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With our local costco and their GFY attitude in customer service/returns. So I sent corporate a little diatribe. Last time I sent corporate a complaint about the asshats who run customer service in our Costco, I got a sort of feisty phone call back from the manager asking me to out the customer service agent who was *difficult* to deal with. I didn't remember her name, but the manager who called me was very rude and accusatory.
Anyway, so this last return I made tonight was stupid-- very stupid-- but the attitude I got from the customer service person!!! So I sent corporate this... It's kinda long, though, so no worries if you don't read it!!!
I just returned from another hectic visit to my local Costcoin Gaithersburg, MD. Unfortunately, Ihad a return to make. The beef jerkythat we bought just a week ago apparently was infested with something nasty sothat by the time we opened the second bag of the pack, there was a mass of moldgrowing inside the vacuum packed bag. Nasty.
Anyway, so I waited in line for the customary 20+minutes. Annoying as this wait is, itwas made doubly annoying by the fact that there were only 2 exchange cashiersavailable (this is typical of Gaithersburg- lots of people standing around, notmany working) and both seemed to be dealing with complicated cases. Another employee finally came up, apparentlyhe had authority to work a cashier, because he had to turn the key whenever oneof the other two finalized a return. Rather than deal with the impressive line of people waiting to returnitems, he started scanning some receipts into the system, while chatting withanother Employee Just Standing Around about their fantasy football league.Meanwhile, a man behind me was yelling "So Slow! Why So Slow!" as the two people workingthe cashiers just stood there trying to finish their transactions. They did not hurry...
Finally, one of the two finished up. Her name was Amalia. When I got to her, she looked at the beefjerky, and without even acknowledging the huge ball of nasty mold in the middleof my beef jerky, she sneered "This comes in a two pack." And I said, "I know that, but THIS packof the two pack has some mold growing in it." I gave her my receipt and card, and she said,"We are only refunding you THIS pack." Ok, fine. I don't care. Really I had noproblem with only being refunded HALF of what I paid for the beef jerky, but alittle respect would be nice. Maybe evenan acknowledgement that nasty mold infestations in vacuum sealed items sold byCostco would be a concern... Maybe,possibly, an apology?? Like "I'msorry the beef jerky was moldy, and I'm sorry you had to wait in line."
OF COURSE I know that the Gaithersburg staff will NEVERapologize for anything. I've done enoughreturns there to know that they do not offer regrets, only attitude.
Nonetheless, I find it remarkable that in this Costco, inthis very prosperous area of one of the wealthiest counties of America, whereit is always packed full of people, where they SELL OUT of MILK by the end of aworkday, THIS Costco can't just fire the entire Customer Service department andhire people who have been trained to give a damn.
I love Costco. I loveCostco so much that it is a search criteria for us for whenever we move to anew area that our new home has to be close to Costco. My family used to drive over 2 hours to aCostco in Seattle when I was a little girl-- just to stock up and because itwas the only Costco in the area. I willalways be a member of Costco. But THISCostco in Gaithersburg is an embarrassment to the Costco brand. I have been to lots of Costcos in my life,from Hawaii to Washington to Virginia, Midwest, southwest, southeast,northeast.... The Gaithersburg Costco has a decent assortment of items, asomewhat helpful meat department, grumpy bakery department, very nice Fishpeople, OK stock people, and decent/nice people working the photo center,checkout and the food court. The onlyreal problem is in returns and customer service. And believe me, it is a HUGE problem. I really hope for the sake of the brand thatsomething can be done. Send them all toDisney to get trained in customer service. Bring in a bunch of Disney people to run customer service. Something!
Anyway, so this last return I made tonight was stupid-- very stupid-- but the attitude I got from the customer service person!!! So I sent corporate this... It's kinda long, though, so no worries if you don't read it!!!
I just returned from another hectic visit to my local Costcoin Gaithersburg, MD. Unfortunately, Ihad a return to make. The beef jerkythat we bought just a week ago apparently was infested with something nasty sothat by the time we opened the second bag of the pack, there was a mass of moldgrowing inside the vacuum packed bag. Nasty.
Anyway, so I waited in line for the customary 20+minutes. Annoying as this wait is, itwas made doubly annoying by the fact that there were only 2 exchange cashiersavailable (this is typical of Gaithersburg- lots of people standing around, notmany working) and both seemed to be dealing with complicated cases. Another employee finally came up, apparentlyhe had authority to work a cashier, because he had to turn the key whenever oneof the other two finalized a return. Rather than deal with the impressive line of people waiting to returnitems, he started scanning some receipts into the system, while chatting withanother Employee Just Standing Around about their fantasy football league.Meanwhile, a man behind me was yelling "So Slow! Why So Slow!" as the two people workingthe cashiers just stood there trying to finish their transactions. They did not hurry...
Finally, one of the two finished up. Her name was Amalia. When I got to her, she looked at the beefjerky, and without even acknowledging the huge ball of nasty mold in the middleof my beef jerky, she sneered "This comes in a two pack." And I said, "I know that, but THIS packof the two pack has some mold growing in it." I gave her my receipt and card, and she said,"We are only refunding you THIS pack." Ok, fine. I don't care. Really I had noproblem with only being refunded HALF of what I paid for the beef jerky, but alittle respect would be nice. Maybe evenan acknowledgement that nasty mold infestations in vacuum sealed items sold byCostco would be a concern... Maybe,possibly, an apology?? Like "I'msorry the beef jerky was moldy, and I'm sorry you had to wait in line."
OF COURSE I know that the Gaithersburg staff will NEVERapologize for anything. I've done enoughreturns there to know that they do not offer regrets, only attitude.
Nonetheless, I find it remarkable that in this Costco, inthis very prosperous area of one of the wealthiest counties of America, whereit is always packed full of people, where they SELL OUT of MILK by the end of aworkday, THIS Costco can't just fire the entire Customer Service department andhire people who have been trained to give a damn.
I love Costco. I loveCostco so much that it is a search criteria for us for whenever we move to anew area that our new home has to be close to Costco. My family used to drive over 2 hours to aCostco in Seattle when I was a little girl-- just to stock up and because itwas the only Costco in the area. I willalways be a member of Costco. But THISCostco in Gaithersburg is an embarrassment to the Costco brand. I have been to lots of Costcos in my life,from Hawaii to Washington to Virginia, Midwest, southwest, southeast,northeast.... The Gaithersburg Costco has a decent assortment of items, asomewhat helpful meat department, grumpy bakery department, very nice Fishpeople, OK stock people, and decent/nice people working the photo center,checkout and the food court. The onlyreal problem is in returns and customer service. And believe me, it is a HUGE problem. I really hope for the sake of the brand thatsomething can be done. Send them all toDisney to get trained in customer service. Bring in a bunch of Disney people to run customer service. Something!
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