WHSmith loses, then wins back, a customer

It's as busy as ever for the Rapide denizens as Spring breaks and the snow melts away; there's even a strange yellow blob in the sky as I write - must be something wrong with my eyesight. Anyway, it's feeling warmer, so I thought I'd relate a customer service story to warm the cockles of your heart. (Nothing worse than cold cockles.)

Retailer WHSmith has gone through its ups and downs over the years, but it's still a favourite for many of us Brits of a certain age - warm memories of Saturdays perusing the shelves of excitingly coloured pencils and so on. In recent years they've moved online, and real-world stores are becoming rarer - I hadn't shopped in one for ages. But here's an example from a friend whose bad experience was turned into a good one... in less than 24 hours. Proving that the stationery retailer still has what it takes.

First thing first, though: the best part - having something to complain about. (Well, bad service is what this blog's all about. If you want sweetness and light, head for Rave's blog instead.)

An associate of Rapide's is off travelling again (the USA, since you ask) and needed a laptop sleeve to protect his most valuable asset. (Well, the asset with all his work on, anyway.) The aforementioned retailer had one that fitted like a glove. Better still, it was marked down from £17.99 to £5.99. Result!

Or so you'd think. At the till, it rang up the original price... so the assistant had to call his manager over. For our associate, things started looking bad when the whispering began - "You tell the customer." "No, you tell him." "No, you tell him." And so on. The manager departed without making eye contact... something's wrong here.

The assistant, somewhat redfacedly, told the customer he couldn't have it for the marked price. Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear. So our associate fires off an email to WHSmith's customer service desk, relating the story in spectacularly jocular fashion. And not really expecting a reply.


However, a reply arrived back... in a matter of hours! Yes, true customer service won through, and our hero is being sent a voucher for the difference (£12) even though he never actually bought the laptop sleeve. Well done WHSmith - it looks like, for now, you've retained a customer.