Thanks for your concern Dominos

Well After the crappy response from the Eltham store owner I forwarded the email to Tracy at Dominos Customer Service.

She read it yesterday morning.

Your message
   To: Tracey Matthews <Tracey.Matthews@dominos.co.uk>
   Subject: FW: Dominos Customer Service Ref: 15957 28154 London - Eltham Delivery Area/Drivers
   Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 11:44:13 PM (UTC) Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London
was read on Wednesday, June 27, 2012 7:15:15 AM (UTC) Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London.

and promptly ignored it.

Thanks Dominos, epic fail!

I have forwarded all my communications, including this one, to

comments@dominos.co.uk,
dominos_feedback@btinternet.com,
DomComplaintManagement@dominos.co.uk << This one does not work, so not sure why they send email from it. Maybe that is how they manage complaints?   Or maybe Dominos have more problems with their IT than just inability to design an interface.

Late Night Response to Dominos

Well <Name Removed at Mo>, I think you can now see the problem.

The management in Eltham do not care about their customers!

I ask again.  Why have a “Special Delivery Instructions” box on the website if the stores cannot be bothered to read it.

Frankly I am lost for words at the moment.

Aha. Domino’s Answer… “Go Somewhere Else”

Nice bit of customer service!!

From: Domino's Pizza [mailto:dominos_feedback@btinternet.com]
Sent: 25 June 2012 23:02
To: cosmap
Subject: Re: Dominos Customer Service Ref: 15957 28154 London - Eltham Delivery Area/Drivers

Dear Cosma,

Thank you for your email last week regarding the ongoing issue you have had with drivers from my Eltham store missing the special delivery instructions on your orders. I am sorry that despite our very best efforts in the store and following numerous conversations between you and my team, we have not been able to resolve this for you.

We aim to provide great service and we hate to disappoint any customers. Following further discussions with the team in my Eltham store, I am sorry to advise you that we do not feel there is anything further we can do from a store point of view to guarantee for certain that a driver will not ring your doorbell. We have already suggested calling the store to order and explain your instructions or to put a note on your doorbell, in addition to the notice we have put up in our staff room and unfortunately, we feel there is nothing else we can do. To this end, I’m sorry to say that we feel that as this is a crucial part of your delivery, you would be best to either collect your pizzas from the store (we will obviously give you a good carry out deal) or order your pizzas elsewhere as you suggest.

I hope you can understand our reasons behind this, your children’s sleep is obviously crucial and although we hate losing customers and this has been a very difficult decision, we just feel this is the best option.

Best wishes,

Nij enterprises ltd Ta Dominos Pizza

Eltham Domino’s does not seem to be interested in Customers

Nothing from the Franchisee in Eltham.

Just an email from Domino’s

Dear Sir

My sincerest apologies for the lack of correspondence from the franchisee of the Eltham store.

I have now passed your details directly over to our Operations Department here at Head Office who will speak with the franchisee and ensure that they do contact you to discuss this issue in more detail as promised.

We will be discussing the problems with your order directly with the franchisee and we will do everything in our power to make sure this does not happen again.

We will also be addressing the way that your complaint has been handled by the franchisee and the fact that he did not contact you as he advised. We would like to assure you that we did not find this acceptable and we will be taking steps to make sure that does not happen again.

Once again my apologies for the complete lack of customer care you have experienced on this occasion and please do not hesitate to contact me again should there be no further contact from the franchisee.

<Name Removed>

Customer Service Co-Ordinator
<Name Removed>@dominos.co.uk
www.dominos.co.uk
facebook.com/DominosPizza
twitter.com/Dominos_UK

Well at least they are trying.  But this does sum up the attitude in Eltham.  Just say whatever to the client to keep him happy at the time and then ignore it.

Must be a busy shop so s/he does not care about loosing the odd client, especially one that is a pain.

Wonder how many people have voted with their feet and have simply not returned to Domino’s?

I actually like their products, and would like to resolve this to my satisfaction so I can carry on eating their pizza. 

Nuff said..

My Reply to Dominos

Many thanks for your attention to this matter.  I am sorry to say that I do not hold out much hope.  I have spoken to people that purport to be the store manager several times (in fact every time they RING THE BELL).

I have been promised, repeatedly, that they will tell the drivers to READ THE INSTRUCTIONS.  I have been promised that they will put up a “special notice” in the staff room.  But it still happens.

