Lidl bad experience today

[Anna]

Hi

Just thought I would share this with you so, hopefully, this won't happen to any of you!

Yesterday, I popped into Lidl in Soyaux, Angoulême. I shop a lot in Lidl but don't normally shop in that particular branch so am not familiar to any of the staff.

I noticed that they had kitchen scales for sale so bought one set. When I got home, I opened the box to discover that there was an old, used set in the box....very bizarre! So, armed with my receipt, I returned to the branch this afternoon.

Well, the abuse I got from the young branch manageress was unbelievable! My French isn't very good but I managed to put over my case and could understand that she was saying that they could only give replacements/refunds if the item was either faulty or broken and that these old scales weren't bought from there, etc, etc. She was very nasty to me and basically calling me a liar.

Well, I stood my ground and told it how it happened and that I had no reason to lie. She said to come back tomorrow! I said no and that I wasn't going until I had a replacement set of scales, to which she said that I could just stay all day then! She walked away and left me standing there! I would have walked out without getting a replacement but by that time, I thought, why should I as I had bought the scales in good faith and I could imagine them having a good laugh if I had walked out empty handed! So I waited and the manageress then came back and more or less threw a new set of scales at me! I told her that her attitude was tres mal and walked out with my replacement scales. 

It was a really bad experience, made worse by the fact that my French isn't fantastic and also the store was full of customers, who must have been enjoying the spectacle!

In future, when I buy a boxed item in any store, whether it be a box of perfume or a set of scales or whatever, I shall open the box to check the contents, at the checkout! I strongly advise others to do the same.

Thinking about this experience, I can only conclude that it was an "inside job", as otherwise, why and how would old, used scales come to be in a new box and put back inside the shop? Also, the old scales were very similar in style and fitted the box, so could have been an old model bought some time ago!

Never, in any of my good few years, has anything like this happened to me before and, of course, it would have to happen to me and not a French native!

[babcock]

Oddly enough I had a very similar experience in Weldom in Sausse Vaussais a couple of years ago. However, I did open the box and it was not a used item but a lesser velue one that was inside. At Castorama in Limoges we bought a chainsaw and when we got home guess what - there was no chain and no oil in the box. 140 km round trip but at least they replaced the missing items with no bother. Moral - don't buy anything in a box that has been opened. On the other hand if you get an item home and it does not work you have no automatic right to a replacement. I would love to have the nerve to demand a demonstration that said product is intact and in working order before completeing the purchase.

[5-element]

What a horrible experience, Anna. Bravo for standing your ground, though, and getting the scales you were entitled to!

I can imagine this happening to me, and if it did, even with fluent French, I can also imagine getting the responses you got. In my experience, you are often very badly treated when you take something back, even when it is something that was obviously faulty when you bought it. There were a couple of occasions when, like you, I felt something was just thrown at me for replacement, and never once, an apology for having sold me faulty goods. It doesn't seem to be very prevalent in the culture.

Anyway, you are strong in the knowledge that you were totally within your right, and at peace with your conscience.

[Pierre ZFP]

Well you certainly SCALED the heights and the BALANCE of justice was found in your favour [:D]

No seriously, well done for standing your ground.  Like you I can only conclude that the store manageress' extreme stance was because she had been found out on a fiddle, maybe trying to shift some ex-display goods, who knows?

I assume you will not be giving that particular store your custom in future?

 

[Judith]

Indeed, well done, Anna!

I agree that the attitude to problems by staff is poor, but I have also found that by standing your ground, and (if appropriate, say I have a little problem etc), they will usually either back down, or give the help they should have done in the first place.....  but it does make life here, well interesting ..... 

[Chancer]

Anything returned to my Local Aldi just gets the box sellotaped up and put back on the shelf for the next pigeon.

I bought a timer plug which didnt work, it had a short circuit and rapidly heated the batteries, I took it back and was told to take another, most of the boxes had been resealed with sellotape, I tried about 6 others some unopened others resealed and none worked, I noted that the resealed ones all had already been fitted with the batteries (which in the unopened boxes were seperately packed in film wrapping).

Together we tried all of the remaining ones even resorting to plugging them in before she allowed me to have a refund, and I had to wait at the end of the long queue to get it. She gave me the old hackneyed phrase "no-one else has returned one"

On my following visits all of the faulty timer plugs including the one I returned were still on sale, gradually they were all sold to I assume people who decided it is not worth the grief to return them.

Brico-Depot do this as well.

[Anna]

Thanks for all your encouraging responses.

Think I've calmed down now!

I honestly went in calmly and was very polite, not in my nature to do otherwise. Just began to get angry after the manageress was so nasty and disrespectful!

