Mr C and I went to Sports Direct today.
Our mission was simple - Get a kidney belt for Mr C because he was in a car accident a few months ago his back really hurts so his mobility is limited and he needs some support.
We went to the branch at The Boulevard in Borehamwood.
We are not, as a rule, optimistic in our outlook, but when it comes to shopping, we have a tendency to dare to hope that we will get treated like human beings and not like trash when we enter a store. This, quite naively, also includes Sports Direct which, in retrospect is quite a dumb attitude to have because in the 4 years we have been here, we have had passable service maybe twice, three times at a push.
At first we thought it was because we were going to the East Croydon Branch, but we have been to a few around London and they are basically all the same: Bad attitudes (except for a small number of people who are nice but never seem to stay very long), bad service, aggressive and defensive, incompetent, indifferent, and very rude, and that's apart from their disappointing product ranges in-store and low quality merchandise.
In brief, Mr C approached the till where two young female employees were lounging over the counter having a chat. He politely asks the one staff member for the item he as looking for. in return he got a bleary-eyed look from the staff member, who said "what's that?" then turned to her colleague and said "He says he wants a kidney belt." So my husband told her that it was a support belt for his back, at which point, she replied "Oh that, they're somewhere over there." waving her hand in the general direction and immediately returning to her conversation, still lying over the counter like she could not be bothered to hold up her own body weight.
So naturally, our next stop was to the manager, to find out A. if there was any other product he could guide us towards, since the item described by the vague hand wave was not suitable, and B. to tell the manager about the SHIT service we got.
Oh my GOD! What a self-righteous PRICK! His only reaction was to get defensive and aggressive because we used the word shit. It was an accurate description for the service. We were not swearing at him or at his staff. We said the service was shit. Well how dare we swear at him and he will decide when service in his shop is bad and deal with it accordingly and he doesn't appreciate being sworn at and - He was quite mean and I felt threatened by him.
Let me be perfectly honest, JD Sports is a shop I will not set foot in. Sports Direct staff, however, have been so nasty to me that they have made me cry on more than one occasion. Chris, the manager of the Borehamwood Sports Direct, was one of them today. I will not tolerate this any longer.
I have worked in retail, I have worked in hospitality, I have even packed flowers at a farm for Mother's Day so do not tell me that you can't expect more from people earning minimum wage and you can't tell me that staff behave that way because the company does not treat them well. As excuses go, those are pitiful and pathetic.
I will be taking this to head office, We already phoned today, by the customer care centre was closed. (Surprise!!)
I have been to many of the shops in the Boulevard and I cannot think of a shop there or on the High Street that treats its customers worse than Sports Direct.
The experience completely spoilt my day; and I do try so hard to have good days - it takes work these days; it doesn't just happen by itself any more.
Please feel free to recommend an alternative supplier of sportswear and shoes. I really hate SportsDirect!