As I have said before (please refer to http://cosmap.blogspot.com) I was told that the place where the drivers see the address that they are going to does not display the “special instructions” information.  This seems to me, as an IT Professional and User Interface specialist, to be a very poor design.

I shall look forward to hearing from the franchisee, although it has now been 2 days and I have heard nothing so far.  Perhaps s/he does not find this matter as important as you or I (which would explain why it keeps on happening).

Well I hope you have a nice weekend and my mobile is always on.

Regards

Dominos Customer Service Responds

Dear Sir
We are sorry that your recent experience of our London - Eltham store was not up to the high standard you should expect from any Domino's store.
At Domino's Pizza our aim is to provide 100% customer satisfaction, so it greatly concerns us when any aspect of our service or product doesn't meet our customers' expectations.  We appreciate all feedback and would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to address this matter.

Domino's is a franchised business and our franchisees feel it is very important that they own the relationship with their customers. To this end, I have passed the details of your complaint directly over to the franchisee of this store and they will contact you soon to resolve this issue. Our franchisees know that all feedback is the key to improving their businesses and finding out about any ongoing issues.

If at any point you are unsatisfied with the response from the franchisee, or if we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind Regards
DomComplaintManagement
Customer Concerns
<Name>@dominos.co.uk

An Open Letter to Dominos Pizza

Dear Dominos Customer Service,

Yet again your driver has failed to read the delivery instructions.  What is the point of having "Special Instructions" when the driver NEVER reads them.

The store manager tells me that the system that the drivers look at to provide them the addresses does not show the special delivery instructions.  And they clearly NEVER read the delivery note.

You need to either
a, Modify the screens so that this information is shown, or
b, Train the drivers better, or
c, Remove that option from the order screen!  If I can't ask for it I cannot be annoyed about not getting it!

Your Manager did suggest that I phone my orders in.  But, as I pointed out to him, If I am going to phone it in I may as well use the Pizza Hut that is at the end of my road.  I use Dominoes because of the utility of the web site and the lack of AMBIGUITY.  I order what I want and I get it. Which is also why I am doubly annoyed!!!

I am in IT.  I have a degree in user interface design.  I am more than happy to consult with you to improve the systems that you are using in order to make sure that the appropriate people get the appropriate information.

Call me.

All joking apart  I am severely annoyed, I have two kids in bed and your drivers do their best to wake them up every time I use you.

I would like a call from someone senior with whom I can discuss this matter.  My number is <Mobile Number> and my email address is <Email Address>

This message has been posted publically and I will be publically posting your responses.

Regards

<Me>

The end of the Staples road

Had a phone call this morning from someone (name with held) who said he was the Manager at the Old Kent Road Branch of Staples.

Basically he apologised and acknowledged all that I have said.  He thinks he knows who the offending member of staff is and will be having a word. He also offered to send me some discount vouchers to tempt us back in the store.

Guess that is the end of this line.

I know this all seems like a pointless exercise but, in the long run, if more people start to do the same (complain), we may get better customer service.  Businesses cannot afford to annoy the customer (especially one that pays cash) as most people will just vote with their feet and not come back.   The way I see it I am doing businesses a favour. This way they get the chance to mend the ways of errant staff and win a customer back.

The next thing that needs addressing is the English inability to complain when they are wronged.  It does not need to be a shouting match.  As the Irish say “Speak quietly, and carry a big stick”.  The internet gives us all a tool to voice our annoyance and bring big companies to task. 

The next step from here would have been to look at site such as http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Staples or many of the other public forums to get it out there.  If they do not react then you can!  Any way….

Not much else to say on the subject really.  Shame it took so long, but we got there in the end.

