To think Fortnum & Mason should have better trained staff

[Poulay]

So I went in there to get a couple of hampers, had to take a quick lunch break, so asked at the counter 'Can I leave my basket here please, I just need to go out for half an hour.' 'Sorry we cannot keep baskets' 'So what do you expect me to do then?' After a quick check, no apology, and she changed her mind and took it off me.

Came back after lunch, I asked a man 'Could you tell me where the English breakfast tea is?' He was French, and therefore rude, and waved at it 'It's over there', rather than walking me over to them.

Then went to get the hampers to put the stuff in. 'I'd like a £40 hamper and a £20 hamper please'. So they brought them out, I put my stuff in, and then they started to ring it up. I had three items of china, from Harrods, to put in them. 'Do you have a receipt for that', she asked. 'I don't know', I said. 'It's just that we sell that one, although we don't sell the other'. 'Oh'.

I was quite put out by this, after my purchases were rung up (£176 if you please), I saw they'd actually given me the £30 hamper. Queried this. Oops, well the £20 wouldn't have fitted anyway.

I then went down to the fish counter to ask about caviar. 'Sorry I don't eat caviar, so I can't tell you about the differences', he said.

You get politer, better trained staff in my local Waitrose.

Not as bad as the touristy parts of Harrods though.

Parisian, and therefor rude, I would accept.

It sounds like my local ASDA has better trained staff. I would expect better service than that.

My granddad got caviar in his retirement hamper.
He didn't know what to do with it so he dipped crisps into them- maybe he can get a job there

Maybe OP try Harrods Food Hall next time. I know it is full of unwashed tourists in shorts and t-shirts, but at least the staff know their caviar.

I'd been shopping since the morning, it was 3pm and I needed something to eat, couldn't function any more. I've asked Waitrose to hold stuff for me on several occasions, it's not an unreasonable request to hold a basket full of overpriced jam, biscuits and tea for half-an-hour.

I was going to go the Caviar House, but after the cheapest tin of caviar was £80 in Fortnums and he couldn't tell me anything about it, I decided I didn't want caviar after all.

Seriously, the staff in Harrods do know their stuff

Cock

Really, EatsBrainsAndLeaves? I guess it depends on who they are employing atm. Can be a bit touch and go in my experience.

Sorry, did I say that out loud?

'Poulay-vous (ah-ha)
La question, c'est Poulay-vous.'

Sorry, nothing to add to the thread...

It's a hard knock life

Adnittedly I am not exactly a regular at Harrods Food Hall. But they have always been helpful when I have been there.

Have you any staff you can send next time and then you don't have to worry about carrying anything back? Perhaps even take them with you and just point out what you want them to purchase and get back for you? And if you don't have any staff, you really should get some.

I don't know what to say apart from laugh. Honestly. You have asked staff to hold your stuff on several occasions? Why can you not manage to complete your shopping in one go? Whilst I do agree somebody selling someone selling something should have some clue about it, I think your very precious.

OP - ignore any negative comments. These plebs just don't understand the level of service one is entitled to expect.

We actually got caught up in the Great Fortnum & MasonChristmas Balls-Up last year; we never actually did receive the item we ordered - but did eventually get a refund.

A few weeks later a rather nice bottle of claret arrived - followed by a £50 voucher for their restaurant shortly afterwards.

It was truly the most monumental cock-up that could have cost them their business - it'll be interesting to see how they pull through.

.

But - as so many have pointed out - not the greatest problem in the grand scheme of things

EatsBrainsAndLeaves, don't be silly. You can't send staff to make a purchase form a shop which doesn't know it's wares inside out. Unless you have an excellent butler, and really, who can afford a butler these days?

Lynette - Well if you can't afford a butler I suppose in these difficult financial times one must make sacrifices.

Although lets be honest here, caviar is vastly over rated anyway. There is much nicer food available for the same price.

Why start shopping if you're too exhausted to actually complete the process in one go, and need a lunch break half way through?
Why on earth should they look after your basket until you deign to come back?

I love this thread!

Why on earth should they look after your basket until you deign to come back?

Are you serious?

They should look after my basket because I'm spending money there, I might spend more money in the future, and if they didn't look after it, I was quite likely to either not come back at all (ever) or place fewer things in the basket on the second attempt.

Shops do depend on people buying things, and in the great scheme of things, looking after a basket of non-perishable goods is not an unreasonable request for a shop that sells jars of marmalade for £8.95 - with such lofty prices should come a higher standard of service. It's not like I asked them to spit shine my boots.

Why didn't you just buy the things you had already selected, had lunch and then come back to finish your shopping?

That's what people who don't think they are entitled most people do.

If only lidl did a basket watching service then I could nip to McDonalds

Have a word next time you are in there SinglePringle!

Because the things in my basket needed to fit inside a wicker hamper, and if they didn't I'd need to change them, so I had to complete my selection before buying.