Let me just start this by saying that i am not a 'Victor Meldrew' type character who moans and complains all the time - i don't!! In fact i am probably just the opposite but this has annoyed me. Below is a copy of a 'communication' i have been involved in with Go Outdoors regarding a £10 refund. The post explains itself, question is am i being too harsh??
Initial Ticket
Posted On: 07 May 2011 04:00 PM
Hi, today we visited your Stoke on Trent store and purchased among other things a: HI GEAR ELITE KITCHEN STAND WITH TABLE. (Product number on receipt 503230767229). The advertised price (I thought) with discount card was £37 something although my partner was sure it was £35. On returning home we found that we had been charged £45. I contacted the store and they actually stated that the price in store was £35 with discount card and £45 without. I spoke to a gentleman called Justin who said that we would have to return to the store for a refund. As we actually live over 20 miles away from the store (Stafford) I do not really believe this to be the most economical way of obtaining a refund as it would cost almost that in fuel. I would have thought that in this day and age a refund could be obtained in some other way. I hasten to add that within the last week we have spent almost £200 with your company. In all respects I have pleased with the service that I have received in store from pleasant, polite and helpful staff, I just hope that this can be resolved in the same way. I can obviously supply a copy of receipt if requested and my discount card number is: ******* I look forward to your reply. Many Thanks, ********
Reply:
Posted On: 07 May 2011 04:57 PM
Hi ****,
Thank you for contacting us regarding your recent experience at Go Outdoors Stoke.
Your message has been sent on to the management of the Stoke branch who will be investigating this matter and getting in contact with you shortly.
On behalf of the entire Go Outdoors team, I would like to apologise for any inconvenience.
Please don't hesitate to contact us should you have any further queries in the meantime.
Regards,
**** *******,
GO Outdoors Ltd
My Post:
Posted On: 10 May 2011 05:40 PM
Hi ****,
Its now 2 days since my original message and I have not had any contact from
the Stoke branch. Got to say a bit disappointed but I do understand people
can be busy.
I would gladly accept the refund sent in voucher form as I have no doubt
I’ll be using the store again or the one at Wolverhampton some time in the
future.
All the best,
****
My Post:
Posted On: 12 May 2011 05:27 PM
Still no reply.
A short message to say that things are being dealt with would be nice!
My Post (A Different Ticket Raised):
Posted On: 14 May 2011 10:18 AM
It would appear that no one bothers to check these things after the initial ticket is raised. I can understand that people are busy but not to have replied other than the initial reply in the space of a week is not good enough. Below is all correspondence from when ticket ******* was raised. I am very disappointed with the service so far. An unfortunate black mark on what was generally a good shopping experience. Perhaps it is management to blame as the ground floor staff were pleasant and helpful!
Reply:
Posted On: 14 May 2011 10:28 AM
Hi ****,
Apologies that the Stoke store have still not gotten back to you about this. I have not been in for the past couple of days and therefore didn't realise this.
I have sent it to the management at the Stoke store and told them to get in contact with you ASAP to resolve this matter for you.
On behalf of everyone here I would like to apologise for this delay and for the inconvenience that has been caused.
Please don't hesitate to get in contact with us should you have any further queries.
Regards,
**** *******,
GO Outdoors Ltd
My Post:
Posted On: 20 May 2011 03:10 PM
Hi ****,
Still no reply at all from Stoke. Not holding you responsible just find this
level service as appalling. It may be that they hope that by leaving it long
enough I’ll just give up and go away.
What annoys me is that I have spent money there recently yet with this level
of customer care it puts me off spending more, I hope you can understand
why.
I'm not your usual moan and complain customer, far from it, I recognise good
service and as I have said before both times I have been in the store staff on the shop floor and at the checkouts have been great. Please can you look to ensure that this is rectified as it is now almost two weeks since this happened.
All the best,
****
My Post
Posted On: 22 May 2011 10:58 AM
It appears that nobody wants to deal with this situation.
What started as a simple request that in my opinion could have been dealt with quite quickly has escalated due to the lack of interest shown by the management of the Stoke store. The ridiculous thing is that this started over a £10 refund, but has got to this stage because no one could be bothered to get back to me.
Perhaps an email to John Graham - Managing Director just to inform him that his new stores management team is letting his company down is called for.
My Post:
Posted On: 23 May 2011 07:45 PM
Hi ****,
Without Prejudice.
I am totally dismayed by the lack of interest shown by the company in
resolving one small problem, in fact not even acknowledging a problem except
for the two replies from you.
On Friday this week unless I have received an adequate response from the
company I will be posting all communication (removing any personal
identifying information) on this websites forums:
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/
Whilst this may not resolve anything personally there will no doubt be many
potential customers who will consider twice dealing with a company that give
such poor customer service. I will also send a link to thread to the John
Graham managing director of the company so he can see how poor service can
be reported.
thats tottally ridiculous and very unprofessional.
Whether the error is for £10 or £100, the customer service should be of the same standard.
Dont let it go, i would send another email stating your displeasure at the service (to head office)and stating that you expect a refund, plus compensation for the stress this has caused you, within the next 2 weeks.
good call, power to the people. Stick with it, because more often than not, these companies think that us customers will just walk away and put it down to a bad experience.
Good luck, hope you get somewhere.
------------- When there's a knock at the door, why do dogs always think its for them?
Fat people are harder to kidnap
I am a bomb technician, if you see me running, try to keep up!
I think that what has annoyed me most is the lack of communication. Just something from Stoke to say sorry but this is the best we can do would have made a difference but nothing just (expletive) me off!!
In fairness i stand by my comments that the shop floor staff were excellent but overall customer experience - appalling.
Have to say I have not been impressed with Go Outdoors at all, you'll note that they always have a sale on like DFS with inflated retail prices. The tent we were looking at 'Gobi 4' has been on 'sale' now for several month at prices varying from £189 to £99. The tent is identical to a Gelert one, but they have it rebranded HIGear so that nobody can ask them to price match and they can make up ridiculous retail prices to discount from.
Just had a gentleman on the phone from Go Outdoors who explained reasons why this had happened. It would appear that the item that we bought had probably been marked up wrong in the shop and that it should have been the £45 that we were charged. However he is dropping a voucher off this evening personally to the value of £45.
He was apologetic and i think this action is a very welcome improvement in their customer service
Well done Kurtcat. Your initial communications have not been harsh. They took 3 weeks to resolve this. Not an undue amount of time, but something that could have been resolved a lot earlier.
I've never personally had an issue with GO (just been today), but glad that you've ended up with a satisfactory result.
------------- You have to be cruel to be unkind.
Kinky is using using a feather; wierd is using a whole damn chicken!
I haven't been to Go Outdoors in Sheffield for ages now. You can get most items for the same price or cheaper if you shop around. The discount card is pointless really and Hi gear stuff we've bought has been poor quality and not lasted very long at all. For example we bought two camping chairs last spring used them for a total of 16 days and one of them ripped underneath.
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Topic: Go Outdoors - Customer Service.
. Below is a copy of a 'communication' i have been involved in with Go Outdoors regarding a £10 refund. The post explains itself, question is am i being too harsh?? 
