In a world of reduced expectations for customer service BJ's Optical managed to push the bar quite a bit lower with a truly breathtaking display of rudeness and incompetence. I ordered and paid for a pair of glasses here like I have done many times in the past. They told me they would be in within two weeks and they would call me when they arrived. After 3-4 weeks with no call I stopped in to pick them up.
I told the woman at the counter I was there to pick up my glasses and she responded with "did we call you?" in a tone of voice that clearly indicated I shouldn't be there. When I told her no, but it had been a long time she looked for my glasses, came up empty, and checked on my order on the computer. She then told me the order had already been dispensed. I told her that I had not received my glasses, and she responded that my wife might have picked them up. I told her the date the glasses were dispensed my wife and I were out of town together and she said she couldn't do anything until she checked with the person who dispensed them and they wouldn't be in until Friday, this was on a Monday. She took my number and told me I would get a call, but I had to push through her attitude that I was the one at fault to get that far.
No call on Friday (Big surprise) so I go to the store. I waited an hour and half while Alexis waited on two people (One of whom left the store extremely frustrated and angry). It was obvious she wasn't going to be done with the second customer anytime soon so I asked if she could call the manager or give me the number to call. She told me that was not going to happen, so I left the store and came back later in the afternoon. She then pulled up my order and called the manager. (It turns out the manager is the one who supposedly dispensed my glasses) She started explaining the situation and then just started saying OK, OK, OK, ... The manager was clearly was up to speed on the situation and told her she had not dispensed the glasses and they would order me a replacement pair. Alexis then gave one of the most insincere apologies I have ever received for my inconvenience (she was 8 feet away and not looking at me when she gave it). When I pointed out that this whole process took 2 minutes and she could easily have done it earlier ( one of the customers even offered to let me go first) she repeatedly and explicitly stated she was not apologizing for that. She then kept talking non stop without letting me get a word in. When I asked her to let me actually talk uninterrupted for a minute she refused to stop talking. To be clear, she was not mean, she was not angry, she was just clueless. I really wanted to explain to her that her tone of voice and body language are every bit as important as what she is saying. Also, even if she is not the person who started the problem, she is the face of the company and she show a little empathy for my problem. Alas, actually listening to feedback from a customer is beyond her skillset. read more