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Author Topic: Lidl customer service  (Read 9260 times)

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Bigron

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #60 on: 11 February 2018, 16:20:38 »

Fickin disgraceful, I'd raise it with your MP, Ron.


 ;D ;D ;D whilst you are at it Ron get Parliament to restore Retail Price Maintenance.  That will mean we get rid of all the promotional prices, and you the consumer will know what retail price you should be paying for what! ;D ;D >:( ;)

Yes, top whack prices and no chance of a discount/bargain!

Ron.
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Lizzie Zoom

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #61 on: 11 February 2018, 17:39:00 »

Fickin disgraceful, I'd raise it with your MP, Ron.


 ;D ;D ;D whilst you are at it Ron get Parliament to restore Retail Price Maintenance.  That will mean we get rid of all the promotional prices, and you the consumer will know what retail price you should be paying for what! ;D ;D >:( ;)

Yes, top whack prices and no chance of a discount/bargain!

Ron.

That's right, and the retailers enjoy great profits whilst the customer would get great (old fashioned) type Customer Service :D :D :D :y :y





PS Only (partially) joking! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;)
« Last Edit: 11 February 2018, 17:40:49 by Lizzie Zoom »
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Bigron

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #62 on: 11 February 2018, 18:57:55 »

My memory must be fading, because I cannot recall much decent service in the days of RPM, justa take-it-or-leave-it attitude because you couldn't buy cheaper anywhere else.
Competition works, lack 0f same does not - look at nationalised industries? And where can you shop for an alternative government and/or police force that respects you and does what you want?
Competition works.....

Ron.
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Lizzie Zoom

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #63 on: 11 February 2018, 19:49:13 »

My memory must be fading, because I cannot recall much decent service in the days of RPM, justa take-it-or-leave-it attitude because you couldn't buy cheaper anywhere else.
Competition works, lack 0f same does not - look at nationalised industries? And where can you shop for an alternative government and/or police force that respects you and does what you want?
Competition works.....

Ron.

I was partially joking about returning to the days of RPM.  But the answer to what was or would be best is very interesting albeit now irrelevant.

In the days I first fell in love with shops and shopping it was close to 60 years ago.  What I remember was set shops in set trades selling a set range of product. Apart from departmental shops that were fascinitating in their own right, the rest were small shops. They had staff galore who would know their customers and give them excellent advise on the "best" or "right" buys at that time. Prices were standard as they kept to the RPM Act. But competition was only token compared to now. It was really a case of using the shops local to you, and in the days before mass car use, that was vital.  A trip into town by bus was a special trip, when mum could buy those particular items from Woolworths, Marks & Spencer, Boots and Fenwick's, and if she wanted a book it was into W.H.Smith. Everyone seemed to know where they stood shopping; no mad hunt to find the cheapest outside of "Sale" time, or vast travel to the latest product advertised on the then new commercial ITV channel.

I came into retail 52 years ago as a junior member of staff, with the managerial career starting 3 years later.  I witnessed the last years of the "old" shops, with high staff numbers and the best personal service we could give to our customers, although we definitely had our weak links who needed to be retrained or sacked. Then the end of RPM saw the beginning of the end for the old ways.  We started to fight it out with competitors using price promotions, POS, and a far more aggressive approach. Then we had to reduce our staff numbers to protect profits, and that resulted in stores going "self service" for most product. Over the years as stores got far larger, superstores became the norm, it was down to my colleagues and I to cut our multi-million pound staffing budgets; 5% cuts became the regular amount every year, and once around 10%.  In the meantime I witnessed it being far more difficult on a declining scale to give the first class Customer Care we all wanted. Managers of our stores were pushing up sales nicely, with healthy profits, so that was all good. But I mourned the loss of that personal, individual, service I enjoyed as a youngster.

