I bought a USB hub to use with my laptop earlier this year from Officeworks on Smith St. It worked fine until last week when it stopped working for no obvious reason. I took my receipt and the hub and went to Officeworks to replace it or get a refund. OMG Officeworks employs a bunch of brainless automatons.
I walked up the counter. No greeting. Blank face. I politely explained the issue. The sales automaton says she needs to call the computer automaton, who comes over. She summarises and without saying anything he walks away. Eventually I realise I am meant to follow him. I follow him to where the USB hubs are.
The one I bought is not in stock, so a simple replacement is not possible. The others are a dumb shape where the plug is wide and blocks the adjacent USB port on my computer. I say I’ll have a refund instead. The computer automaton walks me back to the sales desk.
The sales automaton says she’ll prepare a voucher for me. No thanks, I say, I want a refund, preferably processed back onto the credit card I bought it with. You can’t have money, she said, only a voucher. That’s against the law, I said. You’re not allowed to refuse a cash refund. I want to see a copy of your returns policy. Blank look.
You must have a returns policy, I repeat. Blank look. Don’t know what your returns policy says about the refunding of faulty goods? Don’t even know what a returns policy is? Blank look. The sales automaton tells me she cannot authorise a cash refund and must ask the computer automaton. She calls him back.
The computer automaton refuses and says I’ll get a voucher. No I won’t, I say. I will speak with your manager. Get him/her here now and stop wasting my time. Manager automaton approves cash refund, which sales automaton processes. No smile. No apology. Why can’t anyone just do their job with basic competence? Why are you people so fucking retarded?
2 May 2011 at 1:27 am
I had a similar experience with the QV one. I was in a rush and didn’t feel like arguing all day. I noticed they sold Coles Myers cards there, so exchanged the amount ($100) onto an Officeworks gift card, then bought the Coles Myer card. I shop at Coles anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal to me. I suspect Officeworks are strongly encouraged to persuade customers to give refunds in credit/gift cards.
Only time I ever go there is if I want to buy a pricematched computer/electronic item and CBF going to MSY.
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21 December 2012 at 10:46 pm
officeworks staff are trained to get the tech staff to deal with the refund proceedure to determine whether or not a customer gets a refund or not. It is the law and all the pathetic excuses the staff use to stop customers getting their money back will not stand up in a court of law. I know I used to work for them. Don’t let them not give the proper refund. I always obeyed the company policy after obeying the rights of the consumer as laid down in law first.
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2 May 2011 at 5:10 pm
You’re right to push for a refund, state laws entitle you to receive one when you’ve bought faulty goods. It’s a pity that Officeworks haven’t informed their customer service staff about the legislation as they’re supposed to.
I wouldn’t take it out on the CS staff though, it’s not their fault if they haven’t been trained to the level they need to be – they probably also don’t have authorisation for cash refunds, at least they were able to escalate to the manager who could help you.
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6 May 2011 at 2:02 am
Was your Hub in Warranty?
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6 May 2011 at 7:50 am
Yes.
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17 August 2011 at 2:58 pm
Hey mate. I actually work at Officeworks (I prob shouldn’t say which store) but its not Fitzroy. I came across this bored today. Sounds like you got some poor service. Part of the problem is we don’t have an official returns policy. Our policy is to use our desecration. To me your situation is a simple refund straight on your credit card but I guess everyone is different. With Refunds if someone pays by card we refund on that card and not in cash due to theft issues.
Usually I find OW customer service to be exceptional but Im not stupid and can see faults at some stores, which again will remain nameless. Don’t know how long ago this was written but in the past few years customer service has become a priority. I also think one of the biggest issues at OW is the lack of training. My first few months I was as useful as a ham sandwich when offering advice. Im familiar with the leadership team at Fitzroy and Im sure they would be horrified if they read this as they try to pride their store on good customer service. Clearly you did not experience this. I would like to suggest to you next time ( if you get a chance) please fill out a feedback form. As this gives us a chance to improve and also feedback if you do receive good customer service. As I’m sure you could imagine working in Retail hearing something positive occasionally is nice.
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17 August 2011 at 7:05 pm
What ignorant self serving rubbish. Retailers have obligations under consumer law (pdf) to provide refunds for faulty goods. Lawful store returns policies are simply summaries of the law. There is therefore no excuse for a store not having a returns policy or not being aware of the law.
Why should I waste more of my time filling in a feedback form? I provided all the information verbally during the dispute. It is the responsibility of the business to fix its own problems and it certainly was made aware of them.
