This is one store I and the rest of my family will be avoiding in future.
I was looking for one of those large trays that you could use to soak the shelves and grill pans from the cooker in. I'd seen one on the Lakeland website but didn't fancy waiting for one in the post or having to deal with the manic number of people shopping at Liverpool One. So I looked around for something a little more local and more immediately available.
I found a product on The Range website that would do the trick, a BBQ Grill Soaker, exactly like the product from Lakeland just a little bigger. Ideal. Or so I thought, this is when the fun began.
The number for the St. Helens store is on the The Range website so I rang them. It rang and rang and rang, for ages, no answer. Tried again a few minutes later, same thing. And again a bit later. I was losing the will to live when someone eventually answered the phone, I said "Hello" and they promptly hung up on me! Ggggrrrrrr.
I tweeted head office who advised that there were 5 of the item I was looking for in stock at this store but that I should ring first to check, despite me advising them of the above. A catch 22 really.
This all happened the other day, but today I thought, sod it, I'll go to the store, I've been told they have them in stock, I don't mind waiting a bit, xmas shoppers and what have you, If I get what I need.
Oh dear, I think I needed my head checking!
After hunting around the store for 10 minutes or so I gave-up and spoke to a lady on the Customer Services desk, who told me that they don't have any in stock (without checking the computer for stock figures - apparently the "stock analyser" system is wrong anyway), and nobody would go and see if they could find one of these five items in stock for me. I left disappointed.
Yep sure the store was a little busy, and maybe that's why they couldn't be bothered to help. But isn't that the point. Shops like this need people in them, shopping and buying, to stay in Business, if nobody was shopping and they had all day to help me, they'd be out of Business.
The Range is seriously behind the curve when it comes to the whole shopping experience and the "service" shown to me by the staff of St Helens store was seriously lacking.
Last time I ever give them my hard earned cash. read more