So much is vastly better in retailing than 60 years ago; the range, the price, and the large store environment. But go into a Sainsbury's now, or even better B & Q, and you will have to hunt for available staff at busy times during regular busy periods. Try asking about a product and the details of it, or even where it is in the vast store. Yes, you can enjoy the walk around the store and finding your product from a vast range, then loading your trolley at your pace.  All good, but the you enter the checkout area and your custom is not valued. You are just a number, with even myself having to train the retailers staff on good customer care, or even just general checkout routine.  At Christmas I had to advise 3 members of staff in Sainsbury's on how to process my advanced ordered Christmas meat selection, with me having to write to the store's General Store Manager about the failings, which with due credit to them they came back to me and accepted my recommendations, recognising they "had issues" with staff training and temporary staff.

The pressure on stores now and the staff teams to meet the competition head on, with prices to match, whilst cutting costs to as low as possible is having an effect, and will see more retail chains go under as the online business cuts in, and profits fall to untenable levels.

So, in summary, yes I miss the old days as a customer and retailer, but there are so many positives with the new ways.  It is just a real concern of where it will end up. All online, with no Customer contact? Greatly reduced product ranges? Even worse, with the competition fading due to business failure, prices going back up to viable levels so that the retailer can survive?  I probably will not be around for the final outcome! ;)
« Last Edit: 11 February 2018, 19:56:23 by Lizzie Zoom »
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TheBoy

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #64 on: 11 February 2018, 19:56:09 »

I think most smaller retailers accept that traditional retail is dying for most, unless you're a convenience store.  People are too lazy to go out shopping now, so get the shit delivered now instead.

Hence, every high street is nothing more that coffee houses, charity shops and estate agents.


The bigger companies are also feeling the same pinch, but have the resources to set up a proper online business, and more importantly, the resources to market that site.


To prove how lazy the british public have become, look at how many can't even be arsed to shop around online, and just only ever go to ebay, assuming that's cheapest...
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Lizzie Zoom

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #65 on: 11 February 2018, 20:10:13 »

I think most smaller retailers accept that traditional retail is dying for most, unless you're a convenience store.  People are too lazy to go out shopping now, so get the shit delivered now instead.

Hence, every high street is nothing more that coffee houses, charity shops and estate agents.


The bigger companies are also feeling the same pinch, but have the resources to set up a proper online business, and more importantly, the resources to market that site.


To prove how lazy the british public have become, look at how many can't even be arsed to shop around online, and just only ever go to ebay, assuming that's cheapest...

All very true TB.  However, their is it seems an elephant in the room for the major supermarkets and online shopping. They have reported they are not making enough, if any, real profit on these transactions.  Once the high costs of staff used for selecting the goods from the shelves, then the transportation outlay, are taken into account it, they say, requires far higher delivery charges than as of now.

They have, in a way, returned to the old days of using high staff numbers to support the sales and delivering the goods, after decades of getting the customer to do all that for free.  They are trying to grab the online business from their competitors, and it has become what we used to call "loss leaders" to tempt customers to them whilst seeing their profits decline in the process.

It cannot be sustained, and the costs in one way or another will have to be met by the customer. ;)
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Bigron

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #66 on: 11 February 2018, 20:12:49 »

Good explanation Lizzie and not altogether surprising, but even if RPM were to return, the old ways certainly woulkd not - the world has changed too much and attitudes along with it.
Supermarkets pander to the lowest common denominator now and price is king, never mind the quality.
A case in point is bread; even with in-store "bakeries" (what a misnomer!) all they produce is tastless pap with poor texture. Where can you find a real baker nowadays - they simply cannot compete on price, and the working day is far too long for any but the old school bakers to tolerate.

TB, the high streets that you describe are "Identikit" streets, no one looking much different from another. Can you remember when you went somewhere new, and the shopping centre looked entirely different from that of your home one, with delightful discoveries around each corner?

Ron.


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Varche

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #67 on: 11 February 2018, 20:31:59 »

What you are describing Lizzie is shpping in most of Spain. No point in shopping around as the price will be the same. You go into the shop amd ask for something and the assistant goes off and gets it.

