Meijer
Poor cust serv and refusal to exchange product

Complaint sent: "Hello - I purchased a Photo Printer (Terminal #0001380309084 - Service Desk Barcode M018203V0AB5TOS) on 12/26/08. The item was $99.99 at the following Meijer location: St Charles, 855 S Randall Rd, St. Charles, Illinois 60174 (630) 762-7200. When I purchased it, I was speaking with an associate who suggested this one, as it would be compatible with my camera.

I got it home, put it together, and well, my SD card wasn’t compatible. No big deal, I’ll just go get another one and exchange it. I didn’t have my receipt so I called and someone at this location verified that since I purchased it with my debit/credit card they would be able to easily look it up. Great!

Drove to the same store location today and went to the front desk. Here is where the nightmare begins. An older, short haired (reddish hair) associate was standing at the desk and after about 5 mins of doing nothing, greeted us, if that’s what you call it. I explained that I needed to return this, as it wasn’t compatible. Immediately she stated, NO, you can’t return or exchange it because it was opened. Of course it was, I tried to use it and couldn’t. She was very rude and made sure she told us everything she couldn’t do for us. She then went on to the next customer in line.

At this point, I went back to the electronics area and spoke to a girl named Melody. I explained the situation; she called the “manager” and walked us back up to the front of the store. She took us in an office and located the receipt on the computer, which she printed out for us. We were then advised to go back to the Customer Service area in which we originally started at.

As we stood up there, the woman I referenced earlier, kept talking from the side about how we weren’t going to be able to exchange or return the item (even though we weren’t dealing with her anymore.) She was outright rude and I would be embarrassed to have an associate like this representing my business. I finally told her that I would like to just deal with Melody and this didn’t concern her.

Melody called the store manager, Michelle Shapiro – TL. They were on the phone for a bit and I just asked if she could come to the front and speak to us in person. She finally came up and let’s just say that she didn’t care about giving a good first impression. She came right out and stated that because it was open, she will not be able to do anything for us.

I explained that we didn’t even use it, just bought it, and well according to your store return policy, I should be able to. She then went on telling us that “her people are trained to not suggest merchandise to customers and it was my fault for buying the incorrect one.” I was humiliated and baffled at this point. She then asked, “what is the persons name you purchased this from? ” I told her I had no idea. She then went on about how I should have remembered the associate’s name. I thought, “Are you kidding me?! ” I asked her if she remember each associates name when she purchases something. She responded, “Yes I would if it was something like this! ” I just thought, umm okay.

So after getting nothing accomplished and being treated extremely poor, I asked her to write her name down and the corporate office number. She wrote her name down and her bosses, who might I add, Michelle specifically stated, “Im giving you my bosses name too because she agrees with me and says no! ” (Celena Yancy SDIC) She only gave me the number to that store. I left and went to the Meijer in Elgin (60123), walked in, went to Customer Service, 2 mins later, had my money refunded, no questions or degrading statements by a polite young man assisted us. Now why couldn’t the first store in which I originally purchased the product do this???

I would never sit her and waste all this time writing this letter if I really didn’t think that these associates representing your business were just completely not customer focused. I would never recommend Meijer to anyone at this time. It’s a shame because I normally spend a couple hundred dollars at your store weekly. I will now explore the other 10 grocery store options in my area.

In my business, customer focus is our #1 priority. Without us, there would be no need for a you. I highly recommend additional training for these associates as the economy is tough and word of mouth is the most powerful advertisement and the cheapest. Can you make this right and fix it?

I appreciate your time,

D. Leech

Company: Meijer
Country: USA

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