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8 February 2012 at 6:21 pm
“Our policy is to use our desecration”
Well in cases where a statutory warranty applies to the good(s) use your discretion and comply with your (or your employers) legal obligations (as a representative of your company)
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17 August 2011 at 8:17 pm
I was not making excuses for the store or the company, the opposite in fact. I was sharing with yourself and others who read this some of the flaws in otherwise a decent company to work for and to shop with I think. All I was saying there is no set returns policy. Trust me this is just as frustrating for an employee who is between a rock and a hard place. I return the product the customer is happy and Management is not. If I don’t return the product the customer is unhappy but management is happy. But of course this is short lived until they receive a complaint then they are unhappy again. If there was a set policy this would be resolved. As far as I’m concerned, if a customer has a receipt, it is in warranty and not damaged to the point where it looks like a customer has run over it I would return it cash credit voucher what ever (with laptops and desktop computers there is a large grey area due to manufactures having different policies). But no matter the outcome as an employee I cant win.
I would much rather a clear policy which we could go by as the current method is inefficient and too ambiguous. Having had a few store managers in the past four years I have been an employee at officeworks, I have seen this policy fail and suggested its shortcomings in “climate surveys”. Some managers will return things even without a receipt because frankly they did not care. While others will kill lie and complain until they customer cracks the shits and leaves the store. Too me thats unacceptable.
I suggested the feedback from because I am a firm believer in constructive criticism. I agree it is the business who needs to fix their problems. But these problems can not be fixed if customers don’t take the time to complain. I often suggest to customers to fill out forms in regards to poor service and complaints because that’s how we learn.
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17 August 2011 at 8:48 pm
I did complain to a manager, who should have taken note of what I said, considering they admitted I was right and they were wrong. You still don’t seem to accept that the retailer has ALL the responsibility according to law in this matter.
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17 August 2011 at 9:02 pm
Did not know you complained to the manager. All that was said was “Manager automaton approves cash refund” and also no mention of the part where the manager admitted fault. Only being 20 years of age I haven’t developed my brain to the stage where I can read minds. I do apologize for that. I agree with you the the Retailer has the responsibility which is what I have said all along. I was just suggesting that perhaps Officeworks is lazy and unresponsive and needs to be told where they are going wrong. Its all very well to blog about poor experiences and not confront the issue in person. But until your last comment and my lack of telepathy skills it was unclear you had done so. However, there is still no excuse for the poor customer service and experience you had I was merely explaining the situation from the other side of the coin.
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18 August 2011 at 12:49 am
As I wrote, ‘I will speak with your manager. Get him/her here now and stop wasting my time. Manager automaton approves cash refund’. So obviously I spoke with a manager.
Educating corporations about their legal responsibilities is so tedious. I find publicly embarrassing them to be more effective and more amusing.
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19 August 2011 at 7:54 pm
Brian your a tool!!
Clients like you should get a refund,
That is what you should expect when you are shopping at a store like Officeworks?
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20 August 2011 at 2:44 pm
Do try to be coherent. And learn to spell.
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21 August 2011 at 6:22 pm
it is inconceivable that a massive company like this a. doesn’t have a returns policy b. doesn’t train their staff about legal requirements surrounding merchantable goods, which is enshrined in australian consumer law. they must just be trying one on to dupe as many customers as possible. i’m so so surprised that they haven’t had any accc run ins.
when i worked for a large retail chain, every staff member had training in consumer law + our refund policy + what we should and shouldn’t say concerning refunds, as well as other relevant aspects of consumer rights. it seems just very very strange and wholly misguided. and it sucks for their staff as well as customers as officeworks employee points out – good on him/her for suggesting feedback forms in such a hopeless situation caused by the company.
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24 September 2011 at 5:49 pm
Hi, I understand this issue was bought up over a month ago, but I honestly don’t understand why this issue even happened. I have today on my 8-5 shift on a Saturday alone returned 3 items all to seperate customers, and one of which I actually explained that we could return in any way, at which point it was put on his eftpos card. And on top of that, I do not even primarily work on registers.
I’m sorry to hear about this experience. I do agree with this other Officeworks employee in saying that our returns is a gray area, but I do know that we at this store I am employed at are very generous in our returns. I again apologize, I understand this is a terrible experience, but assure you it isn’t how Officeworks in general is run. I hope this does not affect yours or for that matter any one else’s shopping experiences at Officeworks. Hope to see you in an Officeworks store again to retrial the experience you should have received. And also, the issue with the fact that they didn’t acknowledge or greet you, I think you should know that in the training I’ve undergone about 6 months ago, these have actually become pillars of our customer experience, and are very well enforced by managers on casual staff, so this once again, really should have not happened. Please don’t let this stop you shopping at Officeworks! We are a well built business built all around our customers needs, this one experience should have never happened, and I can assure, should never happen again.
