DIYbanter - View Single Post - B&Q

Phil L

wrote:
Just one for the record, a review of my experiences at B&Q.

I have spent, over the past 2 years, in excess of £3000 with B&Q.
Recently I have found staff to be more knowledgeable and was beginning
to get complacent; a mistake as I was to find out. This evening I
dealt with a female manager, who was ill informed, ignorant and
downright obstructive.

On the first point. I was seeking advice on fitting a slimline
dishwasher. She first asked me if I obtained the appliance from B&Q
then used the fact I did not to claim that "All B&Q slimline
dishwashers are 500mm wide and that my problem was because my unit was
not bought from B&Q." It's 450mm wide, as I believe are ALL slimline
dishwashers - please correct me if I am wrong.

1) they are not obliged to give you any kind of advice regarding fitting
2) shop staff aren't trained in kitchen/appliance fitting
3) I can't believe you would throw a strop when you didn't even buy the
dishwasher there, although you are being somewhat coy about what you said...

This manager seemed to know absolutely nothing about the task I was
requesting help with. She furthermore seemed to be more worried about
abmitting this fact or being sued than she was about helping or giving
good customer service.

sued? - for not helping someone with products they'd bought elsewhere? -
she's not obliged to help you even if you'd bought it there

When I requested to speak to a member of staff who would be able to
help, this request was refused on the grounds "there are no kitchen
fitters in the store." When I asked to speak to a staff member with
whom I had dealt on a previous occasion, who is an ex-fitter and who
had been able to offer first class advice, I was told "He is not
employed in this store as a kitchen fitter."

I suspect, though cannot confirm, this is the same member of staff who
caused problems when I was buying the main part of my kitchen. I was
standing directly under your "15% off all kitchens - yes including the
sink" banner whilst the till operator went to get a manager to
authorise the discount. The till operator returned with the message
from 'two managers in the office' that there was not 15% off kitchens,
certainly not the sink that I had in my trolley.

There's more to this story than meets the eye, you won't get any sympathy
off me until you give more details on what you said / threatened....why a
store manageress should fear being sued for being unable to help someone
with a product they'd purchased elsewhere is a mystery to me, perhaps you'd
like to shed some light first?