, this time asking to be put through to a different local branch.
  "I can't put you through as our systems are down" - but I have just been put through to one branch prior to this call?
  "Our systems have been down since lunchtime today!" - so how did the previous advisor, not 10 minutes earlier, manage to put me through to a branch?
  "I have no idea how they managed that, our systems are down, I cannot even bring up the extension phone number for the branch!"
  I put the phone down. Score 1/5
• We decided to chance it and drive over to another local branch (28 mile round trip)
  On arrival, we checked out the camcorders on display and the assistant comes over. I ask to look at a lower value model than the one I want.
  I asked about battery time - will it last around 2 hours? - "More than 3 hours definately!" WRONG!
  I already know that battery time is a maximum of 2 hours - Score 1/6
• "What is the difference between this model and the JVC one?" (I haven't told him that we are exchanging it yet)
  "Nothing apart from the hard drive size" WRONG!
  There is a lower optical zoom, it records in fewer file types, it has less inputs, lower resolution photographs, it uses a different memory card, etc.
  I got bored with the lack of interest in my enquiry and the lack of factual answers to simple questions I was asking, I asked if there was another advisor I could speak to about it. Score 1/7
• The next assistant was a lot more knowledgeable. Thinking there was a good sale available, he pushed us towards a memory card panasonic model which was very expensive for us. He tried to convince me that this panasonic model had 3 lenses, all working at the exact same time!
  I informed him that I was exchanging for the JVC one, told him of the Sony model I wanted and asked him to find one and get it brought to my local branch for me.
  The assistant went straight to the computer and checked the stockfile of other stores from all over the country. Score 2/8 (I thought the stockfile had been down all day?)
• The assistant wasn't even aware that the model I wanted wasn't normally stocked at this medium sized superstore!
  He did manage to find some at two other branches. I requested that one be transferred over for us, off he went on to the phone to contact the two stores and have one sent over to our local branch. Score 3/9
• After more than 20 minutes waiting - we got that bored we went off and had a look around the store - we returned to find that there was no stock available.
  I asked if they could get one from the same place as the website, who were advertising them as being in stock?
  "No we cannot get stock from them, they have a totally different warehouse than than the stores!" - WRONG!
  Stores may well have a different warehouse to the website, but they can also transfer stock from there, to branches! Score 3/10
• I asked why there was now no stock available at the other two stores he mentioned then phoned, his reply was shocking;
  "The other stores won't let me have any of their stock!" - total contempt for a customer of Currys! Score 3/11
• The assistant, then told us, "If you want to exchange it, you will have to drive over to either store that had it in stock!" - One store was 45 miles away, the other store was 35 miles away - I answered with a simple "NO!" Score 3/12
• I told the assistant that we would then have a refund, in full, go home and order it via the website or find another company to buy it from.
  The assistant replied, "If you want a refund, then you'll have to go back to the store you bought it from originally!"
  I'd like to see them get that past trading standards and sale of goods act law - again I answered with a firm "NO!" Score 3/13
• The store manager came over and advised that the assistant should order a replacement from their "online warehouse"

Curry's final score: 3/13
Overall view:
Very worrying for a high street company!
Normally it's fair to say there might be one or two mistakes or "training issues" - but in this case, there were consistant errors by members of staff, too many to be a training issue or all genuine mistakes.
From the store that sold the product originally, then twice on the national phone lines, then once at a branch, then again at the branch that eventually sorted it out, what the customer was told, wasn't always factual nor an accurate guess.
We, being the customer, felt as if we were in the way, a mistake in the sale of the branch, then being told to wait two days before calling back again to speak to someone else, is not good enough!

We were not told to wait two days when we handed over hundreds of pounds during the original sale.
We were not told to wait two days before paying the extra money for the exchange, for goods that were not in the store and have to be ordered, then delivered.

Curry's staff on all levels, from instore to call centre staff, were only too keen to pass us on to someone else.
It was disgraceful to suggest that we would have to drive either a 90 or 70 mile round trip to exchange goods!
It was a disgrace to suggest that we would have to go back to the original store for a refund!
A purchase made at Currys in one town, should have the same back up service to the customer, be it refund or exchange, at a Curry's store in any other town in the country.
Too many staff quoting their own opinion and not enough fact, does not go down well with a customer!