滯泰台勞K
Nov 1 · 5 min read

My Harrods experience

Today I have had worse, if not the worst customer experiences of all with Harrods UK. How am I not surprised by this?

I purchased a diamond ring happily at Tiffany shop at Harrods. Before this, I was never a fan of Harrods because of its terrible floor plan mostly and sometimes (if not always) very inattentive service. I was planning to purchase at a boutique store but the Tiffany sales lady at Harrods explained all the benefits at Harrods and I decided to give it a try.

So I did and requested a MIB service which help deliver the ring after VAT at Heathrow airport.

The day before I also made a trip to Harrods and thought I can either try or pick up the ring first and to confirm final details at airport. It did not work as the ring has been delivered to the outsourced third party.

On Oct 31, I was planning to head over to airport early but there are a couple of incidents I have to manage related to work. It is a hectic day on Oct 31 and busy for many to prepare for costumes in the event.

At 2:30 Chris, the MIB guy called my HK phone number. I did not reject this call even it’s an international phone call. I told him I will try to be at airport early. I would try my best. He “warned” me that I would miss my flight because MIB service can take 20 minutes- I wonder why? I started to run the calculation to make sure I am in time — definitely no later than 5pm.

My taxi driver wasn’t helping and Chris called again. This is around 3pm I told him I was stuck in traffic downtown and again I would try my best — please do not give me additional pressure. I also prepared myself that I might really missed and have to take another flight. Frankly I can’t because I am running a half marathon and working on the marriage registration event next week. These details do not concern Chris of course.

I just don’t know why it takes 20 minutes and have asked Tiffany team to ask Chris to prepare paper work in advance.

By the time I reached Paddington, the driver’s card reader didn’t work and I have already gone cashless in my wallet. Even the trolley at the station did not work. Nothing seems to work in London.

I ran and got on express. When I reached airport, I ran I ran and I ran. I was sweaty. I passed finally the very difficult security check with my hands full through fast track.

Where are you Chris???

Chris guided me to VAT desk, just laid out the Tiffany boxes and bag. I asked if there is a Harrods bag as the Tiffany bag is too noticeable and I am worried to catch people attention — this is something I emphasized a lot to the Tiffany team.

Chris said this is what they gave me and “I am just getting the job done” he said. Ok fine. You never thought of yourself as an extension of customer service point. Or maybe Harrods simply doesn’t care that every customer contact point counts. I should have followed my gut not to shop at Harrods. Simply another terrible example.

“You can get a duty free tax bag if you want” while he asked me to sign a document and show my passport and boarding pass to VAT lady. I said “I asked to be discrete” “I am discrete” Chris wore a grey hoodie and jeans. Guess I need to be specific about getting the delivery in a discrete bag.

“I am just getting my job done” Chris said again. Oh dear, Chris, you have no idea how much I tried to get your job done. I was sweaty and I was rushing and I am under constant stress from you.

This takes 3 minutes to finish paper work. And off Chris went and this is it. I thought it was 20 minutes. No single moment of empathy and no single moment of apology.

I thought I will get the little blue boxes in joy. I even have three boxes. Triple joy.

No. I simply don’t know why I spent this much money and make myself so miserable to catch the flight and airline o know very well. I have been with Cathay Pacific as a gold member above for more than a decade.

Furthermore, what is the sweat all about? Why was I rushing and why did I skip other VAT things I need to do at the airport? I was in complete misery to manage this Chris to get his job done. Why should I manage him? He should manage me and make sure I am happy.

At very least he could hand over the boxes nicely and politely. No. Maybe we have very different standards of being nice and being polite.

People said customer complaints do not yield outcomes especially in western world because it is such a big machine. It’s ok but I cannot let my voice unheard and today there are even more channels to make my voice heard.

What is happening next? Maybe someone at Harrods will write a careless apology letter and this is the end of the story. I want to suggest my family and friends to really avoid this unpleasant place which doesn’t bring you the joy of even being a slightly better middle class that can afford to shop at this kind of department store.

Maybe I got the point right here — I am not a big spender and I am just this occasional ring buyer and life has to carry on. Who cares customer service? Who cares what is the aftermath of all these I need to deal with? All the rushing, skipping things that should be done, and unnecessary stress from this guy Chris. Would he know that I just survived a surgery last year and this London trip means a lot to me? Would he know that doctor suggest no unnecessary pressure?

There is no such thing as customer service in London. At least in Harrods, we will just send this little Asian woman an apology letter and we will still make money.

If you truly care, I requested an investigation and a full review of your customer service approach including customer touch points- your vendors, your outsourcing partner. Maybe you don’t care and one day we all shop online.

If I was in the Board or management team, I will look into this seriously and understand how important human touch points are to traditional retailers like Harrods. There is something more than just providing the mechanize.

Talk to Chris please. Can he at very least understand how much trouble I have to go through to get his job done? Whose job is this?

Life is short. I just spent another unnecessary 20–30 minutes writing this without result.

Readers, thank you for reading.

K

    滯泰台勞K

    Written by