to have sent this letter of complaint? (Bit long, sorry)

[FilledWithRage]

I feel I might have been a bit 'OTT', having calmed down slightly since last week. I still feel shoddy service should be reported though.
No response yet. Here is the letter, sorry it's long.

"I am contacting you to register my concerns regarding the service, or rather lack of service, which I recently experienced at your (town name) store.

I visited on Thursday 12 and Friday 13 March.

Complaint 1: On both occasions the shop was hardly busy, myself and maybe two other customers, yet I was not once acknowledged, approached, greeted or offered any assistance during the course of a 20 minute browse. (I appreciate it is nice to be left to browse in peace, but I do value a smile and a friendly greeting, and an offer of assistance later on if required. This encourages me to shop and provides a relaxing and welcoming environment.)

Complaint 2: Worse, when I approached the changing rooms with a selection of items to try on, I was greeted by blank unsmiling stares, and (here I trust I am not entering the realms of paranoia) what seemed to me to be stifled sniggers. When I asked 'May I try these items on?' I was greeted with a curt 'yes, there' and a finger pointing towards a changing room. No friendly greeting, or 'We'll be here if you need any help'. Once I was in the changing room cue whispers and more laughter. Whether this was related to such an apparent spectacle as myself is, of course, indeterminable. But it was unprofessional and off-putting.

Perhaps you could advise these extremeley unhelpful and seemingly immature staff of the following salient facts:

1. If they find my size 12 post-caesarean figure - no doubt considered obese if you are a 19 / 20 year old - so objectionable, there are many more stores one could (and given recent experiences, definitely will!) choose to give custom to.

1. Shock! Customer is clad in 'old clothes' rather than the latest offerings (for which these staff are presumably given a liberal 'uniform' allowance). Er, yes, I have a baby and can't spend hours getting ready and co-ordinating. Also, that would be why I am shopping - to buy new clothes.

1. They are employed (presumably) to provide a service, and were it not for people like myself (ie a customer) visiting the store and spending what is probably the equivalent of a couple of days' pay for them (if not more), they would not have a job in the first place.

I find this blase and even hostile attitude unacceptable at the best of times but utterly astonishing given the current climate. If customers are not valued, made welcome and assisted at the moment, what hope is there?

I found the whole experience very unsettling and off-putting, the absolute anthisis of welcoming and relaxing.

I read on your website that 'store teams are carefully selected to ensure that they can offer our customers friendly, genuine, knowledgeable and impartial advice in a relaxed environment'. This is laugable, and is certainly failing as far as the (town name) store is concerned.

I was left with the abiding impression that Jigsaw (town name) ticks along quite nicely without the interrruption of customers, thank you very much, therefore I am not currently needed and will not be returning to this shop in a hurry, if ever."

'Clearly I am too ugly and worthless to go shopping, or possily even exist. '

And you have no self esteem issues

Your letter was way OTT, you have no way of knowing they were looking down their noses at you. Complete paranoia from what you've said so far.

If you post on AIBU you have to be tough enough to take the YABU replies!

I am completely the opposite of everyone else here, I think. I think the letter is perfect.

Bad customer service is bad customer service. And you received horrendous customer service whether they were laughing at you or not.

Good for you for sending the letter.

And perhaps being fired is what these girls need to learn how to do a job properly.

Hang on a minute mylifemykids, what I actually said in my post 16-Mar-09 14:37:40, was that I DO now have self esteem issues, thanks to my delightful shopping experiences. You can assume all you like and label me as paranoid, that's easy for you to say. You weren't there. I have sent the letter now anyway and it's made me feel better.
I am tough enough to complain, when many wouldn't (read the thread) so please don't call me weak.

I actually think it takes guts to report bad service. I phoned a company to complain about one of their drivers and was very shaky when I called. Other emails have been ignored when I have complained. Good customer service matters and the best I have ever had has been at Lakeland.

But if you didn't have self esteem issues in the first place you wouldn't have assumed they were laughing at you!

I think you were right to complain about the crappy service but the rest of it was over the top IMO

I agree that you should have written too - I have felt embarassed in that particular shop on loads of occasions - in our town branch there is one staff member who is wonderful, most who are fine and 2 who are extremely off, for whatever reason (but fawn over their "favourite" customers). I no longer go there for that reason. It could be my own insecurities but I agree with OP that I don't need to feel awkward going into a shop to spend good money on their stuff. Interestingly I have never felt like that going into other shops which I am definitely too old for!

that isn't a complaint letter though it's a rant.

what is the manager going to say to the staff? 'ok girls..no more laughing and chatting at work cos a customer with self esteem issues might think you're having a go..'??

if you didn't have these issue OP then you wouldn't have thought it a problem that no one approapched you in the shop. you'd have just gone up to someone and said hi i need some help finding this that and the other.. and if you wanted their opinion on what you were trying on you'd have said so there and then. but you didn't want their opinion so..

Ruddynorah
that isn't a complaint letter though it's a rant. >> what's the difference?

what is the manager going to say to the staff? 'ok girls..no more laughing and chatting at work cos a customer with self esteem issues might think you're having a go..'?? >> Why not, there to work not chat?

if you didn't have these issue OP then you wouldn't have thought it a problem that no one approapched you in the shop.>>Oh really? So why do mystery shops ask if customers are approached / greeted then?

you'd have just gone up to someone and said hi i need some help finding this that and the other..>>I did, eventually, and received a rude response!

and if you wanted their opinion on what you were trying on you'd have said so there and then. but you didn't want their opinion so.. >> Hang on, who said I didn't want their opinion???!

