By Joanne
My girlfriend and I both went shopping at two different Tommy Hilfiger Ottawa, On Canada she had spent over $200 and I spent $155.
The next day I opened my mail to find out American Express had a discount coupon of 20% off when you purchase a minimum of $150. I called the store in the west end at College Square (where I did my purchase) to find out if we had to take the clothes back as well as the receipt to get the discount. They said yes please bring the clothes with and I mentioned my girlfriend had already wrapped hers- so they said no problem they would make an exception for her.
But we decided to shop in the east end of Ottawa so I thought we should phone that store to confirm the that we could use the coupon I called and they said we must bring in the clothing and there would be no issue.
When we arrived at the cash the older salesperson that served us (they didn’t have name tags), told us that we couldn’t have the discount cause we had already bought the items the day before, we had to tell him we had called ahead and in a ill mannered attitude he said no one received that phone call so now we were also called liars. We then said ok we will return the items and re buy them with the discount coupon. He said if we returned the items he would re stock them. Through this whole process we were treated with extreme rudeness and he was very unwilling to help out. He was not pleasant and made us feel uncomfortable. He constantly complained and argued that we couldn’t do this (this is why shopping at the Bay and many other stores so much easier, they all do price adjustments).
He finally did the transaction in slow mode to annoy us further.
Another customer was waiting at the cash as well to have his bill corrected as the store had made a mistake 5 minutes ago on his bill - and they insisted he go back to his car to get the sweater even though it was their mistake.
We will not return to this Tommy Hilfiger ever again and will make sure our friends are aware of their attitude. (the attitude of the west end store was the total opposite).
Bill says...
Hey, I’m with you this one. Poor customer service at some stores is becoming the norm. I directly blame the so called supervisors and the quantity of them.
What really gets me, is when you go to a grocery store, and there is only one cashier working and three standing at customer service having a tea party. often times purposing ignoring the situation. i guess their personal life if far more important than customer service, or just doing the job they paid to do. I always look for other stores to give my business to when I find this. in this harried society every minute counts, so don’t waste our time.
Cheryl888 says...
I agree, his customer service skills could have been much better, but the fact of the matter is, that most stores do not rebate after the fact (and coupons generally state this). If this person did not take your call personally, then I dont see how it is his fault for not making an exception for you. I personally think it is you who was silly for attempting to do this at a second store, when the reality is, you should have just stuck with the store you did the shopping with, as this would have been easier for them.
Did you ever stop to think about the day this person was having? How nice were you to him?
Personally, if I got minimum wage, I would want to deal with much either! lol
Theresa says...
Cheryl888 must work in retail. It is not our fault that they make minimum wage. They are still required to provide good customer service. I work in the non-profit sector. Perhaps, because I don’t get paid a huge wage I should not care for my clients the way they deserve. Really? REALLY???!!!
Teresa says...
Whether you get paid minimum wage or more, you should do a good job no matter what. My parents always taught me any job is worth doing right! But just some advice always get the name of the person you are speaking to on the phone and then they wouldn’t have been able to intimate you were “liars”.
lbolduc0 says...
I live in ottawa to. The Tommy store at the trainwards sucsk compared to the college square one. They have far more sales at the college square one.
It doesnt matter how much the employee is getting paid. They were hired to act in a respectful manner to customers. After all if it wasnt for the customers there wouldnt be a store and they wouldnt have a job! All those people who work in direct contact with consumers, need to learn to suck it up and put on a smile (whether it be fake or not) and serve the customers.
jessica says...
I love the customer service at the Sq 1 location in missisauga…
they are friendly… although i have to admit the casheir can have a better attitude but oh well.. i still like the clothes
jessica says...
suck it up cupcake there aint no changes for 2011
Cheryl888 says...
Hahaha…I dont get minimum wage
But I’m also not too “proud” to remember what it was like to get minimum wage, and have people come in and not care at all that you are trying your best for them. They just want to be pleased! NOW!!!
Ian says...
Unfortuantely I had a similar experience with and Outlet store in Vaudreuil, Quebec. the manager was runde, arrogant and almost seemed to be looking for a fight. My purchases were not even 10 days old and the winter hat began to unravel.The was my first Tommy purchase and I can tell you it is my last….
Pancakes says...
So.. I work at a Tommy Hilfiger and heres a possible explanation for you.
The cashier/sales associate that was helping you was most likely following company policy. Customers often have a tendancy to get angry at the sales associate that they’re dealing with, but it’s often not their fault.. we follow the rules, we dont make them. I’m not sure about his attitude, but it was likely a response to your attitude. As a rule, you’re not allowed to return and re-buy items right off the bat and there are certain conditions for the price adjustments.
Janet says...
Charged double at Ottawa College Square Hilfiger in Ottawa May 3 and May 4, they said it was a third party mistake with VISA and it still has not been corrected –check your Visa statement if you bought anything from them that day. I still have not been reimbursed. This approx. $64.00 is becoming a nightmare - I still have not been reimbursed……
anny says...
I work at Tommy Hilfiger as well and I understand what all of you are saying and it’s a shame that some of you have had a bad experience and I hope that won’t stop you from ever going again as some have mentioned. I realize this is no excuse but please try to keep in mind that we deal with a massive volume of customers each day and many of which seem to think the way they speak to us or treat us does not affect us. Just because we are in retail we are automatically looked down upon by many. This job can definitely weigh on you and sometimes gets the better of you. Keep in mind that we are paid the absolute minimum that they are legally allowed to pay us and expect us to give so much of ourselves to the job. While I strive to do this and make my team do so as well, there are going to be situations where customers don’t get the perfect service. I think I know who you may be referring to that did your return and I can assure you that it is not always the case. We are frequently mystery shopped on our customer service and returns and the Ottawa area consistently places very well within Canada. Situations where the manager is rude (not saying its an excuse) are often created by the customer. It is difficult to put on a smile when a customer is either rude, frustrated, irritated, or in your case trying to cheat the system. If you did not have the coupon at the time of purchase or the sale had not started yet, you returning your items to re-buy with the new discount is against policy and you should be grateful they made the exception and showed that to them and that likely would have changed the atmosphere rather than criticizing the service.
PS. for the one who had merchandise fall apart within days you should have brought it back to the store for a refund/exchange/store credit. there is no reason why you would not be entitled to that and that is absolutely not a common problem but as with anything there are “lemons” in every aspect of life ie, cars, technology, clothing. That does not mean that all items are faulty.
@ Janet. I have also heard about the problem with the double charging at College Square you were not the only customer it had happened to and as soon as they realized the problem they shut down the machine that had been responsible. It was a result of a debit machine that was installed just days before that and it is like they said a third party system which had problems processing Visa cards. Refunds took time because there were several therefore they had to be processed and approved by head office before the store could act. even as an employee the same thing happened to me at another location and it also took quite a while for my refund which i understand is frustrating.
Mohammad Hanif says...
Tommy Hilfiger Kingston is very bad customer service. I bought 6 items but she gave me only one bag, When I requested to give me more bags she said it is their policy to give one bag each customer, but i bought 6 items for 6 persons. Behavior was also not good.