Things are changing. A few internet based companies undercutting the high street. One or two of the big supermarkets now offer 10% off price of a tank of fuel when you spend 60 or more. Thin end of the wedge.
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Lizzie Zoom

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #68 on: 11 February 2018, 20:32:27 »

Good explanation Lizzie and not altogether surprising, but even if RPM were to return, the old ways certainly woulkd not - the world has changed too much and attitudes along with it.
Supermarkets pander to the lowest common denominator now and price is king, never mind the quality.
A case in point is bread; even with in-store "bakeries" (what a misnomer!) all they produce is tastless pap with poor texture. Where can you find a real baker nowadays - they simply cannot compete on price, and the working day is far too long for any but the old school bakers to tolerate.

TB, the high streets that you describe are "Identikit" streets, no one looking much different from another. Can you remember when you went somewhere new, and the shopping centre looked entirely different from that of your home one, with delightful discoveries around each corner?

Ron.

All very true Ron, and I am certainly in agreement that what was yesterday has gone and there is no large public demand for it to return :y
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Lizzie Zoom

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #69 on: 11 February 2018, 20:34:59 »

What you are describing Lizzie is shpping in most of Spain. No point in shopping around as the price will be the same. You go into the shop amd ask for something and the assistant goes off and gets it.

Things are changing. A few internet based companies undercutting the high street. One or two of the big supermarkets now offer 10% off price of a tank of fuel when you spend 60 or more. Thin end of the wedge.

Yes, I found that the case in the past. In addition, and I think it was in Spain not Portugal, we're not all the petrol filling stations government owned, and you paid the same price per litre where ever you went? ??? ???

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #70 on: 11 February 2018, 22:14:57 »

In the near future, order picking will be carried out by robots and delivery will be made by drones. The costs will drop very significantly for online retailers then.
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Varche

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #71 on: 11 February 2018, 23:12:37 »

What you are describing Lizzie is shpping in most of Spain. No point in shopping around as the price will be the same. You go into the shop amd ask for something and the assistant goes off and gets it.

Things are changing. A few internet based companies undercutting the high street. One or two of the big supermarkets now offer 10% off price of a tank of fuel when you spend 60 or more. Thin end of the wedge.

Yes, I found that the case in the past. In addition, and I think it was in Spain not Portugal, we're not all the petrol filling stations government owned, and you paid the same price per litre where ever you went? ??? ???

Fuel. That used to be the case. It was really quite pleasant not having to seek out a cheap petrol station. Fuel must have been government controlled but not owned. Now it varies widely just as in the UK.
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Varche

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #72 on: 11 February 2018, 23:16:39 »

In the near future, order picking will be carried out by robots and delivery will be made by drones. The costs will drop very significantly for online retailers then.

I don't doubt that. What then happens to the out of town shopping centres? Why would you buy from Currys/pc world when the same thing on line is 10 or 20% cheaper and delivered to your door. Will they just become windows and food and drink halls for families on a day out?
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Bigron

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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #73 on: 12 February 2018, 00:23:33 »

Yes Mr. Varche, it has already happened in an area that I am interesred in - photography. There used to be good and knowledgeable camera retailers in almost every town, who gave really goos service and advice, but with the advent of online sources, the unscrupulous purchaser would do his research in those shops, handling a number of cameras, and then go online to the box-shifters for the cheapest price, bringing about the denise of the specialist shops.

Ron.
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Re: Lidl customer service
« Reply #74 on: 12 February 2018, 09:35:55 »

...
To prove how lazy the british public have become, look at how many can't even be arsed to shop around online, and just only ever go to ebay, assuming that's cheapest...

What worries me is the ones who, driven by hunger or the craving for fags to get off their @rse and attend their local "One Stop", do so without bothering to change out of their pyjamas. :(

Add them to the cull list, would you? :y
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