I do sort of agree with mylifemykids that if you/one goes in somewhere feeling uncomfortable then more likely to misinterpret the situation if something like this happens. In a non clothes related thing I remember picking ds up from the house of someone who knows I am generally bit precious (!) and I noticed that ds and his friend were walking round her very smart living room with blackcurrant ice lollies - I thought "Wow, she's so cool to let them have ice lollies indoors, I'm so uptight that I never would have let them walk round the house with them like that but really it's fine and they are only kids after all" but she saw me noticing and snapped "It's alright Perma, they ARE organic" - eek! Sorry, total digrssion, but the point is you never know what someone else is thinking really.

It can't be right that if you are in a service role that you stand round sniggering (at something you saw on TV last night or whatever) if customers are there - yes, it might make them feel uncomfortable if they are not in on the joke.

Are you hoping for a big stash of vouchers to make up for your experience?

To be honest - the 'girls' in my local jigsaw are very friendly and helpful but don't bother you when browsing.

Unless you specifically heard them say something about you i'm not sure that it won't just be put down to you being a little mad/paranoid.

I do think if you want help you really should ask - if you'd gone in and found perhaps one of the older assistants of which jigsaw has plenty and said what you needed/wanted i'm sure you'd have got a lot more help.

Hope you're feeling less angry.

not all mystery shops expect an approach anyway.

Tracey, if your name gives a clue as to where you live then that suggests it is indeed all down to paranoia as my post above poss relates to the exact same store you are referring to!

Good grief no, I wouldn't shop there again even if they paid me with vouchers. I could ebay them I guess.

No, I wrote because I honestly felt I was treated very badly and wouldn't want another customer to have the same experience.

Yes, some people have decided I am mad/ paranoid, but interestingly - there are posts here from other people who have felt the same way in Jigsaw, so there must be a few of us paranoid shoppers around.

Well done for complaining, if staff at other branches are helpful then it must be a priority for the company so useful for them to know that staff at that branch are falling short in that area. How can they improve if they're never told its an issue?

Whilst its been horribly upsetting for you, really try not to take their rude behaviour personally, rise above it and focus on your lovely little one!

I've had some very poor customer service recently - and complained in person (albeit in tears at one point in Tescos, oops), but I've also received fantastic customer service (in Sainsburys - staff in the cafe carried my tray cos I had a buggy, ran to get keys for changing room for me, went to do a stock query and apologised for taking a while when they got back, girl at till apologised for delay - all in v friendly way) and when I left the store I mentioned to lady at CS desk that everyone I'd dealt with had been fab - she nearly fell over backwards and said they never get positive feedback and she'd make sure it was passed on.

These people do not deserve to be paid if they cannot do their jobs properly!

Good on you for complaining.

Why are people on this thread so adamant that the sales assistants were not actually rude to the OP? If she says they were really rude to her, then quite frankly I don't find it that hard to believe, she was there, YOU WEREN'T.

I've had some bloody awful service, not often, but it has happened. And to say that they absolutely weren't laughing at her? How the heck would you know? Because you wouldn't have? I HAVE seen sales assistants laugh at people when I used to work in retail, and I'VE told them not to be so bloody rude. And bored sales assistants can be even worse because it 'amuses' them for that period of time. Even staff that are usually nice and helpful can be absolutely awful on a bad day.

YANBU - we should all stop putting up with bad service, all we are doing is perpetuating the problem by ignoring it. Well done you.

Well done you for complaining!

Whether or not they were laughing at you or at a private joke is irrelevant. Your perception was that it was about you and this made you uncomfortable.

Retail is poorly paid for shite hours, however, they were still being paid to do a job and they weren't really doing it. I can't stand clothes shopping when I feel uncomfortable with the atmosphere, it ruins the whole experience. Somewhere like Jigsaw where the prices are higher you are also paying for their excellent service in a way.

Don't let this one incident give you any body hangups. At the next opportunity you need to go into your favourite shop and have fun trying loads on and realising how fab you look.

YANBU. I have had a similar experience some years ago (being made fun of by a group of sales assistants while I was in a cubicle). There was absolutely no doubt that it was about me - I heard everything. It isn't nice and is very upsetting. I never set foot inside the shop again. It seems this type of behaviour by assistants is more common than I thought. Well done for complaining.

YABU and overly sensitive. And a previous poster said - it is a rant, not a complaint requiring a specific outcome. Would just tear it up and forget about it.

remember the guy who wrote a massive complaint to Richard branson and got a job offer out of it!

I'd got with a friend and see if they are giggling then. Just make a point of looking at their name badges and writting them down.
Don't do anything with them but that will make them take notice.
All they will get from your letter is a telling off anyway. It will cost too much to retrain someone.
But if their head office get LOTS of seperate complaints then something is not right.
It's up to you if you visit the store again or not, but i would go in one last time with a mate just to make sure!

Sorry but i imagine the manager to have a very good laugh when he reads the letter.

Sounds to me totally paranoid.

You can only complain about things that happened. Not things that you believe have happened. You have to give FACTS when you make a complain.

filledwithrage, i haven't read the whole thread but did read your OP.
i'm a bit fan of complaint letter as how else does management get feedback?
sales targets are feedback enough.

well done.
good letter.

don't expect a reply though.
but i for one, think you've done the right thing.