The disasterous mixer mixup.
(This entry has nothing to do with abuse, I am just venting/rambling and sharing my ridiculous experience with you!)
So I am just going to spill the beans about where I live – I keep saying “Europe” to keep anonymity, but really, I highly doubt anyone is stalker enough to figure out enough details about my life and to come find me. I am living in France. “Oooooh, France!” everyone says. “It’s been my DREAM to live there!” I hear often. “It must be so AMAZING!” is another comment often heard. Well. Let me tell you. It isn’t all roses.
When I left my stbx husband I took nothing but a backpack and the essentials for our baby. Fast forward a few months, my mom has come here and has rented an apartment for us to live in (luckily she is retired otherwise I would really be in the merde!). Of course apartments here aren’t furnished, and come with literally some cabinets in the kitchen and that’s it. Throughout the last few weeks we have been super busy buying, well, EVERYTHING. After about a month, we have the place pretty much furnished, except for a few small items.
Last weekend, we went to go buy some small appliances for the kitchen. In fact, we bought a mixer so we could make some chocolate chip cookies (yes, for this purpose exactly!). There was only 1 on the shelf in the Carrefour (which is similar to a Target type store), and the box looked a bit smashed on the side. Logically, we opened it up to make sure it looked good, which it did. So, we bought it. When we got it home, to our dismay, one of the beaters was completely smashed.
Yesterday, we went back to Carrefour to get some groceries and also to return/exchange our mixer. In the US, this seems like a pretty simple process, so it never even crossed my mind the endeavor we were about to endure. I went to the customer service counter, took out my receipt, and explained to the lady that one of the beaters was damaged, and that I wanted to be reimbursed. She looked at the item and agreed, that it was, indeed, damaged. She then proceeds to call one of her higher-ups on the phone, and then tells me that they cannot return it at THEIR Carrefour because they don’t take back damaged items there. She then refers to me to a different Carrefour that is in another area of the city. I try to insist that they return it because, after all, I did buy it from THEIR store. The lady gives me the infamous “French shrug” and says sorry, nothing she can do. I then ask her to write a note explaining that they refused my return and referred me to the other Carrefour, because I didn’t want to go all the way out there and have them tell me that because I didn’t buy it from THEM that I had to go back. She scribbles a note on the back of a receipt, and shoos me off.
Today I decided that I was going to go to the other Carrefour because you only have 14 days here to return items. When I got there, I went to the customer service counter and began to explain what happened. The lady cut me off in mid-sentence to tell me that since I didn’t buy the item from THEIR store that I had to return to where I bought it. This had me seeing red. So, I took out the scribbled note and showed her that they referred me to their store specifically. I kept insisting and finally she tells me to go see the supervisor of the small appliances aisle.
I go to see this particular supervisor, and he is much better at listening to my story. Apparently this happens quite often. He then proceeds to call this other store to verify that they indeed, sent me over there. He gets the manager on the phone and pretty much tells them they are all idiots, but in a much more polite fashion. He then tells me that the manager is aware of the situation and will reimburse me, but NOT at THEIR store. I would have to return to the original store where I bought it. At this point I am about ready to lose it, so I calmly thank the man and walk away steaming.
I decide I need to go to the other store ASAP because damn it, I was going to get reimbursed one way or another!
I arrive at the original store where I bought it and I go to the dreaded customer service counter. A different lady is working, so I decide to skip all the questions and ask directly for the manager. Of course, she asked why and so I told her as curtly as possible because of an issue I have returning my mixer and that the manager was aware of the situation. The manager comes out, and lo and behold, it is NOT the same manager the other supervisor had spoken with, so I had to re-explain my story for the umpteenth time.
This manager tells me to wait, as he calls several other higher-ups. After a good 15 minutes of their discussion (probably a good 10 minutes of it about last night soccer game), he comes back to me and tells me that he can’t reimburse me but that I can exchange the item. I am so pissed at this point, but I keep telling myself not to lose it. I tell the manager that I don’t want to EXCHANGE the item I want my money back because it was defective! He then tells me they can’t reimburse for defective items – to which I cooly shoot back that they certainly have no qualms about SELLING them!
He then proceeds to tell me that I have two options. A) Exchange it for the same item, or B) Go back to the OTHER Carrefour and have them send it off to be repaired. (Uh NO!) Given the brick wall I was talking to, I finally agreed to exchange it for the same item. I went and got my other mixer and made sure to open all the parts and inspect it meticulously to be sure I wouldn’t have any future problems.
So, after this fiasco, I decided that will be the LAST time I shop at Carrefour. I know I’m just a little needle in their haystack but at least I can punish them by NOT spending my money there.
In the end, what did I learn? The customer is always…. WRONG!
So I am just going to spill the beans about where I live – I keep saying “Europe” to keep anonymity, but really, I highly doubt anyone is stalker enough to figure out enough details about my life and to come find me. I am living in France. “Oooooh, France!” everyone says. “It’s been my DREAM to live there!” I hear often. “It must be so AMAZING!” is another comment often heard. Well. Let me tell you. It isn’t all roses.
When I left my stbx husband I took nothing but a backpack and the essentials for our baby. Fast forward a few months, my mom has come here and has rented an apartment for us to live in (luckily she is retired otherwise I would really be in the merde!). Of course apartments here aren’t furnished, and come with literally some cabinets in the kitchen and that’s it. Throughout the last few weeks we have been super busy buying, well, EVERYTHING. After about a month, we have the place pretty much furnished, except for a few small items.
Last weekend, we went to go buy some small appliances for the kitchen. In fact, we bought a mixer so we could make some chocolate chip cookies (yes, for this purpose exactly!). There was only 1 on the shelf in the Carrefour (which is similar to a Target type store), and the box looked a bit smashed on the side. Logically, we opened it up to make sure it looked good, which it did. So, we bought it. When we got it home, to our dismay, one of the beaters was completely smashed.