The box didn't look as if it had been opened but, those of you who shop in Lidl will perhaps have noticed that their boxes are usually "sealed" with a little round see through sticker, which can easily be carefully peeled off and re-stuck.

Actually, the first box I picked up had a little bash in one corner so I put it down and took another....wish I had taken the first box!

The very strange thing was that the scales weren't faulty but old and definitely used! Perhaps the store manageress had fancied a new for old set of scales!

I love the quip from Pierre re scaling the heights and the balance of justice!! Made me laugh!

[AnOther]

Bully for you for weighing up the pros and cons and standing your ground. Those French shop assistants don't have an ounce of decency in them do they.

As for putting old goods back in boxes a few years ago when Sony Playstation 2's were all the rage some staff in my local Argos shop were caught stealing new machines by opening the box at the bottom, removing the Play Station and replacing it with something of similar weight or a broken old Playstation, then sealing them up again. Difficult for customers to prove but the plan was poorly thought out as after several identical complaints it was obvious what was happening and they were caught.

[woolybanana]

If you appeal to the other customers in the store and point out what is happening, in a loud voice, it might help bring a recalcitrant employee to heel as they hate that.

[Kitty]

Well done for standing your ground.  It makes me feel better about my habit of opening boxes before buying - if questioned why in the future, I can cite your example.

By the way, I have bought two light fittings from Lidl in the past year or so.  To my horror, when the bulbs ran out, I discovered that their replacements cost 8 euros.  Then, my daughter accidentally broke the shade on one of the fittings, which cannot be replaced.  So I won't be buying any more light fittings from them.

 

[Frederick]

  I think a copy of this lot printed out and sent to Lidl HQ customer services might just result in darkness decending on a future day in the life of this supervisor ....

[nectarine]

At our local Lidl store (Villeneuve (47) there is a large notice saying that if you return an item - for any rason - it will be refunded without question, without complaint. It's an official Lidl notice, not just a store one, and is a huge banner hanging from the ceiling ... so I guess that must be the policy throughout all the Lidl stores.

My only gripe, for what it's worth, is that the checkout girl whizzes things through the scanner at the speed of light, too fast for me to pack, so there's a big pile of backed-up shopping ... apparently the checkouts are timed and they have to pass through an average of 40 items a minute for each transaction. That's, what, 1½ seconds per item. I can't pack that fast, but they still won't slow down.

[Framboise]

I always end up with a massive stack and someone tut-tutting about me being slow at getting out of the way.   Now I simply pile it all back into the trolley and pack it properly into the boot of my car, however apparently at the front of the stores that big shelf thing is supposed to be to enable you to repack your things properly AWAY from the checkout, thus saving time for the cashiers.

[Anna]

Hi Nectarine

Yes, there was the big banner hanging up and I pointed that out to the supervisor, who dismissed it by saying that was for goods bought from them and these scales were obviously not bought from them! I asked her for the address of the head office to write a letter of complaint, to which she replied that she didn't have an address but pointed to the telephone number hanging up on a big sign. I've just now done a google search and found the Lidl website, which has their address, etc. So am going to have a bash at writing a letter of complaint. Besides, even if the supervisor did think I was trying to pull a fast one, she should not have spoken to me like she did and could have perhaps made a phone call to someone higher up in rank to ask advise on how to proceed in a case like that. I think, if it had been my local store, in Riberac, I wouldn't have had such a tough time as the girls recognise me there as a good customer!

[Chancer]

Heres another question.

Why do both Lidl and Aldi commit a good 20% of their stores to having 5 or 6 checkout tapi roulants when they only ever have one manned?

[Iceni]

[quote user="J.Rs gone native"]

Heres another question.

Why do both Lidl and Aldi commit a good 20% of their stores to having 5 or 6 checkout tapi roulants when they only ever have one manned?

[/quote]

Having more staff than customers is bad for the image ?

John

[Chancer]

I my region, never less than 20 customers (except between 1 and 2 when I shop), never more than two staff, only ever one till open except sometimes for a few minutes during a changeover although normally they put out the caisse closed sign and walk off leaving no tills, always 100 plus (new) chariots in the parking but never any hand baskets.

The monitoring of speed of items passing through the till I think is an urban legend, some of the more entrenched Picard serveuses will not say or reply bonjour or look you in the eye, they then whizz stuff through whilst chatting to a colleague (who is of course not working a till) sometimes I just let it fall on the floor and stare at them until they have to meet my eye, then I pointedly say bonjour again and wait for a response, sometimes its just a grunt.  

That said there are a couple of very friendly communicative and heard working girls but they are very much in the minority, I saw one of them helping her husband discharge a trailer load of rubble at la dechetterie and she really is a worker.

