Banned from Amazon and Waitrose

On the Waitrose side of things if she wasn't happy with the quality of food maybe she should have changed delivery services or better yet, get off her lazy arse and do her own shopping. But then she would have nothing to complain about.

My money is on her being a massive, winging, pain in the arse, so they finally told her to do one.

Herbert told Guardian Money she has been banned by..
...

So Ms Herbert has got in touch with the Guardian to complain that she has been banned for complaining.

She denies that she has been a pain in the arse but presumably if Amazon and Waitrose banned all their valued customers they would quickly cease to have any business.

Two things that struck me from that article;

banned by a number of retailers – including Amazon and Waitrose

So not just those those two retailers.

and

“They were delivering out-of-date things,” Herbert says.

That does not happen. There may be short life items, but people would get in real trouble if they delivered out of date food. There are stringent checks to make sure it does not happen.

My former landlord was banned from a number of online toy retailers, as they suspected he was a trader.

He was, mind. Only ever buying stuff on offer and in large quantities, to then sell at RRP+ on eBay in the run up to Xmas, but thats by the by.

Retailers aren't legally obliged to sell to you, they don't even need a reason. But it sounds like she's provided them with plenty.

We had a bad review on Google as we had the audacity of charging for a plastic bag.
We also had a lady complain as the little plastic bit in the middle of her poppy fell off.
These people walk freely amongst us. Be very careful.

My daughter works at Waitrose. People like that exist IRL too. Just this week, some kind of error at the deli counter meant that the wrong cheese was put through. The woman noticed after she'd been given the cheese, after she'd been through the checkout, after she'd paid, and finally 'only noticed' once back at the car. My daughter was on the customer service desk and instantly offered to refund the difference, but the woman had left her bag and payment card in the car now. And wasn't going to get them. And didn't have the receipt. So policy says they'll issue a store credit, but she doesn't want that either, she wants cash to the difference. But my daughter's only a part time check out worker and doesn't have the authority to go against store policy and just dole out cash refunds to someone who comes up to the counter with an item they want a refund for with no receipt, for obvious reasons.

At which point the woman is by now yelling at her about how much she spends in Waitrose and she's the worst customer no-service person she's ever had to deal with. Finally a manager appears, confirms policy but agrees to refund this time. About £2.

IDK what the woman gets out of it other than yelling at 18 year olds and being unpleasant. A bit like I suspect the OP woman.

My money is on her being a massive, winging, pain in the arse, so they finally told her to do one.

My immediate thought too. Spent most of my career dealing with customers and you can generally spot people like this a mile off.

Latest one I’ve been dealing with is someone buying a new build house with an existing bus stop outside and then complaining that buses were stopping outside their house. Apparently they were now on antidepressants down to the stress of it all.

@theotherjonv I think refunding cash on a card purchase is technically money laundering.

I think refunding cash on a card purchase is technically money laundering.

Yes, normal policy is that refunds gave to be done in the same way as the original payment.

This can cause issues if there is a large cash purchase which is subsequently brought back and you then need to get a manager to open the safe, with a staff witness, sign out the cash and refund it cos the shop doesn't keep that amount in the tills.

@theotherjonv Sounds like the shop were very tolerant; in France, if you go back to a shop with any kind of query, you're asked for the receipt - no receipt? End of conversation, goodbye sir/madam!

We ban people from our service at work. BUT it's not taken lightly we have a team that deals with cases individually to make sure we have no legal come back, so if you have a life ban from us you most definitely deserve it.
Sadly it's happening more and more.

I sometimes think customer service has become too lenient and just encourages these ding dongs.should need proof of purchase and refund via original payment method.

B & Q are my pet hate.take anything back sellotape it up and stick it back on the shelves. I always check the original seal is intact after being stung a couple of times with bits missing. If I wanted second hand I'd pay second hand prices.

Now imagine being a teacher, with the same entitled, arrogant, people coming in to co,plain that little Joffrey is getting too much/not enough homework, that the work is too easy/difficult, that he doesn’t like the person who sits two rows away from him, there are too many stairs leading to his classroom, that he’s tired on Friday/cannot concentrate on Monday so could we move his maths class? ….

… but you’re not allowed to tell them to F off elsewhere

These people walk freely amongst us. Be very careful.