Some progress with Staples

This morning I decided to give staples a call.
I spoke to a chap on their Store Customer Services number.  In keeping with my policy of not naming the innocent I shall not put his details here.
He said that he had responded to my initial comment.
And after some digging I found this.
From : customerservices@staples.co.uk    <<<  Generic Address Which is why I thought it was machine generated.
Dear Cosma,
Thank you for your email and for taking the time to fill in our customer service survey, your comments are appreciated and will be passed onto the store for their information and improvement.
Kind Regards
<Name Removed>
Customer Services
Staples UK Retail Ltd
Followed by a partial transcript of my responses.  My comments were missing.
Then I got a bog standard template email from generic addresses.  This came from the comments box on their website as follows….
From: Retail@online.staples.co.uk
Your comments have been passed to our Stores Customer Service
Team and you will receive a response shortly.
Please do not reply to this email.
Should you require any further assistance pleasec ontact us via our web
site,  http://www.staples.co.uk. Alternatively please email customersupport@online.staples.co.uk and one of our dedicated
representatives will be available Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm.
Kind regards
STAPLES  DIRECT
Why not follow us on Twitter for Customer Service offers and more! https://twitter.com/XXXXXXXX
The last line is quite funny.  Why would I want to follow your twitter account if I am annoyed?  Good thing I am not a Troll.  Oh, I love the typo.
Today I have received 2 emails From humans at last.  Progress?
From : customerservices@staples.co.uk <<< Generic Address
Dear Cosma,
Following on from our telephone conversation today, I have cut and pasted your blog and will pass it on to our complaints team.
Kind Regards
<Name Removed>
Customer Services
Staples UK Retail Ltd
****************************************************************************
From : customerservices@staples.co.uk <<< Generic Address
Dear Sir/Madam,
I was extremely sorry to receive your email regarding the poor service you received from our Old Kent Road store.
At Staples it is our aim to provide the best customer service at all times and it appears the store has fallen below the standards we set as a company.
I have passed your complaint to the District Manager, for investigation and resolution.
Please can you advise me of a contact number for you to enable our District Manager to contact you personally to apologise.
It is only by receiving feedback from customers like yourself that companies are made fully aware of any problems and are then in a position to resolve them. Thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to bring this matter to my attention.
If you have any further queries or this is not resolved to your satisfaction, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
Kind Regards
<Name Removed>
So I have managed to speak to one person.  Got 1 Real email and 3 template emails.  All from generic addresses.  Lets now hope that I start to get some real people on the line.
Incidentally….
We needed some bits today.  Another £100 cash.  This time it went to a competitor.  I realise that £300 is peanuts on the grand scheme of things, but we are constantly buying bits and pieces and all the pennies soon make pounds!

Staples Customer Service

I like to think of myself as an easy customer.  I generally know what I want.  All the customer service representative has to do is convince me I have made the right choice and take my money.

Today I went to Staples to buy a networked hard drive for a client.

I knew the model I wanted and the price I wanted to pay.

We walked into the store (myself, my client and his assistant) and noticed, as soon as we walked through the door, one member of staff berating another.

We were ignored by everyone, but luckily we saw the item we wanted.  It happened to be at a good price so I took an empty box to the counter.  This is where the fun starts…

The person was still having a go at her colleague and we had some effort to get her attention.  She stomped over to us, snatched the empty box and stomped off, without saying where she was going.

The young lady that was being berated was left to smile at us, some what embarrassed.  I asked if the other lady was having a bad day and if there was a manager about.  Apparently that was the manager!!

The manager returned with the product and unceremoniously dumped it in front of me.  I opened the box to confirm what was in it.  I wanted to make sure that if I needed anything (cable, UK plug) we purchased it then and there.  The manager was not best impressed and scowled at me as I checked.  As luck would have it all the elements I needed were in the box

My client gave the manager the correct amount in cash (£199) only to be told that the unit was £239.  We pointed out that the shelf said it was £199.   After quizzing me if I was sure it was £199 she was not convinced and made a performance of stomping over the shelf to prove me wrong. She grabbed 1 of the 2 extra large shelf labels checking something on the back of the label and comparing it to the product.  Mumbling some comments under her breath (I did not catch what she said) she stomped back to the counter and made a “Managers Override”.  Displaying zero good grace.

We were all keen to get out of there, but my customer did want to explain to her how unimpressed he was with her attitude.  I also told her that were it not for the fact that we needed the device we would have walked out and purchased it elsewhere.  She acknowledged our comments, but did not apologise.  Clearly she did not really care.

In times like this, when jobs and customers are hard to come by, I would have thought that a shop would have been happy for a £199 sale, CASH (a card would have incurred processing fees), in less than 5 minutes with very little sales effort required.

I filled in Staples online questionnaire, they did not get a good rating, and will be interested if they reply.  

Whether I or my customer will be using Staples again remains to be seen.  I certainly will not be going back to the Old Kent Road store.

A bit of management level customer support training required I think.