I went to Homebase to pick up an item today (value £350). I am disabled and don't drive so hired a taxi that could take me to the store, with a driver who would wait 10 minutes while I collected the item. I had a 10% discount voucher that I was given after spending over £100 a couple of weeks ago. The expiry date is Friday.
After asking staff to bring the item to the till, and then chasing them up we were told that the item was locked inside a container in the warehouse and they didn't know where the keys were. I explained to the staff that I was using the wait service of the taxi driver (who was standing next to me) so they were fully aware of my situation. After about 40 minutes of waiting I asked to speak to the manager to explain the problem. He said that the container company would need to come and unlock the doors, but he had no idea when that would be. In the middle of this conversation, he also took a phone call when someone handed him a phone, and was talking to someone about bathroom plumbing.
I asked if I could pay now and get the discount, and this he agreed, and said they would let me know when was freed from the high security container so
I could collect it. I told him I was not going to pay another taxi fare and he begrudgingly agreed to deliver it, but wasn't sure when. I asked if he could possibly discount some more as I was now going to have to pay half an hours waiting time for the taxi.
He said 'no, you already have 10% off' , turned his back on me and walked away.
I find it totally shocking that management are behaving like this. The benefit of any discount I had is now wiped out by the waiting time I paid to the taxi driver. I wish I had just gone to an online store.