Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Babies R Us Vent

Sandy sleeping in the Babies R Us parking lot

Today I drove to the nearest Babies R Us (in Fort Union) to use a gift card I'd been given. There are only a couple of things we need for Abby, but I am undecided on brands/styles/etc. and was hoping to talk to someone that could help me understand some of the differences in products. Sandy fell asleep on the way there, but since I'm never out that way and didn't have time to wait for her to wake up, I picked her up and went in anyway

It's like pulling teeth to get anyone in there to help. I dealt with three different people as I was wandering around looking for different things. None of them seemed really familiar with the store and where to go -- and none of them knew a thing about the products.

So I was frustrated and didn't end up getting anything on my list. But I wanted to use my gift certificate since I'd driven all the way out there so I grabbed something and went up to pay. The cashier scanned the gift card and said, "Oh, I guess our system isn't working. We can't take any gift cards."

I explained I'd driven out of my way and asked if she had a way to manually call it in or something.... She said she didn't, so I told her I didn't want to get my item after all. Then I asked if they had a customer service number so that I could call and complain about them not being able to take gift cards. She said she didn't and, when I insisted, called a manager who took his time getting there. He told me to call the main number, wouldn't even write it down for me (I am 37 weeks pregnant and was carrying Sandy who was sleeping), and was extremely rude. I called the customer service number and let them know what happened.

I was so mad I just about pitched my gift card out the window as I was driving off because I certainly don't plan on ever going into that store again. Although, a friend pointed out I can go online and at least get something with the gift card.

Seriously!! Walmart has better customer service than this!

Is Babies R Us generally this bad or is it just the one in Fort Union? I've only been in Babies R Us a few other times -- and only once was it a store other than Fort Union. I've never been impressed - which is why I didn't register there when I was pregnant with Sandy - but certainly today took bad customer service to a new level.

Update: I did get a very nice phone call from someone in the corporate office following up on my complaint. She also sent me an apology letter and a $5 gift card.

6 comments:

Kathleen said...

So frustrating! Customer Service speaks volumes. I have boycotted certain stores because of their lack of customer service. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but glad you called to complain!

Becky said...

Customer Service speaks volumes. It can either make or break a company. I hate it when someone at a company doesn't know anything about their own store or what they sale. We all should complain more when we do receive bad customer service.

Nathan said...

Up north we get to go to the one in Riverdale, and we've been pretty happy with it. Last visit one employee spent about 45 minutes with us as we looked through doubles strollers and new car seats. Sorry about your experience :( I hope all goes well in the next fre weeks for you! We're jsut a week or two behind you!

Andrea said...

Seriously shopping online is the only way to get what you need when you need it. I am sorry that you went through that. That has happened to me there also but that was a while ago when I wasn't as smart as I am now. :) If you need help finding anything let me know I am good with that.

Heather M said...

I hate it when there is really no service in costumer service. When Christian's crib was recalled the imformation I received said that I should take it to any store that carried the crib and though I got it at Shopko I knew Julie had the same crib and it was from Babies R Us so I called them to ask about the recall. They were so rude to me on the phone!! Not only did I have to wait at least half an hour for someone to actually talk to me in the first place it honestly took me an hour of transfers etc to be sent to someone somewhat knowledgable. I was ready to just forget the whole recall thing and they basically told me that there was no way I could get anything out of returning my item. When I called shopko it took me all of five minutes for someone to direct me to the right place and tell me that I could get the full adjusted price (as in the original price of the crib not the sales price I actually paid) and in cash too.

Although Shopko is smaller and doesn't have as many of the better brands, you can return clothes that the child has ruined if they haven't outgrown them yet and they are so nice when you need to return/exchange something! I'm all about treating costumers like they're the people keeping a store in business! (Too bad there aren't any shopko's in AZ.)

Megan said...

Thanks, everyone! Heather, I've been really impressed with Shopko, too. I should mention I got a very nice phone call from someone in the corporate office apologizing and she followed up with a letter and a $5 gift card. So, apparently they really do care about complaints there.