Auchan, We want our money back

caroline postlethwaite · Post by **caroline postlethwaite** » Sat 26 Jan 2008 17:49

I am so fed up with the customer services in this country. Auchan today, I found out, we can add to the list. I'm not going back. DON'T BUY ANYTHING THERE UNLESS YOU ARE SURE YOU WON'T NEED TO RETURN IT.

James bought me a Pentax optio M40 as a belated Christmas present for 170 euros. It was absolutely terrible, the photos were worse than those from his old cheap camera. The photos had bad definition & colour & inside with a flash was worse. It's true it worked, but very badly. We went to bring it back & as a bit of packing paper was missing they wouldn't take it back, though he'd only bought it a week ago. The argument they made was they couldn't sell it to anyone else, TRUE but they couldn't do that anyway, as it had all been opened & we couldn't try it without opening it could we?
After talking to an assistant & asking for the manager we were told we could only see him at 2pm, so we hung around for an hour & with this manager & the manager above him it was the same story.

Kate was hugely helpful about a problem with getting a broken mixer fixed at Carrefour & things got better, I even got a 10 euro voucher & an apology, but why is everything this much of a struggle in the first place? We're really not that difficult.

We have spent thousand at Auchan so they are really crazy to loose our custom over this & now hopefully your custom too. Leroys & Bricodepot are great these days thank goodness, but come on France you've got to improve this.
I told them I would give them a bad name on this site, so here it is!!:evil:

Robert Ferrieux · Post by **Robert Ferrieux** » Sat 26 Jan 2008 21:48

caroline postlethwaite wrote:I am so fed up with the customer services in this country… come on France you've got to improve this.

I presume that 'this country' and 'France' really mean 'Roussillon'. You remember the story about the Englishman landing in Calais and catching sight of a red-haired woman, don't you ?

RF.

Outie · Post by **Outie** » Sat 26 Jan 2008 22:20

Hey,we bought 2 cartons of milk at the local aldi this week,monday.One was off when we openned it so wednesday I took it back since we needed some more milk,would the lady in charge of the store change it,NO WAY with out a till reciept(56c for the milk)even though the milk is packaged for them and only sold at Aldi store.

As for red haired women in France,not many are natural red heads for sure,from calais doem to the spanish border,What is it with french women(mainly)why do they have to dye their hair,everyone knows it`s dyed.

Santiago · Post by **Santiago** » Sun 27 Jan 2008 09:51

I too had a problem with Auchan's electrical department.

In 2006 we bought a 2-year mobile phone package from them and took out their insurance on the phone.

After about 3 months, the phone accidentally got put in the washing machine and stopped working.

We had to pay them €30 to look at the phone. Then they came back saying Auchan's insurance doesn't cover any form of water damage. We could replace the phone for €270. We were stuck with the 2 year contract so had to buy another phone.

To make matters worse, when we moved to Trouillas we don't get any reception. I had specifically asked the sales person about recepeption in Trouillas and she said no problems.

The good news is that the contract ends in March - hurrah. Then I can get a pay as you go SFR card, and not from Auchan!

groslard · Post by **groslard** » Sun 27 Jan 2008 11:45

caroline postlethwaite wrote:come on France you've got to improve this.

What has Auchan got to do with France?

john · Post by **john** » Sun 27 Jan 2008 11:46

In fairness,the only time I've had to take anything back to Auchan,it was dealt with efficiently,albeit with the usual French mountain of trivial paperwork,(pieces d'identité,stuff filled out in triplicate etc).

But it is true,I've heard so many complaints re the hypermarkets about this sort of nonsense,that I've gone back to doing what I always used to do in the UK...buy food from supermarkets and buy everything else from specialists in that particular field. These days,prices are competitive,and I see no sense in buying mobile phones,furniture,dishwashers etc from them,nor buying tellies from furniture warehouses, chairs from electrical shops,or computers from stationery stores.

ruby · Post by **ruby** » Sun 27 Jan 2008 14:56

I have had great customer service when taking goods back at CARREFOUR, Auchan is horrible, far too big, and not very friendly. Why does everyone go there?

opas · Post by **opas** » Sun 27 Jan 2008 15:27

Outie, you have forgotten your `possitive` shopping experience this week havn`t you?!

He bought some `toy` or other in Leroy merlin last week, and I undid the packaging........he is a tear the box open type of person

, anyway the `toy` worth over 60 euros did not do what the package said it should, so back he went, ready for a runnaround the store to meet the various levels of staff. NOPE, greeted at customer service with options, money back, credit note or exchange (and change on the difference if he chose a credit note) I feel he was still in shock at lunchtime when I came home to this news...........he said it was like shopping at ASDA

John & Elaine · Post by **John & Elaine** » Sun 27 Jan 2008 16:29

We have never had a problem. All smiles. No questions. Money refunded! Yes Auchan is too big for comfort and you can't get out in less than an hour - and I (John) hate it but we have never had any discourtesy or Customer service issues.

blackduff · Post by **blackduff** » Sun 27 Jan 2008 17:13

But if you want to find some food items, Auchan has what you want.

