On 2nd March my wife attended the Brighton Mothercare and purchased various items of maternity wear which she needed after giving birth to our daughter. She selected some tops from the 3 for 2 promotion, one of these being a black and white striped nursing top. This came up at £14 on the tills and was the cheapest item so she got it free. In total she spent £160.95.
She was impressed with her purchases, so much so that we returned on 7th March to purchase more. She selected three of the same top intending to take advantage again of the 3 for 2 promotion.
Initially she was dealt with by a nice sales assistant with whom we have no compaint, however there was a query over the pricing of the tops and another member of staff took over. As the tops were in the sale, she stated that they were not part of the 3 for 2.
My wife explained that she had purchased an identical top in the promotion at that price and produced her original till receipt. She disputed this and stated that it could not have been the same top because the code was ?clearly different?. As she said this she waved the receipt and the label under my wife?s nose. My wife pointed out that she was actually wearing the top; however this fell on deaf ears. She went on in this vein and basically accused my wife of lying about purchasing that top at that price.
What then followed was an embarrassing pseudo staff meeting where the sales assitant shouted across the shop to someone else demanding to know why no one had told her that those particular tops were now in the sale and ?who had authorised them going in the sale?
My wife and her mother were left standing at the till area for several minutes feeeling rather awkward whilst this debacle unfolded in front of them. The staff member then literally stomped off to speak to a manager. I had been in another shop until this point, but returned to find my wife welling up and clearly distressed. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that the staff were arguing over the price of a top.
The sales assiatnt returned and stated that her manager had said she could not have the top at that price and that it should not have been sold to her at that price on the previous visit. She also stated that she?d need to take the details of the previous transaction in order that it could be investigated as the member of staff would need to be spoken to.
My wife became more upset, visibly so and yet she continued with her poor attitude.
We decided that we would not purchase anything in the shop and so left the tops and other items, despite my wife needing them desperately. When we went to leave she demanded that we hand over our original receipt again so that they could take the details of the staff member that served her so that she could be spoken to. We refused as we did not think it was fair that the original sales assistant should get in trouble through no fault of her own. She re-iterated that we ?had to give it to her?. On principle we refused and left the store.
Once outside my wife broke down into tears and was literally sobbing. I left her mother to comfort her and went inside to obtain the sales assitants details to make a complaint. I saw that her name badge gave only her first name and very politely asked for her full name. I explained that my wife had been reduced to tears due to her conduct and that I intended to make a complaint. She refused to give me her full name and stated ?I don?t have to give you that? I pointed out that there may be more than one person of that name working for Mothercare and that it was not unreasonable to request her details. With that she put her hand up and arm outstretched towards my face and said ?I don?t have to deal with this, I?m fetching my manager?. She then walked off and a short time later I was approached by the manager.
I explained to her that my wife had recently given birth and did not deserve to be reduced to tears due to the conduct of her staff. Instead of apologising at that point, she retorted that her member of staff was pregnant herself and was out the back of the shop in tears. She stated that part of her workplace risk assessment was that she had been instructed to walk away from any stressful situations. She continued to trot out management speak about ?investigating the incident? for over five minutes before finally apologising only after being prompted. She then asked what I expected of her.
I explained that a prompt and simple apology would have sufficed and that instead she had chosen to justify her appalling treatment with management hyperbole followed lastly by an insincere apology.
During the conversation, my wife returned however I asked her to wait outside as she was still visibly upset. The manager could have taken this opportunity to apologise to my wife, but did not.
It was then left to me to suggest that I provide my details so that she could ?investigate? the incident and report back to me in writing. It should not have been for me to suggest this.
I had no faith that the manager would deal with the incident and emailed Mothercare customer service. I received a reply the following day which did include an apology and a promise to refer the incident to the area manager. Although the sentiment appeared reasonable, the letter smacked of a stock response to a complaint rather than a considered response.
We were informed that they had sent out a good will gesture of a gift card to ?offset? the disapointment my wife had experienced.
We have today received the gift card through the post and was astounded to find that they considered £15 to be reasonable for the upset that my wife was caused. The purpose of my original complaint was never the pursuit of compensation, simply a sincere apology and an explanation of what they would do to ensure that it did not happen in the future.
As a new mum, any trip out with baby in these early days is a significant experience and my wife?s trip into Brighton was solely about visiting Mothercare and buying some much needed tops and breast pads. The poor experience she suffered, plus the subsequent distress and disappointment cannot be under estimated and certainly cannot be 'offset' by the offer provided by Mothercare.
I?ve rejected their offer and informed them that I?m sending it back to them. In response they?ve said that they did not mean to cause offence by the ?goodwill gesture? but that they would not extend it in anyway.
I stress that this really is not about compensation, however if they really believed that was the right path to go down, then £15 is well below the mark and frankly rather offensive.
Hope the detail helps.