This. As soon as you realise that a number of people are simply morons of the highest order then life becomes much clearer. I refer readers to Bill Engvall's "here's your sign" sketch which is readily available on YouTube.

If you ever need evidence of this, pick a product on Amazon and filter on one-star reviews. I saw one the other day, someone had bought a £10 smart plug and submitted a 1* review because it didn't come with the mobile phone pictured (showing the app).

IDK what the woman gets out of it other than yelling at 18 year olds and being unpleasant. A bit like I suspect the OP woman.

Similar to above, a number of people are simply shits of the highest order.

I intercepted one just yesterday. Some woman was giving my 70-odd year old neighbour shit for "obstructing the highway." He sells off tat outside his house to raise money for the charity which provided palliative care for his now-dead partner, and he'd spilled out a foot or so onto the road (marked up with double-yellows).

I thought, "I'm not having this" and waded in. Her argument was that he was preventing disabled drivers from being able to park there.

But there's a disabled bay right here, I pointed out. "Yeah but that's," she turns to glower at my neighbour and spits, "his." No it's not, I explained, it's mine. "Oh. But... he uses it!" Sure, he has a blue badge, you can see it right there. He's entitled to use it just like any other member of the public is. "Well, he's causing an obstruction, it's making it difficult for lorries to pass!" (Good, I thought but didn't say.) I asked her how she thought that disabled drivers being able to park on the double-yellows would improve traffic flow for lorries, at which point she had a bit of a huff and puff, then stormed off yelling something about having called the council.

I realised afterwards what her real beef likely is. She works at the chippie a couple of doors down and their fat bastard customers absolutely must park illegally on the corner directly outside the shop causing bloody mayhem rather than having to walk about 20 metres across the road where there's a ton of freely available parking. That's why she felt justified in having a stand-up row in the street with a pensioner whom she called (in his own words as he later told me) "an effing see." I suggested that if the council do get in touch, he should ask them to send a traffic warden on a weekday lunchtime. They'd make a fortune.

My former landlord was banned from a number of online toy retailers, as they suspected he was a trader.

He was, mind. Only ever buying stuff on offer and in large quantities, to then sell at RRP+ on eBay in the run up to Xmas, but thats by the by.

Really not seeing the problem here. It's his stuff to sell. And it's exactly what they're doing.

If Waitrose deliver anything that has a use by of the day of delivery they don't charge me for it so not sure how the complainer was getting stuff that is past it's date (or paying for it)

I haven't shopped in Waitrose since they re-scanned my self-scan basket three visits in a row and pretended it was "just random". Maybe my mistake was wearing a mask and carrying a bag marked "SWAG", but it sure wasn't random.

#selfentitledselfish****probablynamedkaren

Maybe my mistake was wearing a mask and carrying a bag marked “SWAG”

Well, I laughed.

My SIL does this constantly whether it’s in a shop , hotel or restaurant . She’ll polish off all her food in a restaurant then ask to see the manager .” It was too salty , not salty enough , too hot , not hot enough , the waitress had leather shoes on and I’m a vegetarian “ . Usually in the hope of some discount vouchers etc . She too is a weapons grade gobshite

My money is on her being a massive, winging, pain in the arse, so they finally told her to do one.

This. Thread closed.

Slow news day at the Grauniad.

EDIT: Just remembered this article from a few days back, funnily enough in the Graun too;
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/04/britain-angry-abusive-behaviour-staff

Things like this make me glad I don't work in retail any more, far too many idiots.

This can cause issues if there is a large cash purchase which is subsequently brought back and you then need to get a manager to open the safe, with a staff witness, sign out the cash and refund it cos the shop doesn’t keep that amount in the tills.

Lots of the supermarkets and big brands have the safe under dual control ie two keys and the second is held off-site by the Cash In Transit company they use, there's no way the staff can access the safe without them attending. It's one of the reasons that paying in large amounts of cash is hard at a lot of stores, the system can cope with lots of small transactions (under £100) but getting into the £k's causes issues aside from Money Laundering checks.

These people walk freely amongst us. Be very careful.

I once had to ban a guy from a ski area for his unrelenting complaining. Some of which included the mountain being too steep, and we needed to flatten the pitch. It wasn't so much the complaining as who he was doing it to. Everyone. Every instructor he could find, the food and beverage staff, any other parent... The other parents then complained about the guy complaining. It was a trying day!

