To tell this shop owner I think her behaviour is unprofessional

[Dressily]

I am buying a few expensive items from a shop (expense relevant because I expect a certain level of service when buying expensive items). I went into the shop a few weeks ago and selected the items I want. These items aren't just for me so last week the other person involved went to see the items themselves. Once they confirmed that, yes, they agree with my selection all was good and I wanted to go ahead and make the order. There was some rush to this as the items have (for a limited time) been placed on sale. This was further complicated by the fact that I don't live in the UK so needed to pay for the items from overseas using a foreign bank account.

I found the woman I dealt with in the shop (the owner) extremely unprofessional for the following reasons:

• All email communications from her are extremely sloppy. She does not proof read so there are many spelling errors/typos. Whatever email program she uses is plain text so the emails look scruffy anyway, no footer image or contact details.

• She has hounded me to pay for these items, despite knowing that I was waiting for the other person to confirm. I get explain to me that the discount is for a limited time so please confirm ASAP but to keep emailing so often is a bit much

• I told her I would make a card payment over the phone expecting that she would ring the transaction through and then do a "cardholder not present" payment on the till. Nope, I called to give my details and her response was oo let me just get my pen. No! I don't want you writing down my card details! The connection was so bad that the call was terminated before I gave all the details.

• I asked for a load of details to do an international transfer (you need more info than for a regular transfer) but she only gave me the usual account no. and sort code. When I pointed this out and asked her to refer to my previous email she sent me some details saying "this is what you need for an international transfer" but obviously hadn't read my request because she didn't give me all the details I needed. This was followed up a couple of hours later with a "how's the payment coming" email.

• I really need/want these items, especially at the sale price, so I don't have much option but to buy from her

AIBU to email her letting her know that I find her behaviour very unprofessional and detailing why that's the case?

Goes

Not really, Shifty. Plenty of people are able to deduce a PITA 'customer' and make a decision about doing business with someone by using their brains rather than relying on social media .

Not really expat. Why do you think there are so many keen “reviewers” of products on social media?

'Not really expat. Why do you think there are so many keen “reviewers” of products on social media?'

Seriously? I think a lot of them to it to score free stuff and take a lot of reviews with a pinch of salt and use my own brain to determine if I still want to go forward with the transaction. As it is this seller appears to be selling something that might well be a bit niche because she can't get it anywhere else. But hey, she sounds like a PITA so if I read her review, I'd likely just blow it off because people who are PITAs, well, as shown here, they speak for themselves.

OP, when you say she hounded you to pay, do you mean she emailed you once to warn you that the discount on the items was for a limited time? or that she contacted you twice a day, every day, for a week? One is hounding, the other could be considered good customer service.

Was it a crown you ordered?
Arf. I would quite like to order myself a crown

There’s a reason why the UK has a partial reputation for crap service and most of the responses on this thread prove it.

I think you have identified yourself to this small, independent seller as a potential Post-purchase PITA. She's wondering how much of a shit-storm you'll kick up when you receive the goods and decide, almost inevitably that they're sub-standard or not to your taste. Then she'll have to do a complicated refund and won't get the goods back.

I wouldn't sell to you in these circumstances, and have refused long-distance transactions for just this reason.

The op isnt talking about Tesco there but a high end shop dealing with overseas customers from a DESK

Where has the OP said this?

I worked in retail in a small independent shop and we happened to sell a few really expensive items. I would not call ourselves 'high end'. That purchase to OP would've been far far more trouble than it's worth.

@HermioneandMrsJones

Eg there is no way I will give my money to someone who wants to write down my CC number!

then you'll never be able to buy from my shop, i'm afraid. like PP's have said, my card machine operates through my phone line. there is no way for me to process a card transaction while I am on the phone to someone. I have to write the details down and then put it through once I have hung up.

as soon as the transaction has gone through, the paper on which I have written the details is put through the shredder under the counter.
it is a bit of a flaw in many card systems that it has to be done this way but just because someone has to write CC details down, it doesn't necessarily follow that those details aren't carefully disposed of or are just left lying around for other customers to see.

My international customers would disagree with you @JingsMahBucket. I have a reputation for providing exceptional customer service. However, that's a two way street. I do it because my customers treat me with respect and we work together to find solutions if we encounter any problems.

The customer is, I'm afraid, not always right. As the situation outlined in the OP clearly describes.

