Mary Portas: Secret Shopper kicked off this week with a look at the customer service offered on the high street, particularly budget fashion store Pilot (I swear they went broke a few years back?)
I share Mary's hatred for bad customer service. I can count on one hand the number of high street stores who actually offer good customer service (Boots, Lush and Dorothy Perkins being three.) Bad customer service experiences however are too many to count.
But unlike Mary, I'm not surprised. In fact, I almost expect bad customer service in stores where the clothing is an absolute bargain. Naively, I consider it the payoff. But why should that be the case? Customer service employees are there to offer customer service, regardless of how much you're paying for a dress.
In fairness, the customers in Primark and Pilot can be as awful as the customer service. The cheap prices seem to make people rude and disrespectful, and clothes are often left on the floor because customers can't be bothered to pick up a £5 jumper.
But I used to work in a busy high street shop, and I never really understood why it was so hard to be nice to customers. Without sounding preachy, a smile really does go a long way, often diffusing an angry customer.
Like Mary says: Smile, Speak, Serve. Simple, but effective.
So, is it too much to expect good customer service in budget stores?
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