Portswood Hardware Southampton Reviews
Excellent service!
Went into the store not knowing exactly what I required - the staff were not able to sell me what I wanted, however, went the extra mile to help me find the product which I need need - faultless! Will always use this store
20-07-16
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Very helpful staff, extensive range.
If you cant get it here then they will suggest somwhere you could get it.
06-01-13
Tags:
good range, Helpful, independant
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"An Aladdin's cave" wrote another reviewer, and very true.
However customer service can be patchy. As a regular and usually satisfied customer my experience 15-16 Sep 2011 was distasteful.
On 15 Sept I purchased some miniature retaining chain of the sort used for key-rings or bathplugs, and sold by the metre.
The till operator packed my other purchases in their supplied bag. I then placed their bag in my cycle bag for extra security. Item wasn't found when I opened the bags on returning home. The inescapable conclusion is that the missing item was never packed.
A phone call elicited a response that can only be described as unhelpful.
They claimed that the item was packed. I don't believe that. Had they taken some time to search the till area I'd be more inclined to believe them. However, their default position appears to be that it wasn't their error, but the customer's, even though they packed the bag. Which BTW was inspected for holes and found to be hole-free.
That's a bad news day for customer satisfaction, and means in practice that they have lost a regular customer, who will shop elsewhere now. An Aladdin's cave it may be, but there are other Aladdin's Caves in the locality. That's the very nature of a free market.
We hear a great deal about how difficult it is for small high street retailers to compete against the large DIY chain stores, and to some extent that explains the "Aladdin's Cave" comment. For the wide range of choices offered gives the smaller owner-operated stores a competitive advantage, and this customer welcomes that, and usually discriminates in their favour, choosing to take their custom there, rather than to the DIY chain. For the same reason I shop in the market at Salisbury, where I can find several good butchers, farmers selling direct to their market, a fishmonger, fruit & vegetables, poultry, and cheaper than supermarkets and better quality. And I have the satisfaction gained from my desire to support smaller businesses competing against supermarkets when the playing field is not a level one.
Portswood Hardware has let the side down. A simple error was made, and could have been easily corrected. Instead they chose to be intransigent and unhelpful.
The key word here is "chose".
In choosing to be unhelpful they lost a regular customer.
They might also reflect upon their need to improve their customer face-to-face communication skills. One of the key areas where they can have a competitive edge on the DIY chains.
An update. 16 Sep 2011.
After the fruitless phone conversation yesterday, I went to visit them for a face-to-face discussion. It saddens me to say that the response was to obdurately deny any error might have occurred during packing.
The fact remains that they packed the item in their bag. One item was missing on unpacking. A simple error easily made. Who of us can honestly say that we have never done something similar? Portswood Hardware can, and do!
The missing property is mine. I paid for it and have the till receipt. Undoubtably, the missing item is still somewhere on the premises at Portswood Hardware. The value may only be £3.99, but the inconvenience to me has been considerable, and compounded by Portswood Hardware's bloody-minded intransigence.
I want my property; the property I paid for. My next step may be to report the item missing; stolen possibly; and ask Portswood Police to inquire, and make arrests, and charge the individuals involved because there is IMO a reasonable suspicion of theft, enough to trigger arrests.
All for an item worth £3.99.
All for want of an admission of error, this trader's reputation is lost in seconds.
16-09-11
Tags:
Poor customer facing skills
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