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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to expect a proper apology fro Mothercare for appalling service

229 replies

ChrisandChristina · 11/03/2011 19:17

I have vowed never to use Mothercare again.

A sales assistant was so rude to my wife in their Brighton shop that she was reduced to tears.

The manager was useless when I complained to her and simply waffled on about investigating the incident I.E standard meaningless management speak

When I complained in writing to Mothercare customer services they sent us a £15 gift card to 'offset our disapointment'.... what an insult.

I will never spend another penny with them.

Just wondered if this was common for them and what experiences other people had had there.

OP posts:
Janefeelsold · 12/03/2011 13:26

everybody would have moved on.

thunderbird69 · 12/03/2011 13:44

I hope that you will post this story in the future in a thread entitled 'embarrassing things I did when suffering from new baby sleep deprivation'

I think that is the only reason for behaving like this.

I also hope that you gave the member of staff who you reduced to tears a sincere apology...

ThierryHenryismyBoyfriend · 12/03/2011 13:56

I feel that you're both over sensitive. You've had an apology, you've had a voucher I fail to see what else you expect?

It sounds like the only way it will be better is if the managing director called to apologise.

Don't get me wrong I hate MC with a passion but I just don't shop there.

Janefeelsold · 12/03/2011 13:57

I don't think the shop assistant deserved an apology at all! She acted completely unprofessionally. I worked in John Lewis whilst at university and I would probably have been disciplined for the way she behaved. You would probably have been fired for suggesting a customer was lying!

If she had wanted to resolve the hows and wheres of the price of the top she should have served the customer first, excused herself and discussed it with the other member of staff discreetly.

If I was serving the OP's wife, I would have apologised for the mix up regarding the top, acted as if I could completely see it from her POV but explained that the price today was the actual price. Should would then have probably accepted the situation and shopped in the store again.

Her customer service was poor and the OP is not BU to have thought so regardless of what happened afterwards.

Underachieving · 12/03/2011 14:50

"Please don't suggest that she's being petty as again that's not her."

Oh serously.

Clearly it is.

HecateTheCrone · 12/03/2011 14:58

carm - I don't think I am wrong.

It is my opinion.

You are, of course, free to disagree with me.

But that does not mean I am wrong. It means you don't share my pov.

Wrong would be me saying that grass is blue or the earth is flat.

And I do think that a loving husband would spring to the aid of his distressed wife and try to get the person who has upset her to apologise. Whether or not his wife has lost the plot.

I did state quite clearly my opinion on the wife's behaviour and did not suggest that I think she was in the right. In fact, I raised the possibility of pnd and stated that the reaction was totally disproportionate.

But I do not think it is anything odd for a husband to be upset by his wife's upset and to go all out to get the person to say, even "I am sorry you are upset". For the husband to spring to his wife's defence. To want to protect (even if she's really being silly). That's my opinion of marriage.

He can do this while calming his wife, etc. He can even be saying privately to her that she's being a tit.

But I firmly believe in the united public front.

You, of course, are free to disagree with my opinion. I won't say you are wrong to do that. I will just accept that you see it differently.

MadameCastafiore · 12/03/2011 15:03

Think due to recently giving birth your wife was a bit oversensitive but google how much you get for losing a finger and I think you will see £15 for a small incident that resulted in tears is not too shabby.

takewhatyoucan · 12/03/2011 15:14

Just noticed another thread "To get upset over customers?" the poor pregnant sales assistant has posted her side of the story.

Having worked in a shop where I hated being verbally abused by customers who think they should always get things however they want, I sympathise with the sales assistant. Rules is rules, as they say; if the tops are not that price any more then tough! The sales assistant does not set the prices or the rules!

HecateTheCrone · 12/03/2011 15:20

is that one real?

you often find that when a thread like this is started, someone comes along and posts from the other side, as though they were the other person.

either as a piss-take or to be mean.

ShatnersBassoon · 12/03/2011 15:27

You sound ridiculous. You've got yourselves in a state over a few pounds.

I would be waking in the night in spasms of cringing embarrassment for years to come if I'd got my gusset in a twist over a promotion mistake in Mothercare.

52Girls · 12/03/2011 15:28

I think it is indeed a piss take or to be mean.

