Unhappy Experience at One Utama

~ Posted on Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 8:52 AM ~

To: The Management Office of One Utama Shopping Centre,

I would like to express my dissatisfaction over the customer service we received while we attempted to rent the toddler’s ride on car (kiddie ride) at your mall recently.

We were told by one of your customer service staff to wait for 4 more months in order to be able to use the ride-on car and were then reminded about the requirements in order to rent the ride-on car. Did I mentioned that your staff said it sarcastically to us? Oh nevermind, we as parents generally have higher tolerance level for things like this...

Kiddie Ride at One Utama

Yes, it was then that I saw your notice board stating that the kiddie ride is fit for 2-5 years old and height below 90cm. FYI, my child is 20 months old and his height is 89cm.(Btw, a quick search on Google will get you to a mummy blogger who proudly mentioned that she lied when asked whether her child is 2 years old as "not that they even bother to check".)

Kiddie Ride at One Utama

We then mentioned that we have no problems using the similar ride-on car at Ikano shopping mall, to which a reply of “That is Ikano, this is One Utama” with an arrogant look shot back at us. Oh wow... first came the sarcastic comment, now we get an attitude as well?!!

Is that how your customer service staff is trained to communicate with your mall customers? I’m sure there are plenty of other ways to politely inform us about the reasons and such of your ride-on cars requirements.

We then asked for the baby stroller instead, and were told there’s none available. So what do you expect your mall customers to do? Wait until there’s one available? Or perhaps your customer service staff should have taken the initiatives to offer other alternatives to us? We get NONE. We were just left standing there figuring out by ourselves.

As we were about to walk off, one family returned a baby stroller and we rented that unit. After all, there’s not much choice we can take anyway… I mean, we already get the 'complimentary' sarcasm plus an attitude, what else can any parents (not to mention, PAYING CUSTOMERS) ask for?

You really have to look into how your customer service staff communicates to your mall customers. After all, if we have been treated politely, we would’ve enjoyed our shopping experience and spend more.

Really unhappy customer,

Posted By I'm a full-time mummy Awesome Comments (13)
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Comments (13) -

Catheryn @ Pinkbibs

Some service industry people should return to school and the corporation that employs them should be given a good lesson on how to train their staff.  Tsk tsk.

But you are right, parents like us are very tough and can tolerate such attitude, anytime.  It is their loss to behave such way.

Eelynn @ Babies

I have to agree with Catheryn. Customer service staffs should get real customer service training. They should learn know how to deal with customers in a positive way. The company that employs them should provide their staff with real customer service their training because an untrained customer service representative ruins their reputation.

Jenny @ I'm a full-time mummy

Hey Catheryn & Eelynn!

Thank you for your comments and feedback on this. I rarely get worked up on customer service like this (maybe cos of my high tolerance level) but this incident is really making me angry. Thank God I don't have a wailing and fussing toddler!

Polly (aka 5th Sister)

It's everywhere I'm afraid. Sorry state of affairs.

Miki Chua

such a bad customer service how to hold on to that job?! i kena b4 at SAME PLACE TOO. i was to claim something with a purchase above some amount. i forgot was she answered me... but i remember tat look and that attitude!

Jenny @ I'm a full-time mummy

Hi Miki!
Wah, you also encountered the bad customer service ar? And to think we are paying customers and still get this type of treatment!

aurie

you have a bit more self-control than I do!!  Before I became a mom I would put up with pretty much anything - but now?  Oh no!  Kudos to you for staying cool and also scoring a stroller!

bubble

well jenny..i know that as long as '[i]tak kena batang hidung sndiri[/i], one wont really understand the situation.."

But bear in mind, that as much as frustrated we were with those kind of attitude, that is how most of the people who are working in the customer service dept. also felt when they have to deal with a bunch of nasty customers (not too mention, could be daily!)

I'm not trying to defend the bad staff, but sharing with my experiences in 'servicing customer', I can say, I had to deal with a lot of arrogant, with "I'm very rich that I can even buy this shop" looks customer, almost every day and every hour. What would you feel, when one day, you are trying to assist a customer with a problem politely, but you've got yelled and scolded or even threatened that they will make sure you are fired just because the solution is beyond your control?

Anyway, not all customers are nasty and not all customer service's staff have bad attitude but life is life, it's always unfair. Today, someone might treat one wrongly but tomorrow we are the one who getting the punishment..doesn't that sound familiar to u? In addition, more and more people wont care about the customers nowadays (not to mention it is caused by the customers themselves). Peoples still buy things even though they know it's too expensive, people still visit the same restaurants, cafes or malls where they have had bad shopping/dining experiences..don't u think so?

Jenny @ I'm a full-time mummy

Hi Aurie!
I think I'm more patient now that I'm a mum! Thanks for hopping by and have a blessed weekend!

Jenny @ I'm a full-time mummy

Hi Ally aka bubble!

Oh yes, of course, I also have my fair share of being in the service line in my previous working experience so I can totally relate to your experience of encountering nasty customers as what you mentioned.

I think if you're in the situation where the solution is beyond your control and that there's nothing you can't do and you had to deal with the nasty customers, the best is just to get your supervisor/manager to take over. No need to get work up over it and shoulder the blame and ruin your day (which also might cause you to have foul mood and take it on subsequent customers)

As for people still going back to the places where they had a bad shopping experience, I think at the end of the day, the shops/malls/companies are going to be at the receiving end as sooner or later, the customers will get fed up and frustrated and move elsewhere (unless there's totally no other choice for them but to go there). After all, their income depends on these customers (be it good or nasty types)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. Have a nice weekend ok?

woots

i'm sorry that you encountered this situation, but maybe ur child really coudn't fit in the kiddie ride... the rule  stated that child with height more than 90cm cannot take on the kiddie ride, but basically child with more that 85cm usually can't fit in... 1 utama doesn't provide many baby strollers, so first come first serve... you are not gonna expect 1 utama to buy a new stroller for you when there's none available... be tollerance please, dont be so selfish...

Jenny @ I'm a full-time mummy

Hi woots!
Our child can fit into the kiddie ride I assured you, although he was 4 months and 1cm below the requirement, we will be glad to be told politely if the requirements are not met. But the point is we received sarcastic and impolite response from the customer service, that is the thing that irks us. We also saw few other kiddie rides there with YOUNGER kids inside. So what about that? If you Googled around, you can find other mummy bloggers blogging about them lying to the customer service just to be able to get hold of the kiddie ride. Agree with you on not being selfish, which is why we walked away initially when there's no options available for us anymore.

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