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14 January 2012 at 7:34 pm
Who cares. You got a refund. Buy another one and move on.
Can’t believe you had a bad day over it.
50 people got shot today but the whole world has to stop for some little broken hub.
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14 January 2012 at 8:02 pm
Consumers who don’t stand up for their rights will continue to be abused and exploited by corporations. If that’s what you want to experience, you deserve it.
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8 February 2012 at 11:56 am
Auburn Officeworks
-Bill is unexpeced high
-i sit outside and go through the bag item by item
-find 3 items billed against me which i have no idea what they are
-some other items are significantly higher priced than the price on the board
Take it back. Wait for over 10 minutes in queue
- after finishing with previous customer attendant just walks off leaving me to call behind her to help me
- I explain the situ and she says i actually bought the stuff
- another attendant jumps in and says he was price checking those items and they shouldn’t have been billed to me
- he offers to refund eveything to card — does so – gets me to sign a paper saying I’m satified (it is a printout of the refund) and rebills
- I discard one item which was priced multiple times of what the board said
No apology at any stage of the proceedings.
All good??
three days later go through my bank statement… find two transactions to officeworks and no refund
contact bank… they can’t see any refund
write a complaint to officeworks… third day now and still no reply
Very dissapointing experience. Recommendation: Check your bill if your unfortunate enough to visit officeworks.
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8 February 2012 at 4:26 pm
Update:-
They’ve refunded at last…. after 4+ days, when the return is supposed to happen instantaneously… still no word of apology from them.
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29 February 2012 at 7:12 pm
You think a credit reversal on your credit card/eftpos is “instantaneous”?? I lol at you, sir. When you swipe your card, it has to be approved by you, the store, the bank, the creditor. When you want a REFUND, it goes the other way. Sure, you might think “oh, my card is charged automatically” but that’s a little misleading. In actual fact, your money sits in your account, but is merely inaccessible to YOU while the store, the bank, the creditor approve the funds.
Anyway, I also question why when you were told the price of the products and then handed over your card… to enter your pin or better yet SIGN for the products…. why didn’t you stop and THINK, before signing, or entering your pin “Huh… I wanted two items… why does it say 12?” Or “Oh, I know that my products that I have decided to buy total about $20. Why does the machine say $80??”
I mean, you have enough time to work out you were buying more than you literally bargained for… do you have to get abusive and complain? Yell at staff? Huff and puff about waiting to be served?? After all, you said that you selected the products, paid using a card, and left the store. It took you a good, what? 10 minutes to realise that something wasn’t right?
You’re not a zombie, right? You’re not brain dead. You aren’t an idiot, I would assume. After all, idiots aren’t handed credit cards (or maybe they are…). Sure, the check out chick obviously made a mistake (and didn’t cancel off the items they were checking for someone else, or probably even you…), but YOU made the bigger mistake for HANDING OVER YOUR MONEY WILLINGLY after being TOLD what the cost of the items were, if not by the check out chick, then by the eftpos machine or the paper you sign to approve your credit card charge.
And before you get on your high horse – I don’t work for officeworks, or anyone actually. I’m unemployed. Blissfully so, I might add, because I’d hate to put up with one second of your incompetence and blatant social ignorance in whatever place I decide to work at.
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8 February 2012 at 4:41 pm
I had very bad experience with these idiots at Officeworks, doncaster branch. I bought by mistake a $30 itunes card,along with dozens of items and paid for it and then realised that I only needed $10 card. So went there. They were closed.
Then went next day morning. Asked for exchange/refund. They won’t refund. I said its still unused and in it’s original condition. The counter said she needed to call the duty manager. This asshole misdirected me to call Apple and even gave the no. to call. When I called Apple they said they have nothing to do with it as its retailer’s responsibility to give the refund.
Then I called the Office works ‘Customer support’ ( yeah they have one for the namesake) and waited for 30 min over the phone and then I talked to the WORST ‘Customer support’ in history called Jane. Probably, a frustrated old lady. She does not even want to speak to me about this issue as she thinks this should have been dealt with at the store level.
She puts me on hold for another 20 min and says the same thing as the store manager.
This lady was easily THE WORST/RUDEST lady I’ve spoken to. Congrats officeworks for having history’s worst lady in your ‘customer support’ team. It says lots about your company.
I used to spend around $200 per month on photocopying and stationery with officeworks. But I will never go there again.
