H&M ie Hennes & Mauritz UK Ltd trumpet all the hard work that they and their staff do to ensure a high standard of service the reality is one of very poor delivery. My experience is detailed below when I tried to return a purchase they refused - directly breaching a legal contract, refused to resolve or escalate the issue, then threatened me with security in the shop. It then took me 2.5 hours and no less than 11 calls to customer services to get a resolution speaking to 6 different people most of whom refused to provide their names. The compensation for all this aggravation and my efforts over a 3 week period was an insulting £25 voucher (cost to them £12.50). What a joke and what an insult. I for one will never shop there again thus saving me from wasting my time with their useless customer service dept.
In detail - I purchased some items for my wife's birthday at H&M's Oracle store in Reading and took 2 back a few days later as she didn't like them and they didn't fit. They provided me with a refund and I purchased another item at the same time. The net amount was an overall credit which was refunded to my card. This further item did not fit and so I took it back for a refund a few days later which the store manager - Annette - refused to give stating that because the item was bought at the same time as the refunds it was not a valid receipt. This was despite a sign behind her stating in big letters that customers have 28 days to return any items for a full refund for any reason. After trying to reason with her that it was a valid receipt I was told that a refund should have been given on a separate piece of paper. I pointed out that I didn't control her staff and their practices. Upon further refusing I requested to speak to her manager or head office about it and was told bluntly "No". I was then threatened with security if I didn't leave. She refused to provide me with her name although her first name was on the receipt.
I then proceeded to contact H&M customer services and spoke to a Kim who was quite concerned and promised to look into the matter and call me back. I asked for her surname but she refused to give it to me insisting that she was the only Kim there. This never happened. I then called back and spoke to her again and she promised to come back to me which she never did. I then called and spoke to Nicola asking Kim to call me but she never did. I then called yet again and spoke to Rachel who told me there were 2 Kims and which one did I speak with! On repeatedly wanting to help me I went through the whole story again and promised to sort it out and come back to me. Of course she never did, same thing with another person when I called to chase it up as the weeks were drifting by.
Eventually, I wanted to speak to a supervisor and managed to get to speak to Mark Jackson who despite being very understanding (as were all the others) didn't bother to call me back. I did get a call back from a Jennifer who Mark had asked to contact me but I had to brief her completely with the whole story yet again. Mark had said he would speak to both Kims but both denied any knowledge of my original call and one subsequently resigned. I continued to call Mark back a number of times and he eventually sorted the matter out, and to his credit did actually call me back a number of times, but I had to go back to the store and get the refund that I was due. No compensation was offered and when asked I was told that I would have to ask the store manager who I had the original refusal with for some. I said this was not appropriate and that I had made at least 10 calls and wasted 2 hours of my time. I was then offered a £10 voucher. I said this was an insult since as a chartered accountant my time is charged out at a minimum of £80/hour. I didn't expect anything like that but at least £50 for my efforts, insults, patience and being messed around so much would have made me happy. No such chance a final letter of apology arrived with a measly £25 stating that "the decision on the amount of compensation you should receive is the correct one". They went on that they hoped I would "continue to be a valued customer with H&M". Not a hope in hell!
Although everyone was super friendly there was clearly no proper system in place to manage incidents, to escalate them, to sort them out and no one was empowered to compensate the customer for his wasted time and bad experiences. Worst than that they don't even recognise what their great customer non-service has achieved and how it leaves the customer feeling. Never mind I am sure they will continue to waste thousands of pounds on training their staff in friendly customer service - and they were friendly - but sadly incompetent and unempowered clearly without adequate support systems. So H&M join my select list of truly appalling organisations who put short-term profit above long term customer loyalty. They join with American Express, T-Mobile, Orange, Opal Telecom (sorry Talk Talk or whatever they are calling themselves this month) and a select few others on this hallowed list.
In detail - I purchased some items for my wife's birthday at H&M's Oracle store in Reading and took 2 back a few days later as she didn't like them and they didn't fit. They provided me with a refund and I purchased another item at the same time. The net amount was an overall credit which was refunded to my card. This further item did not fit and so I took it back for a refund a few days later which the store manager - Annette - refused to give stating that because the item was bought at the same time as the refunds it was not a valid receipt. This was despite a sign behind her stating in big letters that customers have 28 days to return any items for a full refund for any reason. After trying to reason with her that it was a valid receipt I was told that a refund should have been given on a separate piece of paper. I pointed out that I didn't control her staff and their practices. Upon further refusing I requested to speak to her manager or head office about it and was told bluntly "No". I was then threatened with security if I didn't leave. She refused to provide me with her name although her first name was on the receipt.
I then proceeded to contact H&M customer services and spoke to a Kim who was quite concerned and promised to look into the matter and call me back. I asked for her surname but she refused to give it to me insisting that she was the only Kim there. This never happened. I then called back and spoke to her again and she promised to come back to me which she never did. I then called and spoke to Nicola asking Kim to call me but she never did. I then called yet again and spoke to Rachel who told me there were 2 Kims and which one did I speak with! On repeatedly wanting to help me I went through the whole story again and promised to sort it out and come back to me. Of course she never did, same thing with another person when I called to chase it up as the weeks were drifting by.
Eventually, I wanted to speak to a supervisor and managed to get to speak to Mark Jackson who despite being very understanding (as were all the others) didn't bother to call me back. I did get a call back from a Jennifer who Mark had asked to contact me but I had to brief her completely with the whole story yet again. Mark had said he would speak to both Kims but both denied any knowledge of my original call and one subsequently resigned. I continued to call Mark back a number of times and he eventually sorted the matter out, and to his credit did actually call me back a number of times, but I had to go back to the store and get the refund that I was due. No compensation was offered and when asked I was told that I would have to ask the store manager who I had the original refusal with for some. I said this was not appropriate and that I had made at least 10 calls and wasted 2 hours of my time. I was then offered a £10 voucher. I said this was an insult since as a chartered accountant my time is charged out at a minimum of £80/hour. I didn't expect anything like that but at least £50 for my efforts, insults, patience and being messed around so much would have made me happy. No such chance a final letter of apology arrived with a measly £25 stating that "the decision on the amount of compensation you should receive is the correct one". They went on that they hoped I would "continue to be a valued customer with H&M". Not a hope in hell!
Although everyone was super friendly there was clearly no proper system in place to manage incidents, to escalate them, to sort them out and no one was empowered to compensate the customer for his wasted time and bad experiences. Worst than that they don't even recognise what their great customer non-service has achieved and how it leaves the customer feeling. Never mind I am sure they will continue to waste thousands of pounds on training their staff in friendly customer service - and they were friendly - but sadly incompetent and unempowered clearly without adequate support systems. So H&M join my select list of truly appalling organisations who put short-term profit above long term customer loyalty. They join with American Express, T-Mobile, Orange, Opal Telecom (sorry Talk Talk or whatever they are calling themselves this month) and a select few others on this hallowed list.