Dear Woolworths,
Prior to Monday the 21st of January, I was a loyal and regular customer of Woolworths grocery stores, petrol stations and Dan Murphy’s. However my views of the company have considerably changed after the occurrence of a number of incidences of, in my view, to be completely unacceptable customer service in both Woolworths stores and Dan Murphy’s.
On Wednesday the 23rd of January, I was in Woolworths at Orana Mall Dubbo between 12 and 1pm, buying three trolleys full of groceries for a party that was to be hosted at my parent’s house over the long weekend. As I had a long day ahead of me in Dubbo with numerous appointments and a car service I went to Woolworths early in the day with the intention of using the well-known parcel pick up service I believed the store still offered. Living 100kms away from Dubbo, parcel pick up has always been an essential part of our trip to Dubbo on busy days as it allows us to go grocery shopping in a timely manner and get all the food home in good condition, especially in the heat of summer.
As I began unpacking my groceries at the checkout I asked the checkout assistant if I could please have my groceries put into parcel pick up for the day. I was astounded when I was informed that Woolworths no longer offered parcel pickup. I calmly explained that I live 100kms from Dubbo and that I was unable to go home immediately after doing the shopping, as I had to get my car serviced at 1:30. I then asked if she could please make an exception as otherwise I was not going to be able to purchase the groceries. The sales assistant had absolutely no compassion for my situation and bluntly refused to help. I then asked if I could please speak to the manager of the store. I was then informed the manager was unavailable and was finally, after a considerable wait, assisted by another more senior staff member to further discuss the issue.
I hoped that the new staff member would be able to understand my situation and the loss to Woolworth’s if I did not purchase the groceries. Not only would the store lose the value of my purchase, which, when completed at Coles, came up to a value of $800, but they would also be faced with the time consuming task of restacking the items back onto the shelves. The second staff member immediately displayed terrible customer service skills when on her approach she was extremely rude before allowing me to explain the situation. She explained that Woolworth’s had advertised the end of parcel pickup prior to Christmas and that it had ended to make way for “click and collect”. She then finally allowed me to explain my situation where I told her that I live in Sydney, was visiting my parents who live over 100kms from Dubbo and I had been overseas before Christmas so I had not seen any of the advertisements. I further explained the plans for my day and the complications of getting the groceries home immediately. With even less compassion then the previous staff member I was told that the cool-room for parcel pick up had been converted for click and collect and that if I wanted to use this service on the internet then my grocery’s could be stored in the cool-room. I said that it was too late for that and that in future I would consider using this service. I then offered the alternative of storing the perishables in the cool room whilst the other two trolleys, with nonperishables, could be kept to the side until my return at 5:30pm. The Woolworths staff member once again rudely refused to help or to offer any assistance or compassion for my situation. If she were unable to help, I explained, then I would take my business elsewhere. Regardless of the loss for Woolworths the staff member instructed me that there was nothing she could do. As a result I left the $800 worth of food and have vowed never to shop with Woolworths again.
The above event is coupled with another poor customer service incidence at Dan Murphys. Earlier that week, on Monday the 21st January, I called Dan Murphy’s 1300 number to get some prices for approximately 50 cases of beer and wine. After being transferred to 4 different people I was informed that Dan Murphy’s has a policy that you can buy a maximum of 5 cases in one purchase and that I would have to return to the store to buy 5 cases at a time on separate occasions. Finally I was transferred to another two people in the local Dubbo store who explained the only way to do this was for the purchase to appear in separate transactions on my credit card statement but that I could pick the whole order in one trip. This was unacceptable and I then purchased the alcohol from Liquorland.
As a result of the poor customer service your employees and company supplied me with nearly all purchases of food and liquor were with company’s owned by Westfarmers. Before these two incidences I had every intention of shopping with Woolworths as per usual. However I have now moved my business to Westfarmers and have been extremely pleased with their services so far. On both occasions following these incidences Coles and Liquorland staff members went above and beyond with both their knowledge and helpfulness to help me in my situation.
I have a background in Commerce, Human Resources and Marketing and because of this I am more than aware of the importance of how a company portrays itself to consumers and the general public. A high standard of customer service is one of the most important elements of acquiring and keeping consumers. As a leading company in Australia I know you are more than aware of this. This knowledge however has clearly not been transferred and implemented into staff training and as a result you have staff creating more work and turning away loyal customers. I suggest you look at your staff training and find a way to come up to Coles Myer customer service standards otherwise I will not be the only consumer you lose.
I await your response
Regards,
Jessica Tuck
0401 392 972
[email protected]
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