Doesn't do it for me really. Still think the OP is being a Drama Lama though.

TheMonster · 12/03/2011 15:36

Oh dear oh dear oh dear. What a huge over-reaction.

Get over yourselves.

thefirstMrsDeVere · 12/03/2011 15:45

Sounds like a load of old bollocks to me.

just saying.

LadyOfTheManor · 12/03/2011 15:48

Ha! The other thread is amusing. Troll or not, Mothercare are wankers.

squeakytoy · 12/03/2011 15:50

In the "good old days" yes, it was fine to have "the customer is always right" mantra, but sadly these days, its quite often a case of "the customer will stamp their feet and threaten to sue unless they get their own way" - even when they know damn well they are in the wrong and being an obnoxious twat.

AppleyEverAfter · 12/03/2011 16:47

I don't think YABU, all it takes is for staff to be polite, smile, and apologise if there was a pricing mistake on either visit. TBH if you work in sales you should be willing to bite the bullet and say sorry even if it wasn't your mistake. Are they really trying to lose custom?

Mothercare are not legally obliged to sell you the tops at any stated price, even if they have a sticker on saying 3 for 2. I found this out while working at a gift shop where customers would swap labels on items in order to get a discount Shock. The label is an invitation for the cuustomer to make an offer of sale which the company then decides whether to accept or not. It's usually just company policy to reduce incorrectly labelled items as a gesture of goodwill.

But you did the right thing by compaining to the head office and coming on here where no doubt a few Brighton mums might read this post and be put off going or at least be forewarned about the attitude problem of the staff. As for the future, vote with your feet and never use the company again! I can recommend JoJoMamanBebe too supersewer!

A1980 · 12/03/2011 18:32

Jesus effing Christ OP get a grip!

YABVVVU and pathetically over sensitive.

ziva · 12/03/2011 18:37

oh fgs ive seen it all.why didnt you and your wife just walk away the first time instead of accelerating the situation?
can i see the email apologising for your treatment of a pregnant staff member?

carminaburana · 12/03/2011 18:48

Hecate; yes, sorry - should have worded my post better - I disagreed with your opinion.

I am about to disagree with another one.

You stay united when fighting for your jobs ( union power ) that sort of thing - you don't want your partner turning into Bob Crow in mothercare.

I'm beginning to think this thread is a wind-up anyway.

ChaoticAngelofAnarchy · 12/03/2011 18:51

What squeakytoy said in her first post.

As for the sales assistant putting her hand up suggests she felt intimidated by you.

ChaoticAngelofAnarchy · 12/03/2011 18:52

,it suggests Blush

ChaoticAngelofAnarchy · 12/03/2011 18:52

, it ffs

anonacfr · 12/03/2011 18:52

So they fucked up and gave her a free top the first time round and she complained that they wouldn't do it again?
She should have counted herself lucky she benefited from their mistake and got a freebie out of it!
I can't understand how she got so upset over that. She should have been pleased and if the top was so fantastic she could have paid for another one, like she should have done in the first place.

If your wife was so embarrassed about the sale assistant arguing over the price of the tops, why didn't she just walk away?

majormayhem · 12/03/2011 18:54

I'm going to go against the grain a bit and say I can see your wife's perspective. Having suffered from debilitating PND (and the normal sleep deprivation) after DD1, almost anything would have reduced me to tears in the early days.

I do think that in a store that caters primarily for pregnant and new mothers, shop assistants should be prepared for hormones and able to respond compassionately. (but beyond sending an apology and a voucher, I'm not sure how they could respond)

I also think that you would be wise to support your wife to flag up the way she's feeling to the HV at the earliest opportunity. Seriously. It's something that needs to be looked at.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 12/03/2011 19:06

OP... The shop was within its rights not to give you the deal that you wanted but if your explanatory post is correct, they were extremely unprofessional and discourteous. I wouldn't shop there again either, Mothercare certainly isn't what it was.

Some of the posters here are unnecessarily rude and nasty, I don't know why. Whether you were overreacting or not, there's no need for some of the comments you've had. It says a lot about Mumsnet and I'm not surprised that people think it's full of bitches. Hmm

The good advice pointed out here, IMO, is send a letter of complaint to Head Office, telling them you won't be shopping there again and then forget it - concentrate on your family. :)