Yesterday, we went back to Carrefour to get some groceries and also to return/exchange our mixer. In the US, this seems like a pretty simple process, so it never even crossed my mind the endeavor we were about to endure. I went to the customer service counter, took out my receipt, and explained to the lady that one of the beaters was damaged, and that I wanted to be reimbursed. She looked at the item and agreed, that it was, indeed, damaged. She then proceeds to call one of her higher-ups on the phone, and then tells me that they cannot return it at THEIR Carrefour because they don’t take back damaged items there. She then refers to me to a different Carrefour that is in another area of the city. I try to insist that they return it because, after all, I did buy it from THEIR store. The lady gives me the infamous “French shrug” and says sorry, nothing she can do. I then ask her to write a note explaining that they refused my return and referred me to the other Carrefour, because I didn’t want to go all the way out there and have them tell me that because I didn’t buy it from THEM that I had to go back. She scribbles a note on the back of a receipt, and shoos me off.
Today I decided that I was going to go to the other Carrefour because you only have 14 days here to return items. When I got there, I went to the customer service counter and began to explain what happened. The lady cut me off in mid-sentence to tell me that since I didn’t buy the item from THEIR store that I had to return to where I bought it. This had me seeing red. So, I took out the scribbled note and showed her that they referred me to their store specifically. I kept insisting and finally she tells me to go see the supervisor of the small appliances aisle.
I go to see this particular supervisor, and he is much better at listening to my story. Apparently this happens quite often. He then proceeds to call this other store to verify that they indeed, sent me over there. He gets the manager on the phone and pretty much tells them they are all idiots, but in a much more polite fashion. He then tells me that the manager is aware of the situation and will reimburse me, but NOT at THEIR store. I would have to return to the original store where I bought it. At this point I am about ready to lose it, so I calmly thank the man and walk away steaming.
I decide I need to go to the other store ASAP because damn it, I was going to get reimbursed one way or another!
I arrive at the original store where I bought it and I go to the dreaded customer service counter. A different lady is working, so I decide to skip all the questions and ask directly for the manager. Of course, she asked why and so I told her as curtly as possible because of an issue I have returning my mixer and that the manager was aware of the situation. The manager comes out, and lo and behold, it is NOT the same manager the other supervisor had spoken with, so I had to re-explain my story for the umpteenth time.
This manager tells me to wait, as he calls several other higher-ups. After a good 15 minutes of their discussion (probably a good 10 minutes of it about last night soccer game), he comes back to me and tells me that he can’t reimburse me but that I can exchange the item. I am so pissed at this point, but I keep telling myself not to lose it. I tell the manager that I don’t want to EXCHANGE the item I want my money back because it was defective! He then tells me they can’t reimburse for defective items – to which I cooly shoot back that they certainly have no qualms about SELLING them!
He then proceeds to tell me that I have two options. A) Exchange it for the same item, or B) Go back to the OTHER Carrefour and have them send it off to be repaired. (Uh NO!) Given the brick wall I was talking to, I finally agreed to exchange it for the same item. I went and got my other mixer and made sure to open all the parts and inspect it meticulously to be sure I wouldn’t have any future problems.
So, after this fiasco, I decided that will be the LAST time I shop at Carrefour. I know I’m just a little needle in their haystack but at least I can punish them by NOT spending my money there.
In the end, what did I learn? The customer is always…. WRONG!
Replies
wow! Yeah I\'ve had similar types of stories, and with the internet and in this day and age, you would think there were better communication. This just happen to me yesterday with my internet, however it was taken care of rather quickly, but I talked to an agent online and all they told me to do was go to the store and show them my id to confirm I was who I said I was, when low and behold and account was never created. I specifically asked the guy is it going to be there in the system when I get there, he said Oh yes mam, don\'t worry about it! It is frustrating and it\'s hard not to get mad because by the time you are, you would think everyone in the world knows your situation, lol when It\'s really not that way at all.
I think it taught you to look at all the merchandise before you buy, that\'s what I do, I don\'t care if they like me opening the package or not, I say If Im gonna buy I am gonna try because that is frustrating.
What\'s even more frustrating is when you buy food through the drive through you get home to eat it and the whole order is wrong. That\'s frustrating.
I sometimes believe they make it so unbelievably hard for us to take stuff back so that we won\'t do it, or that we will give up and not get our money back, I believe that\'s why they do it. But it\'s worse if they lose a customer I think.
Good for you that you got your item and decided not to go back there. I would, if you have time, write a letter to the president and see what happens.
Maybe to keep you in their good graces they would give you a nice gift card or something. Also, I would mention to them, how come there is a damaged beater in the box to begin with, what\'s up with their Quality Control people, are they asleep on the job??? I would question it! Just an idea, if your ever bored like I can be. lol.
Mending, I am pretty sure incomptent customer service is worldwide! Although, I had to say, in the US it is much more customer focused. I couldn\'t imagine going to Walmart or Target and them telling me to go to a different store and refusing to reimburse me.
I actually did think about writing a letter to the district manager, but I could not find any contact information. Even on their corporate website, it mentions nothing about customer satisfaction and/or a way to write to them other than a general e-mail. If they had a Better Business Bureau type thing here, I would consider writing them, but I am fairly sure no such thing exists here.
I definitely learned my lesson though! No more buying items that are in dinged up boxes!
Also, it was times like that where I did miss my husband. Even though he was crazy, he would also stand up for me and not let people push me around. I know if he was with me they would have reimbursed him for sure. But... oh well. I have to live life without counting on him.
I guess the only thing left to do is make more chocolate chip cookies now that I have a functioning mixer!