As I write this I know it’s quite ridiculous but I’m a sucker for good customer service.
I like Earl Grey tea, I usually buy a premium brand because they are reliable. Last time I got a shops own label from Waitrose Supermarket, part of the John Lewis partnership. Waitrose are a high end supermarket, known for their customer service. I’ve shopped there for many years, sometimes a full weekly shop and at other times, just the things I particularly like. More recently I’ve split my shopping between Aldi, one of the cheaper european supermarkets and Waitrose.
Anyway back to the tea bags, one cup told me they were not up to scratch, I was amazed they had the audacity to call themselves Earl Gray! I took them back hoping to exchange them for a better quality bag. Now in twenty years I’ve only ever taken two things back to this store, a bottle of wine that wouldn’t open because the screw top wouldn’t work and I complained about a joint of beef, I didn’t take it back, so one thing and it must have been over fifteen years ago as I haven’t eaten any meat since around that time.
I don’t know what made me take these tea bags back, I would usually have thrown them away but they caught my eye as I was leaving home. Anyway customer services would not take them back, told me unless I had my receipt, they couldn’t. It was obvious I had got them from there as it was their own label but that’s beside the point as I didn’t have the receipt. Now I have to ask, who keeps a receipt for the weekly shop until everything on the list has been eaten, drunk or used? What about store cupboard items, do you keep the receipt for everything you buy to store, what about those extra items we buy when they are on offer? I think not unless you want a separate store cupboard for receipts!
Now I know this is ridiculous, but I’m put out. I told them to keep the tea bags as they were no good, I might not have used those words. I have since enjoyed a decent cup of Earl Gray and calmed down a little. I was put out as I don’t believe it to be good customer service, I’ve even emailed head office over this despite the fact we are talking a couple of pounds maximum.
It must be the equinox, planets or something because it has really bugged me, that and it suits todays prompt – label
lizalizaskysaregrey 