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29 February 2012 at 7:19 pm
Same story as the idiot above. YOU walked in, carefully selected a product, went through the long process of buying the item only to get home and realise you didn’t want it anymore.
Those iTunes cards you buy come out of code generation machines. You can refund them, if you know how, but you only have 24 hours to reverse the sale. This isn’t an “Apple” problem, it isn’t an “Officeworks” problem, it’s a third party who supply the machine. The name escapes me right now I’m afraid, but the fact is after that 24 hour period, it is PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for the store to prove that you didn’t use that number on your iTunes account.
Basically my point is that it’s a little unfair to expect that the store is some god like entity that can literally do ANYTHING to make you happy. Go home. Load the $30 in your iTunes account. I HIGHLY doubt that you will NEVER use $30 on the iTunes store. Or maybe, just maybe, give the card away to someone in your family, or a friend. Instead of making everyone’s lives miserable, make someone happy.
Retailers aren’t perfect, but you made the mistake of buying something you didn’t want. That’s not their problem. To make matters worse, you probably said something that convinced the person on the check out that you had used the card. Or maybe you didn’t specify that you used the card. Or you probably didn’t have you receipt.
The bottom line with most complaints of this nature is the CUSTOMER needs to use their BRAIN, at least a little bit.
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13 May 2012 at 9:32 pm
Whats the bet that all these people whinging have never worked in retail?
I mean what are we meant to do when major shareholders (yes im bringing the rich snobs into it) complain that we put too much money into wages, hence we cut so we only have in my case 5 people in my store with the capability to process a refund, and then 1 calls in sick… Suddenly we are stuck with only juniors to run everything.
So you say “tell your manager to fix it”
Yep that would be me, the manager, and MY manager says to me “But we dont sell enough”
Sum up what the actual problem is? Its rich snobs.
As for the actual refund fact, it works like this:
If you approach my Customer Service counter, I will walk up to you when I am finished with any customers waiting before you, I will greet you. If you give me attitude and huff and puff and whinge and bitch. Then yes I will go out of my way to avoid giving you satisfaction, because you are treating me like an automaton in your words, so I will act like one and tell you computer says no.
If however you decide to treat me like a human being and greet me in return, I will not question your decision to return something, in fact I have even refunded the competitors items numerous times for my good customers, even though we cannot sell the heavily branded competitor item.
Try some respect for your retail employee’s… might get you somewhere! Im not saying you need to invite us to your house (although some of my customers have), but at least acknowledge our existance…
Oh and dont f**king think of using your mobile phone whilst you are talking to me. K thnx
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13 May 2012 at 9:47 pm
Can’t you read? I started off this exchange politely expected to be treated professionally according to the law. Officeworks broke the law and then I got annoyed. You don’t get to alter the service provided according to your opinions of my worthiness as a customer.
It is obviously the employer’s fault for not training their staff properly but if they are stupid enough to employ someone like you then no wonder they fail at customer service.
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11 June 2012 at 11:26 am
The iTunes gift card counts as a change of mind refund which retailers are not obligated to provide. When I worked at Officeworks we were unable to refund iTunes vouchers because the third party provider who issued them to us didn’t allow refunds. Should Officeworks take a $30 loss because you changed your mind after you purchased it? The previous provider did make it possible to cancel vouchers within a reasonable time of issue and we used to refund them all the time. I don’t know why we changed to a different provider.
As an ex-employee my insider knowledge is well out of date, but the experience related in the original post is in direct contradiction to the company creed. There is an emphasis on good customer service. This would not have gone down well in my store or under my manager.
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10 July 2012 at 1:21 pm
I’m so glad it’s not just me go had a problem- I went into the fitzroy office works this morning to buy a whole heap of things.
Web I couldn’t find what I needed I went up to a lady who was staking shelves and asked where it was. She huffed and pointed vaguely saying ‘they’re over there’. She didn’t stop what she was doing and help or even give me any useful details. Therefore I was already a bit peeved
I got what I needed and went to the register. No hi, how’s your day, she just put everything through and said ‘do you want to buy a bag’. I asked how much and she said rudely ‘they’re behind you’. I foud this all a bit ridiculous and said under my breath ‘this is bullshit’, knowing I’d just purchased a whole lot of stuff and was about to pass over a whole heap of money. When I turned back she was tapping at the expos machine, no ‘if you could please just swipe it through’ or ‘that will $…’ just tapping.
