Two totally different customer service experiences from shops at Meadowhall.

Bad Service:

I went to Optical Express and asked to buy a new pair of glasses. You can get a second pair free, they said, we can make them up as sunglasses if you like. I picked a second pair and said I would like them as sunglasses. They only had the lenses to make one pair of glasses up that afternoon and asked if I could come back in a few days for the second pair. Two weeks later I went back.

Yes, here’s your second pair of glasses. They clearly weren’t sunglasses. Oh, we didn’t know you wanted sunglasses, we’ll tint them, come back later. I came back later, my sunglasses were ready. That’ll be another £35 please.

At no earlier point did they mention that the sunglasses would cost more. At one point they told me the extra charge was for the tinting (why didn’t they tell me when I first went back?), at another point they told me the extra charge was for the anti-reflection coating I wanted on my first pair of glasses (why didn’t they tell me and charge me when I first went in?). They rambled on about the free sunglasses offer having finished a month before - I wasn’t in an Optical Express shop a month before, I was told I could have free sunglasses two weeks ago.

In the end I decided to pay the £35 and complain to the head office. Letter in the post.

Darren was looking for some new glasses too - guess which optician won’t be getting a couple of hundred quid of his money.

Good service:

I looked on the Schuh website last week and found two pairs of shoes I liked, both were listed as being in stock in the right colours and sizes at the Meadowhall shop. However it was a few days before I got to go there. I found both pairs of shoes; one was out of stock in the black I wanted so they bought me some brown ones to try on. They fit fine and they offered to order them for me in black. They ordered them for me on Saturday afternoon in the shop and offered to send them to me free of charge. I got an email on Monday afternoon to say they had left the depot and were with Parcelforce; they turned up at my house at 8am Tuesday morning. At 10am I got an email to say they’d been delivered and a link to a copy of my own signature when I’d signed for them. Fabulous service.

Also, Darren was browsing for new glasses in Boots and out of the blue the sales assistant offered to tighten the screws on the glasses he was wearing. Not because he was giving them money (he didn’t) but just because good customer service means that he’ll be more likely to give them money in the future.