At Indybel we believe absolutely 100% that good customer service is one of the most important parts of our business ... aside from the fact that we enjoy chatting to and helping our customers, we firmly believe that if someone makes the effort to contact us then it's the least we can do to respond to them and try to help them as much as we can. So, we always respond to emails straight away, try to help customers who have queries about our products and make sure we've done everything we can to ensure our customers are happy and satisfied. We still do this for people who are not our customers as it's just good manners. For example a lady emailed last year trying to find a particular dummy in Spain and we spent a good few hours researching dummies for her on the internet. Other customers have emailed us asking if we can help find products that we dont' stock, and even though it means no revenue for us, if we can help then we certainly will and frequently do.
So it always annoys me when other retailers don't see the importance of customer service and when I'm on the customer side it makes me even more esperated.
There is one shop in particular that does seem to wind me up the wrong way time and time again and yet I still go back ... and rant!
El Cortes Ingles is Spain's largest department store with stores dotted around Spain in all t
he major towns and cities. On the whole they have some nice stuff and I like the supermarket there and it's a good place for a browse on a rainy day, but after a few years of going there I can honestly say that in my experience the customer service is not good.
On the whole you seem to be greeted by unsmiling, unhelpful and unknowledgeable sales assistants who aren't that keen to 'sell' or help. The baby dept in particular has always seemed particularly unhelpful to me, but I had to go there last week to source a new mattress for my old pram in preparation for my sisters visit. As I bought the pram there and it's a major Spanish brand Jane, I thought they would be able to help me, but after a lot of shruggling of shoulders they told me that they don't sell mattresses and don't know anywhere that does ... oh I said, but I saw a mattess in another shop down the road ... to looks of great surprise ... eventually they mentioned a shop in Malaga that might sell the mattress but there was no question of them phoning the shop for me to make an enquirey. At my assistance they reluctantly got out their Jane catalogues and flicked through them but couldn't help and when I asked if the Jane website might sell them they didn't know. Maybe it's me, but surely assistants in a baby dept should know more about baby products? I recognise some of these assistants from 2 or 3 years ago, so it's not like they are new. The general attitude is of not really caring ... if it's there they are happy to sell it to you, if not then they don't want to know.
So I gave up on the mattress and went to the toy dept with my toddler. She wanted a slide. There were two possibles on display. One at 34 euros and the exact same one next to it with added stickers at 40 euros. I waited about 15 mins for a sales person and then asked to buy the 34 euro slide. Oh no, he told me, we don't have this one in stock, it will take 5 days to order. 5 days to order a 34 euro slide ....??? Why bother having it on show then? I'm pretty sure the consumer has the right to be able to buy goods on display if it's suggested they are for immediate sale. So I asked him if I could purchase the exact same 40 euro slide for 34 euros as they didn't have the 34 euro one in stock ... not a chance!!
Feeling dejected I headed to the supermarket. The thing that really annoys me about the supermarket in the Cortes Ingles is that you are only allowed in one end and it' s the far end the furthest away from every staircase, escalator and lift ... so you huff and puff all the way there with your bags and a toddler and then have to go through the rigmarole of having your bags bagged up ... then if you exit without buying anything you are only allowed down one tiny weeny ailse ...
I do know it's my choice to shop there, but I also feel that good customer service, especially in such a large institution, is a right and not a priveldge. If small shops can manage friendly helpful service why can't huge institions who have access to staff training programmes and management programmes? When I go back to the UK I can't help but sometimes compare the customer service in shops such as El Cortes Ingles to their British counterparts such as John Lewis and Marks and Spencers and sadly there is a lot lacking here in Spain. I think in time these shops will have to begin to take customer service more seriously but until then I will either just have to practice deep breathing exercises or shop elsewhere!!
So it always annoys me when other retailers don't see the importance of customer service and when I'm on the customer side it makes me even more esperated.
There is one shop in particular that does seem to wind me up the wrong way time and time again and yet I still go back ... and rant!
El Cortes Ingles is Spain's largest department store with stores dotted around Spain in all t
he major towns and cities. On the whole they have some nice stuff and I like the supermarket there and it's a good place for a browse on a rainy day, but after a few years of going there I can honestly say that in my experience the customer service is not good.On the whole you seem to be greeted by unsmiling, unhelpful and unknowledgeable sales assistants who aren't that keen to 'sell' or help. The baby dept in particular has always seemed particularly unhelpful to me, but I had to go there last week to source a new mattress for my old pram in preparation for my sisters visit. As I bought the pram there and it's a major Spanish brand Jane, I thought they would be able to help me, but after a lot of shruggling of shoulders they told me that they don't sell mattresses and don't know anywhere that does ... oh I said, but I saw a mattess in another shop down the road ... to looks of great surprise ... eventually they mentioned a shop in Malaga that might sell the mattress but there was no question of them phoning the shop for me to make an enquirey. At my assistance they reluctantly got out their Jane catalogues and flicked through them but couldn't help and when I asked if the Jane website might sell them they didn't know. Maybe it's me, but surely assistants in a baby dept should know more about baby products? I recognise some of these assistants from 2 or 3 years ago, so it's not like they are new. The general attitude is of not really caring ... if it's there they are happy to sell it to you, if not then they don't want to know.
So I gave up on the mattress and went to the toy dept with my toddler. She wanted a slide. There were two possibles on display. One at 34 euros and the exact same one next to it with added stickers at 40 euros. I waited about 15 mins for a sales person and then asked to buy the 34 euro slide. Oh no, he told me, we don't have this one in stock, it will take 5 days to order. 5 days to order a 34 euro slide ....??? Why bother having it on show then? I'm pretty sure the consumer has the right to be able to buy goods on display if it's suggested they are for immediate sale. So I asked him if I could purchase the exact same 40 euro slide for 34 euros as they didn't have the 34 euro one in stock ... not a chance!!
Feeling dejected I headed to the supermarket. The thing that really annoys me about the supermarket in the Cortes Ingles is that you are only allowed in one end and it' s the far end the furthest away from every staircase, escalator and lift ... so you huff and puff all the way there with your bags and a toddler and then have to go through the rigmarole of having your bags bagged up ... then if you exit without buying anything you are only allowed down one tiny weeny ailse ...
I do know it's my choice to shop there, but I also feel that good customer service, especially in such a large institution, is a right and not a priveldge. If small shops can manage friendly helpful service why can't huge institions who have access to staff training programmes and management programmes? When I go back to the UK I can't help but sometimes compare the customer service in shops such as El Cortes Ingles to their British counterparts such as John Lewis and Marks and Spencers and sadly there is a lot lacking here in Spain. I think in time these shops will have to begin to take customer service more seriously but until then I will either just have to practice deep breathing exercises or shop elsewhere!!
Great blog ... I also find some of the shops here really lacking in customer service skills ... such a shame when it's so easy to rectify!
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