This review is for the La Senza location in Guildford Town Centre. Everyone should be made aware of their incompetent & rude staff!
I had purchased a bunch of items right before Christmas time. The sales associate, Michelle, was really friendly - offered to check on correct fitting, grabbed a variety of different styles and sizes for me. A friend of mine used to work there so I knew they worked off commission. Nevertheless, I left happy. On Boxing Day, I noticed that all of the items I had purchased at regular price was now 60% off. I've worked retail for 10 years so I know that normally you cannot price adjust on Boxing Day items. I thought I'd give it a shot and ask anyway. I asked one associate if I could do the price adjustment. She looked at me, puzzled, like I was speaking another language and grabbed someone else. The other girl curtly told me "No, obviously we aren't going to do that!" And literally just walked in the opposite direction before I could respond. So back to the first girl, who surprisingly hadn't walked away from me. I asked her *hypothetically* couldn't I just return all my items since it's still within the 21 day return policy and re-buy them for the sale price? She shrugged and dodged around my question saying they weren't accepting returns or exchanges until after Dec 28th (like most retailers).
I came back on the 29th (without my items that I purchased and just my receipt). I went up to the counter where a girl greeted me. I told her the entire situation and also said I want to pay with a giftcard too. She said I could do the exchange as long as I had the physical items with me. I asked her, does it really make a difference because I'm just exchanging and have a receipt? She rudely interrupted and told me to go home and get my product. I asked for a manager, then she - very condescendingly - held out her hand to shake mine and said "Hi, I'm JAMIE". I told her I'd be back with my items and left in a huff and a puff. Strike two La Senza.
The NEXT day, I finally sorted all my stuff out. I triple checked and had my receipt, the items and the new giftcard I wanted to put towards my purchase. I went up to the counter, NEW girl this time AND Michelle (the original associate who first helped me). I told her my entire situation, told the cashiers that I had talked to their manager, Jamie. The cashier paused, asked me to describe what Jamie looked like. I told them, tall, longer blonde hair, had a mole on her face...the cashier then looked at me and said "Oh? Yeah that's funny..because she's not a manager". I was f-ing livid at this point but the girl ended up doing my return. Then, I rebought the items because they are now cheaper and I wanted to use my giftcard. I wasn't breaking any rules, I was still within the 21 day return, all of my items still had tags on them. I was NOT in the wrong. After working 10 years in retail, it's not my problem that I can find smarter ways around the system than most people can.
Finally, after arguing and getting extremely annoyed and talked down to, the stupid moron at the cash desk finally scanned in all my items (you know, the ones I originally bought). They rang up as $30 MORE EXPENSIVE than what I paid. She read my total, $144 and some change, and I said "How on earth are you going to charge me more if I had literally JUST returned the items and wanted to repurchase and use a giftcard?" Then, good ole Michelle fucking pipes in. She rudely tells me "Oh, you expect the items to be cheaper? No. That's not how that works. They're more expensive now. It's now (and reads me the price, as if I can't see it myself on the screen)". I was honestly baffled by that point and told them how dare they charge me more for an item. If anything, they should fix the price to what I originally paid (seeing as they weren't on sale for some odd reason, even though the entire store was 60% off). I finally said "you know what? I'm done. I'm done with you and done with this place" and left.
La Senza: First of all, don't lie about who your store manager is because I've taken this issue straight to your head office, so good luck with having to deal with that. Second of all, you idiots need to treat your customers with more respect. One thing I've learned in retail, at the end of the day, that petty little return does NOT come out of your pay check, whether you work commission or not. People returning items are still customers, and many of them (like myself) are repeat customers. I shouldn't have been treated with such disrespect and given such a hard time for asking a simple question. Final note to shoppers: you absolutely have every right to ask for a price adjustment if it is within their policy. Some stores (such as the one I work at) have 30 days for price adjustment but 60 days for returns. So absolutely if the price drops at the 45 day mark and you still have your receipt and item, BY ALL MEANS go back and ask for a refund and repurchase the item. F U La Senza. read more