Blackduff

joe · Post by **joe** » Sun 27 Jan 2008 19:12

I too had the same problem in Leroy Merlin bought a pool pump only to find the electrical cable cut in 2 and rust all over it - obviously a return. I went back to the shop and asked to speak to the manager got a new one with a 15% discount. Not quite what I expected but it was late and I took the moeny and ran

I do believe Carrefour has a 14 day policy where you can return an item no questions asked as ever keep the receipt

PaddyFrog · Post by **PaddyFrog** » Mon 28 Jan 2008 00:39

Information removed by PF

blackduff · Post by **blackduff** » Mon 28 Jan 2008 00:55

When I tried to buy a portable telephone at Auchan, I had a series of problems too. They kept "always one more paper" which meant I had to go home and bring a new paper. This was a forty-two kilometers drive to bring the next paper.

I returned three more times trying to get their paper needs and finally gave up. They asked for my Carte Gris. I saw I was never going to get a telephone by this group. I left immediately and went to France Telecom in Perpignan. Within a few hours, I had a new telephone, even the model I wanted.

Yet, if you want the small clams needed for Spanish recipes, Auchan is the only store in Perpignan which sells my "Almejas" for supper.

Blackduff

opas · Post by **opas** » Mon 28 Jan 2008 08:34

Just reading the comments about never having a problem returning faulty goods, whoever said that......Paddyfrog , i believe.......try buying something from Giffi at le boulou!!

We bought a wooden chopping board from them, not a cheap one. we used it once to cut up peppers onions etc for a pasta, washed it and the wood split clean in two........we went back and I had the receipt still in the car(in the ashtray where all my till receipts end up)
the manager said he would not refund or exchange as I had used it and had obviously cut it.....I explained the principle of a chopping board, that it wasn`t an ornament to hang on the wall, and that I had used a veg knife on it not an axe!! my humour was lost on him, he went and phoned his head office and left us standing at the till for 20 mins hoping we would get fed up, finally he came back and aggreed very begrudgingly that we could have another in exchang.........we do not shop there at all now.

john · Post by **john** » Mon 28 Jan 2008 09:37

That's a classic,opas.

I hope you weren't thinking of putting any hot liquids in that coffee pot ,or were planning on standing on that nice rug that you bought there?

DavidB · Post by **DavidB** » Mon 28 Jan 2008 09:50

There seems to be list developing here, which I can add to...
Auchan-too big, not pleasant to shop at, prices too high.
Castorama-nice new shop, same old useless service. SAV was positively aggressive a few years ago, mainly due to one person there.
Bricomarche-avoid the promo tools like meuleuses,perforators.
Gifi-poor quality goods, and don't believe the publicity.
Leclerc Boulou-unpleasant accueil, slow checkouts...but improving.

Some stores are trying to improve their service, but turning round the attitudes of long serving staff is difficult....a case of winning hearts and minds, and some of the store managers are obviously not up to it.

I have hardly ever had a problem when returning goods for refund at most places, but you have to be patient and tenacious. At Leroy Merlin, I think the service is magic 95% of the time. Some of the staff have been there so long, sometimes we feel that they and we are all growing old together!

DavidB

Roger O · Post by **Roger O** » Mon 28 Jan 2008 13:07

Quite likely "quality of service" (both sales and SAV) has partly to do with incentives!
Give staff "service and sales points" which add up to a year-end bonus together with a true profit share scheme - and even a 13th (or 14th month salary per annum as SR France used to do - they didn't go bust for that either!!) and "real" employers in "real companies" will experience "real magic" in their growth figures - let alone the imrpovement in attitude of the staff towards clients, as a "side effect!!!

Pay people as little as you can for as much work as you can squeeze out of them in the grumpiest fashion you can treat them... and the result is foreordained - with the side effect that the next government is sure to be socialist...

When will they ever learn???????????

john · Post by **john** » Mon 28 Jan 2008 15:13

DavidB wrote:Auchan-too big, not pleasant to shop at, prices too high.
DavidB

Blimey David,if you think that the Perpignan branch of Auchan is too big and impersonal,you clearly have not visited their stores in the north,particularly those in Caen, Boulogne,Lille -Englos,and several in the Paris area.

They truly are the embodiment of the term "grand surface".

Steve&Julie · Post by **Steve&Julie** » Mon 28 Jan 2008 19:08

Just wanted to add my twoeurosworth....

Just returned from a week's renovation visit and can't speak too highly of the service in Leroy Merlin in the heating department outside the main store. We asked for Tracey Biggin and she was brilliant. We were buying a foyer to insert into an already half-formed old bread oven so obviously nothing was straighforward and nothing was easy. We had taken drawings and photo's and needed lots of advice/help. The staff at Leroy (translated extremely effectively by Tracey in a good natured way) were helpful, patient and wanted to make positively sure that we had what we needed. We were there about an hour and a half and they couldn't have done more, even down to loading everything into our car and ensuring it was all packed safely. Tracey even helped me get 5% off with a green Maison card!

