A new Chapter - Good Customer Service at Marks & Spencer

In recent times, Marks & Spencer GIP Mall has undergone a huge transformation in it's customer service and attitude towards customers and I for one am certainly glad about seeing this positive change in their attitude. The credit goes to their Managers ( Mr. Anand and Mr. Rishab ) as well who it seems took my recent feedback seriously regarding the impatience and insensitivity demonstrated by a certain staff member in dealing with me and specially a senior citizen. So you see how important it is to bring forward your concerns so that they may be addressed if possible by the stores.

Since then I have experienced a visible change in their way of dealing with customers and I compliment them in taking my feedback seriously and implementing it right away to enhance their customer service. Henceforward shopping would be certainly a pleasant experience at their store hopefully. As it is I like their exchange policy whereby they give you a credit note for a long duration to shop later or refund the entire money. Just last week I was forced to return a very nice top as the piece was defective but I seemed to have misplaced the price tag as I took the piece back to the store much later since the day I was about to wear it. Fortunately the store manager accepted the defective piece to be returned in exchange for a credit note based on the bill I provided and I am truly grateful to him for that.

Their staff  members like Navneet and Amjad Khan are quite helpful, courteous and interactive. Their  knowledge of clothing contributes in selecting the right stuff for yourself as a customer.

Such good customer service extended to me and the pleasantness of their staff now will definitely make me want to keep going back there for more and more shopping !

Marks & Spencer Noida needs a total makeover

Marks & Spencer at GIP Mall Noida really needs a makeover in terms of the quality of service offered to customers and it's location of the women's wear section. Earlier on the women's clothing section had more privacy as it was not located right in front of the cash counter. Now there is no privacy even at the entrance of the changing rooms for women as the staff entrance is located there and everyone is just passing by all the time. The men's section has more privacy that way since it is located in a corner.

The clothes are good at Marks & Spencer here but fine customer service is actually quite lacking specially where the sales girls are concerned. I have always had an unpleasant experience with their sales girls who are just not trained to give the right advice to the customers and are quite negative in their attitude. The sales girls at the stores are too interfering and often argue as well as contradict the customer regarding the sizes the customer is accustomed to wearing. Often they mislead the customers as unlike other stores they have no idea that according to the labels,locations ,cuts and designs the sizes always differ for any individual. One doesn't ever wear the same size in everything. So I suggest that when you visit Marks & Spencer Noida, just don't let the sales girls interfere in your shopping and try not to let them bully you into trying out what they think is right for you as after all you know what suits you the best ! They are quite rude and don't let that bother you. Just tell them that you will help yourself...Seriously they ought to select courteous sales girls or they will lose their customers to Vero Moda, Celio or Only stores where even the male staff is giving more professional customer service to it's lady customers.

Their security staff now is more well mannered and professional than their sales people. They need to give good training to their staff to enhance the shopping experience of the customers.

 Even though alterations are free, the experience in getting alterations done there are quite unsatisfactory as they are quite rigid where alterations are concerned. One of their sales boy and their alterations tailor in the past recommended to pay and get alterations done by them outside. Naturally I found that quite odd and unprofessional !

Good Customer Service needed in terms of attitude and body language

I am once again reminded of my job as Guest Relations Officer at Hyatt long time back. I guess it holds true that Once a Hotelier, Always a Hotelier...As part of the the "Exceeding Guest Expectations" Training we would have lots of quizzes. One question was that " What are our guests' most basis expectations ?" The answer was " To be cared, to be understood and to be provided with good service."

People in the customer service industry should be more sensitive to the needs of their customers to have them coming back to them. Companies and Institutions should give them the best training to ensure that they meet the expectations and requirements of the guests and customers. They should be also given training in etiquettes and body language to aid them in delivering the most pleasant interaction with their customers. In this regard, I think that Lifestyle and Nike ( Ground Floor GIP Mall,Noida) need to pay attention as they have a lot of staff members with bad and aggressive attitudes.

Marks & Spencers Noida generally provided very good service to their customers and it is always nice shopping there. But in matters of etiquettes Marks & Spencers as well as Lifestyle needs to strictly prohibit their staff from coughing on customers and digging their noses while giving clothes to customers. As silly and irrelevant as this may sound, some customers actually get offended by such manners and do not want to pick up clothes from there then.

Later I will be telling more about the experience of a family member at the Nike shop which is on the ground floor of GIP Mall. Their attitude is really bad and the all male staff threatens and dominates by surrounding the customer in a group when the customer raises a complaint. I would suggest never to shop there. Instead Nike shop on the other floors are better at that mall.

This is where I stress that it is so important for even good brands like Nike to follow up on the services provided by it's franchises to customers to preserve their reputation and image. No wonder many are now going to Adidas even though they like Nike here. Of course we cannot base our judgement on one or two bad experiences as it is the individual who may have given the worst customer service and not the brand itself. But what can be done not to alienate the customer would be for the Brand name to be careful in selecting the people it lends it's names and franchises to and ensuring that they are providing good services through customer feedback.

I personally feel that not only famous personalities but common sales person at a shop is also in a way endorsing the brand he or she sells. The responsibility rests on that person on how he or she make it a positive shopping experience for the customer to shop at that store. All the more Nike and other famous brands like Lacoste here should be selective in hiring their staff or providing them on job training to deal with the customers specially senior citizens effectively and positively.