To whom this may concern,
In my opinion these are the events of the above mentioned day. On Saturday the 26/01 my wife daughter and myself visited Mitchells Retravision, on Albany Highway, Maddington. We were looking for a vacuum cleaner we could use outside to suck up odd bits of dirt for our enclosed outdoor entertaining area. David was only too happy to help. I must admit it was the first time I had walked into a store and had excellent customer service within 60seconds of arriving at the store. David showed us various lower end of the market vacuum cleaners, after asking a middle aged gentlemen working there seated at a desk located with in the kitchen appliances. After the two gentlemen conversed with each other, they came up with three options. We discarded the first two and was quite keen on a Nilfisk metallic red 2200W vacuum cleaner. It had no price tag on this vacuum so David said that he would have to get the price for us on it. David went and saw his manager and obtained a price for this which was $199.00 inc GST. Whilst David, my wife and myself were talking, the store manager Leanne came and sat on a swivel chair with a massage cushion attached to it and butted in to our conversation. She recommended another type of vacuum cleaner there which in her opinion was more robust and had bags so we would not have to clean the filters, but was dearer than the Vacuum cleaner (nilfisk) we were going to purchase. We asked again the price for this to which David replied $199.00. David was confident in approach to the sale and knew what vacuum we were talking about because (A) he recommended it; (B) he picked it up and turned the vacuum over to see the model number information so he could look the pricing up. We committed to the sale and said we will take it. He stated he would go and obtain the product and raise the invoice for payment. After 10 - 15 minutes David returned unconfident, and quite embarrassed. He stated that he was told the wrong price and it was now going to cost me $239.00. He offered another less powerful and cheaper vacuum cleaner to which he could do for $199, but it was not the one we had just ordered and committed to the sale with. I stated to him that as far as I knew, when a company or it's representatives whilst on duty or serving customer whilst on the company's sale floor, when the employee quotes a price for a particular product, the company must honor it weather management made a mistake or not. He was quite calm but very uneasy about the situation and he simply said I need to get my manager for you. To which he did. Leanne came back as stated to me David had obtained the wrong pricing and had made a mistake and the new price of $239 would have to stand. I stated to Leanne that when a product is quoted by a staff member on duty that they must honor the price or I would have no choice but tot report her to the consumer watch dog. She rolled her eyes and appeared to be totally disinterested in resolving this matter. Leanne turned away and walked off. Whilst Leanne was walking off I stated to he that this conversation was not over and considering she was the manager I expect her to rectify this. Leanne came back to the conversation and stated the price is $239.00 for this vacuum cleaner. Leanne then stated that it was her that made the mistake and was unable to honor the agreed initial price. I then tried to resolve the situation and said even though it is not my fault that you made a mistake I am prepared to go you 50/50 and pay $220.00 inc GST. Leanne stated again that the price was $239 and the original price of the product was $300. I then stated so everyone in the store could hear our conversation, You mean to tell me that when you obtain a price it your store and present the sale price to the customer and then when the customer agrees and commits to the sale and your staff member goes out the back to obtain the product and raise the invoice, you are going to jack the price up and penalize me because you made a mistake. She was very annoyed as many customers were now involved in this conversation and told me again the price was $239.00 but please leave the store. I turned to walk out and then thought I should get this dispute in writing so I had the appropriate documentation for the Consumer protection claim. I asked Leanne to write down that the wrong price had initially been quoted and that she had raised the cost of the goods after the sale was committed to. She declined and told me to get consumer protection to call her. I then asked her for her business card to which she replied that she did not have one. I asked again and said to her that it is by law that she has to have one and is required to identify her name and her staff members name so I knew who I was talking about. She turned and said my name is Leanne and David replied I am David. This is the only way I was able to obtain their names.
In my opinion:
1. Because the goods were handled by the sales assistant to obtain the correct model numbers for the quotation that the original price of $199.00 should stand.
2. Because this could have been sorted out whilst I was there I expect free delivery, as I don't see why I should have to walk back into her store after being asked to leave so rudely.
3. I expect a written apology for the poor professionalism and attitude towards me.
4. I expect a written apology for trying to ignore me and brush me off by walking away with no interest to settle the problem.
5. I expect a written apology for not being good mannered enough to professionally identify herself or her store so I knew where to direct the complaint.
0 comments