Those of you that can already speak fluent French may not realise how much of a sheer relief it is to know what you are buying is right for the job. The technical terms are all different and we don't even have log burners for sale in the UK. We do try, but even quite good French speakers would be challenged by what we had to explain/communicate.

Thanks very much Tracey, I know where we will be going back to in future!

DavidB · Post by **DavidB** » Tue 29 Jan 2008 09:21

john wrote: Blimey David,if you think that the Perpignan branch of Auchan is too big and impersonal,you clearly have not visited their stores in the north,particularly those in Caen, Boulogne,Lille -Englos,and several in the Paris area.

John, I'm obviously a small-town hick. We descend from the mountain once a week by haycart to shop for our grits!....But we can get the Sunday Times (on Sunday) from the local epicerie.
DavidB.

john · Post by **john** » Tue 29 Jan 2008 09:49

Impressive service indeed from the Oms village store. Which makes it all the more inexplicable that even in Ceret availability of UK Sunday papers on a Sunday is not ALWAYS guaranteed!

I'd agree with Julie re Leroy Merlin and Tracey. To be fair,my French is good enough for me not to need her,but we've met,and she clearly offers a very friendly and efficient service.As far as LM is concerned,I'd agree they are streets ahead of the competition(Casto,Brico Marché,Brico Depot and Mr Bricolage). Their store is not as fancy as Casto's (why was their planning application for a new one turned down?),but the staff are a million times more helpful.

sue and paul · Post by **sue and paul** » Tue 29 Jan 2008 10:16

We'd agree about the superior experience chez Leroy Merlin. Like John, we mostly don't need the linguistic help offered by Tracey. However, the fact that they immediately replaced Brian Wood shows that they are committed to the needs of their clientèle. Tracey just came up to us in there and introduced herself, offering to be on hand if we needed her. We were told by another assistant that she also gives staff English lessons.

We have spent a lot of money in Leroy Merlin, and this would not have happened if the service had been defective. So far, they have notified us on time of our ordered items arriving, and helped to load our trailer. One pack of tiles were broken in our first order, but they notified us before we went to collect, put another pack on order, and, as you would expect, didn't charge us for the part pack of damaged tiles, at least half of which were still intact. We are expecting more stuff on a delivery in a few weeks, so let's hope that they keep up the good work.

Their price/quality balance seems about right, and we never have a problem 'collaring' someone to give us advice. They have the right business attitude - give the customer what they want - and deserve our custom.

PaddyFrog · Post by **PaddyFrog** » Thu 31 Jan 2008 00:15

Information removed by PF

Sav · Post by **Sav** » Thu 31 Jan 2008 01:31

[quote="DavidB"]There seems to be list developing here, which I can add to...
SAV was positively aggressive a few years ago

Was it something i said

Cheers Sav

DavidB · Post by **DavidB** » Thu 31 Jan 2008 08:50

Sav wrote: Was it something i said...

So it WAS you!.....and all these years I thought it was Casto's fault.

DavidB

Sav · Post by **Sav** » Thu 31 Jan 2008 12:43

Hi David

Savo is my full name, but peeps call me Sav

Saw my name plastered next to Carrefour, in Argeles.
Felt good about that & wondered how my name had been hi-jacked

Now wondering if i should keep a low profile

Cheers Sav

carol sheridan · Post by **carol sheridan** » Thu 31 Jan 2008 20:05

I was actually told by a shoe shop in England that my daughter's school shoes had come apart because she had worn them outside! This was some time ago, and I must say things are much better now over there. I haven't had to return much in my six years in France, but Gifi in Cahors would only give me a credit note for something that didn't work. As it happened, there was something for just about the right price that I wanted, so I accepted it, but I was prepared to make a big fuss.

DavidB · Post by **DavidB** » Fri 01 Feb 2008 09:40

Have to give some positive news on this subject....I took some bits back to Casto yesterday, and I got a refund no problem AND a smile from the lady in the accueil!....do you think that they are reading this forum?...oh look....there goes a flying pig.
DavidB

Roger O · Post by **Roger O** » Fri 01 Feb 2008 09:47

Further to my post above, the FO and CGT are advocating all supermarket staff to strike for better salaries. This time I totally agree with them, for a change. Better make sure you won't have to brave the pickets when you go to Auchan or Carrefour!! Humanise management and pay the staff correctly in direct relation to profits!!

carol sheridan · Post by **carol sheridan** » Fri 01 Feb 2008 13:09

I don't know enough about working conditions in France to comment, but I do know that my experience in the UK was that considerations other than pay were just as important to workers. Tesco in Dover had an unusually friendly and helpful staff and when my grandson did a Saturday job there he found that the management of that particular store was very sympathetic and approachable. I don't know if this applies to other Tesco stores.
My experience of complaints, from both sides of things, was that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If you make a big fuss and keep on making it you usually get some satisfaction. They rely on your giving up and going away quietly.

FORUM