ShiftyMcGifty No, my business would suffer more if I provided my energy to one arsey customer instead of focusing elsewhere on the extremely small chance that the have 2 million followers on SM.
In fact, if they had that many followers and decided they'd bitch about me they'd probably be doing me a favour, as the resulting exposure would likely mean a few more sales, no such thing as bad publicity blah blah.

Sometimes a sale just isn't worth it.

So unless the OP is Kate Middleton (who to be Frank probably wouldn't be kicking up such a fuss about getting an item in a sale), I wouldn't blame the shop owner for refusing.

If the OP is within the EU then the distance selling rules would kick in and legally the sale becomes completely different to a sale in a bricks and mortar shop. The law surrounding returns, for example, could mean that the seller has to accept a return and also pay for the return costs if the buyer claims the goods are faulty or not as described. Then there is the stress of checking tracking (which may or may not update in real time) and making sure that it is delivered correctly. Maybe I'm suspicious by nature, but the Op doesn't strike me as a person who would be understanding about the flexible nature of delivery times.
My background is in distance sales and if I was a shop owner I too would be in a bit of a flap about a sale like this. It has all the markers of a sale which could go very badly wrong.

Get your items and then forget about it.

She’s got stock she wants to shift ASAP. You’re dicking about and the whole transaction sounds like hard work. If I were her I wouldn’t be that bothered about your business and to be frank none of the examples you’ve given seem particularly unprofessional. No idea what complaining would do other than make you feel better momentarily.

HermioneAndMsJones
Really, as a business owner, you would reject someone who is ready to spend apbig money with you? And you will be choosy as to who will be your customer? Do you really think that’s how it’s works?

I can and I do.

I have a printing firm in the South. We do a lot of bespoke business, lots of foil and embossing.

I don't give a flying fuck how much you're spending. If you can't be polite then I can't be bothered.

My mails are great..... primarily because I have an English Degree. However, I still typo sometimes, and I can't be fart arsing around with headers and footers.

As for international transfers, I expect the customer to have everything ready to go. All numbers are sent by email and shredded afterwards. If this is a problem, order elsewhere.

Just reading your post has depressed me.

Maybe you should have purchased goods then and there and not annoyed the shop owner so much. (I can only dread to think what you were like in person if you wanted perfectly worded and put together emails)

I assume there was no deposit made so no contract has been entered into yet anyway.

Your not the easiest of people are you?

If the expensive part was the issue then just go elsewhere and spend more money somewhere else , maybe ask for a company headed email first just to gauge their salesmanship?

The irony of you talking about the sloppiness of her proofreading, in a message littered with errors! Try to gain a wider perspective of the world. I think it would benefit you.

most card details from orders over the phone are written down then blacked out and shredded once the transaction has been processed. I have worked in retail 20 odd years, for many high street and luxury retailers. lots do this as standard procedure. Often you wouldn't even know

You wrote

I get explain to me that the discount is for a limited time so please confirm ASAP but to keep emailing so often is a bit much

Sorry op I don't understand what you're trying to say? Maybe if you could proof read first before posting? It looks so unprofessional

Op I work with a very excellent sales lady but she can't spell and her grammar is poor so emails she sends are not always correct and as she may be working on her own there is no one to check them. It doesn't make her unprofessional in fact she is very good at her job in all other aspects. Perhaps this is same for your business owner and if she is the only member of staff then maybe answering emails etc takes longer. As others have said perhaps you need to look elsewhere if you are not happy with her service.

Jeezo you sound hard work OP.

Either buy the bloody items or don’t and then don’t darken the woman’s doorstep again. I doubt she’ll be that bothered.

It sounds like like you have an attitude that you are better than her and justified this by her not meeting your expectations.

You sound condescending to be honest.

What are these expensive items that you feel you are owed such a high level of service in order to buy?

Op so the the friend is in uk? So easier to transfer the money to them for their items and surely easier for you to purchase your items in the country you’re in?

Clearly it’s not Harrods!
You say you need the items, so get over no header or footer - she’s trying to do you a favour chasing payment whilst the sale is on - potentially loosing profit, and may not be used to taking payment over the phone or international bank transfers.
You want the items at the discounted price, so sure you can deal with a little bad punctuation to achieve this.

Can payment via PayPal not be arranged?