I think that the others think that they are being exploited (perhaps with reason) so want to do the minimum, this is a historic Picard mentality.

[Clair]

[quote user="J.R gone native"]I think that the others think that they are being exploited (perhaps with reason) so want to do the minimum...[/quote]

In most of the lower-priced supermarkets, the staff do everything, from stock check to till, via  shelf stacking.

There are rarely more than 2 of them on duty during any shift, hence the closed tills until customers start queuing.

They are paid the SMIC, regardless of the hours worked and usually have a 20 mn break tagged on at the end of their shift in lieu of a lunch break.

They are not allowed to make decisions (would they want to?) and must refer all refunds, exchanges and errors to a supervisor who answers to the shop manager, usually found sitting at a desk behind a one-way mirror.

Lidl particularly is well-known for its poor staff practices (here in French and here in Google English, more here in French and here in Google English).

This is not to excuse any rudeness, but to highlight the working conditions.

Actually, this reminds me of a recent post about a blog written by supermarket till operator...

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1606277/ShowPost.aspx

[Chancer]

Yes Claire, I agree.

I once saw a French undercover exposé program on Lidl, which makes my original question all the more valid.

Given that they only ever have two staff on duty why give up 20% of the store to have 5 or 6 tapis roulants and caisses when could use the space to sell more un-needed tat? Or better restock the rabbit food muesli!

[Clair]

[quote user="J.R gone native"]Given that they only ever have two staff on duty why give up 20% of the store to have 5 or 6 tapis roulants and caisses when could use the space to sell more un-needed tat? Or better restock the rabbit food muesli![/quote]

An Aldi shop opened last year, much closer to the town centre than the Lidl I had been patronising up to then.

At first, there were 6 tills and at least 4 members of staff, all 4 busy stacking, re-stocking or operating the tills.

Over the last 12 months, the tills have disappeared, so have the operators and they're down to 3 tills and 2 staff and no extra display.

The brand new large shop has gaps between the shelves and gaps on the shelves...

[Alan Zoff]

Is it a Lidl/Aldi thing, or a French thing?

Seems to me that you can grope and inspect every type of fresh fruit or vege, mauling something that someone else will end up taking home to eat. But once you have got your purchase outside the store, it's yours. End of story.

Our local Atac supermarket is a delight to use. It's well-stocked and the staff are friendly and helpful. But twice I have had to take things back, and both times it was more trouble than it should have been to obtain replacements.

Last year, I picked up some quite expensive branch loppers. But despite the high price, when I got them home they would not cut. Nothing I could do would encourage them to slice through a branch or twig.

Next day, back into the store with dodgy loppers and my receipt. The staff seemed genuinely bemused. They understood what I was saying but didn't seem to understand why it might be up to them to do anything about it. The two till ladies, having failed to send me packing - despite the assistance of the shelf-fillers who had joined in the debate - decided the manager would have to deal with it. He listened very politely and then decreed I couldn't return them because I had used them. I politely pointed out that it was only by using them - for 10 minutes - that I established they didn't cut and were not therefore fit for their purpose. I had not bought them only for their bright purple handles.  I eventually wore him down and he agreed to take them back but said the refund would have to be posted to me. I told him I simply wanted loppers that cut and as there was another pair on the shelf, I would be happy to take those instead. The first pair were probably not set up or machined correctly. He seemed startled by this suggestion. He genuinely had no idea of the concept of exchanging a faulty item for a good one. Another debate ensued.

Fortunately, I was less pressed for time than he was and I finally left the store with a pair of serviceable loppers. And left the manager no doubt wondering how on earth he was going to explain to his area manager what they were supposed to do with the faulty ones.

Vive la difference.

 

 

[Suandpete]

I bet the faulty ones were just put back on the shelf for someone else to buy......

[Chancer]

Me too!

It is amazing how different two countries so close together can actually be.

I remember when I was young people saying that customer service was much better in the USA than the UK but it was a question of degrees, one cannot even make a comparison between England and France, Alan hit the nail on the head when he mentioned the incomprehension.

[Frederick]

  Why do the staff take it personally when you suggest their store is selling an item not fit for the purpose....Why the hostility.....Why do they immediatly think that you are out to rip them off in some way ....Is France full of people who do go out of their way to con and rip off stores and they have spend the whole day in arguement with these people ...Or is it they just hate having to work in shops and are going to make sure the customers know it ? Or is it what I think ...Supervisors have been given a little bit of power that makes them feel far more important than the are and it just goes to their heads .  Its the one thing that I dislike about shopping in France ...anything to take back and you know you are in for hassle .

[woolybanana]

(Fredo, I pm'd you)