I asked her ‘well how much is it’ she said ‘it’s on the monitor’. The monitor wasnt facing me so I hadn’t seen it earlier. I said ‘im sorry but I think the staff in this place are very rude’. She said I was the one who was rude and I had sworn at her. I said I wasn’t swearing at her I was annoyed because I was being made to buy a bag after I’d just spent over $70, she said it wasn’t her fault she just worked there. I said I understood that I just thought it was stupid
She then said, as she was walking away from me ‘well I think you’re stupid’….
Now excuse me, but I’ve worked in retail for the past ten years. I in fact run a company with my brother and we pride ourselves on being helpful and courteous to even the rudest of customers, and I have to say this is one of the rudest experiences Ive ever had. I understand in big business it’s hard to train all your staff, and that there even often becomes a culture of rudeness within certain stores and so forth, but nonetheless, I honestly believe that these staff members are beyond rude and close to belligerent, as this isn’t my only experience.
I won’t be returning there, no matter what marketing personal responds to my issues, but maybe you can fix it so the next customer doesn’t receive the same treatment.
Good luck with your business office works, i personally will now be shopping local from now on, regardless of price
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3 August 2012 at 11:10 pm
Our current returns policy is basically if it’s damaged, faulty or you purchased the wrong one or whatever and want to return/exchange it, we will refund your money the way you paid for it if you have a receipt (eg. paid on savings account, refunded on the same savings account). If you want to return/exchange for whatever reason and you do not have a receipt, we will refund the money on an Officeworks gift card.
Also, while we do try our best to provide good service to our customers, many of us are so busy with tasks that we are too focused to worry about what our first priorities should be (you). I know it’s not good, but it does happen in many other workplaces too. Customers do also have to understand that we have other customers to assist too that may have been waiting a while. Sometimes we’ll spend 2 minutes with one customer and 20 minutes with another depending on their needs. (I spent 45 minutes assisting an elderly lady today with printing photos because she needed me to spend the time with her.)
Another thing is that not everybody in a store can know everything about everything. I work on the registers. I know where the majority of things are in the store and am able to answer some technology and stationary questions. However if I was asked to compare two technology products, etc I would be unable to provide someone with accurate information. This is why we have departmental team members who are able to assist with more specific things.
I understand that some Officeworks Team Members are not as friendly as others, but I can say that one of the reasons I decided to join Officeworks is because of the people that worked there (I was a fairly regular customer due to great service).
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3 August 2012 at 11:29 pm
Wow, it really is an endless stream of excuses from you retail serfs. When I was there the shop was deserted and there were more staff in sight than customers. I had my receipt, I had faulty goods and, fortunately for me, I knew the law. It is inexcusable for retail staff not to know the law when it comes to returns.
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11 August 2012 at 10:35 am
I encountered once in OW Kingsway. I was looking for a 3G Wireless Router Modem. I asked the sales person there and he actually show me a ‘switch’. I said I wan a 3G modem and again he show me a non 3G router. No no, I wan a 3G modem and he keep showing me all the non relevant modem until I finally found one and show it to him this is 3G Modem. Then I ask him what other 3G modem you have beside the one I’m holding, here he go again showing me all the non 3G modem, router only, switch until I said ok thank you for your help. Arrghhhh!!!
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30 August 2012 at 2:25 pm
Nice generalization of all officeworks employees…
I’ve been going to my local officeworks stores for the past 9 years and haven’t experienced any troubles or concerning customer services.
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26 September 2012 at 9:09 am
Brian. Unfortunately u are a stereotype of a customer who thinks the world turns around them simply because you have dropped a little money at a store. This gives u no power over anyone. Sure, u have your rights. But your aggressive, derogatory rant is disproportionate to your experience. Who knows what u did to it to after u left the store. So many people blame anyone but themselves. Not to mention your generalizations about officeworks employees is childish. Probably time to realise the world doesn’t revolve around you, and grow up. Though I know that probably won’t happen.
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22 October 2012 at 9:25 pm
simply cannot agree any more with the above post from g. Don’t ever say you know law than conveyancers/lawyers who made policies for those national superstores. if there is anything against consumer law or even some loophole, that is not some arrogant people like you, Brian sir, would be able to find or use. Just read how you react to those officeworks employee’s post who were trying to help, did it make your story more convincing? well I just see some manner. Also, I only worked in supermarket when I was young.
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22 October 2012 at 10:03 pm
Nice apostrophe.
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10 March 2013 at 11:52 am
Don’t ever try to phone up for a simple product lookup. Was on hold for 7 mins, it randomly hangs up, call back, ask to be out on hold again, 4 mins, “we are busy, can you call back”.
Seriously is pathetic.
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