Love people who complain about food in a restaurant after eating 99.9% of it. My kids do it sometimes with food at home. I just tell them that it can't have been that bad as they've eaten most of it.

My favourite is when someone is complaining about something stupid and trys to get support from other customers. Had this in the past and told them I think they're being stupid. Made the person working in the shop laugh 😀

I think we're perhaps too quick to tolerate this shit.

There's a website called "not always right" and it's full of employees going "well, I'm terribly sorry sir but..." when what they should be saying is "**** off and don't come back." There will always be genuine complaints for sure, but some people are just professional whingers because their raison d'etre is to get free shit and they are fully self-aware as to what they are.

We're currently 'onboarding' a new customer at work, it's a household-name insurance company, it's a multi-million pound contract and they're already proving to be more hassle than they're worth. I've had daily conversations with Account Directors (ie, salesmen) for a few weeks now around "well, the customer wants..." OK, are they paying for it? No? Then I don't give a shit, our department isn't going to be giving out services to the value of tens of thousands of pounds for free. I want Eliza Dushku sent to my bedroom lightly greased. Go manage their expectations.

full of employees going “well, I’m terribly sorry sir but…” when what they should be saying is “**** off and don’t come back.”

I allowed, after much too much effing and jeffing from one of our patients, one of my receptionists to say pretty much that, in a nicer way. Sometimes the "customer" is not always right

I've worked in retail. The customer is not always right. The customer is quite often a prick.

And occasionally, just occasionally, some need reminding that they're pricks. If I ran a store today I'd give each of my staff one 'get out of jail free' card for this.

I’ve worked in retail. The customer is not always right. The customer is quite often a prick.

This is very true, the problem is that the customer has been brought up to believe they are always right...

One of the ride-leading gigs I've done a few times (multi-day tour) used to have us chaperones / ride-leaders standing there on Day 1 holding boards saying the average speed that we'd be riding so there'd be 12mph, 14, 16. It was (generally) OK except that a lot of the punters would cluster round the 12mph one, terrified at how the day would go or not confident in their riding abilities.

Anyway, a guy joined one of the 14mph groups and at the end of the day he complained to the Route Director (who was essentially Head Chaperone) that the group he'd been in had actually averaged 13.8mph, not 14mph as advertised. Thankfully the Route Director told him to get stuffed and the following year we abandoned the idea of "prescribed groups" and just let people get the hang of it as they rode along.

It's a pretty good rule in life that before you form any relationship with a person, be it professionally, socially or romantically, see how they treat waiting staff and retail staff first.

I won't have anything to do with someone who is unpleasant to these people, it's just bullying.

This. As soon as you realise that a number of people are simply morons of the highest order then life becomes much clearer. I refer readers to Bill Engvall’s “here’s your sign” sketch which is readily available on YouTube.

I always used to work on the 4% rule, that being that 4% of the population are dicks. They are in your workplace, your family and in general public. Once you accept that, it explains a lot and reduces frustration.

Nowadays I'm adjusting my rule to be 20%

it’s just bullying.

Exactly.

Thus thread reaffirms my view of the 'great british public'; they're, generally, anything but great and to be avoided - if avoidance isn't possible, ignore.

Someone please inform the Waitrose Karen (eugh that name lol) that at least it were not a price discrepancy of her favourite paper yuurp The Daily Fail.

💩 Would have gone astronomically downward in that scenario.

I blame marketing for stating along lines of if you're not satisfied monies refunded etc.

Oh and their parents that should have along with good educational leaders taught them after birth manners etc etc.
Real shame we cannot decipher/test for horrible individuals etc prior to birth...

favourite paper yuurp The Daily Fail

What are you on about? The woman spoke to The Guardian and there is no hint she is anything other than a Guardian reader - whatever relevance that may have.

Strangely The Guardian article seems remarkably sympathetic to her, perhaps they see her as a victim of evil capitalist big business?

I don't think they were trying to be sympathetic to her, especially when calling her a self published author 😂

Yeeesh tetchy!

Self published author

I would not see that as a term of abuse in the Guardian. Especially in the context of saying she had problems when not able to access her publishing account.

the waitress had leather shoes on and I’m a vegetarian “

She hadn’t presented them on a plate with a light garnish, had she?

I want Eliza Dushku sent to my bedroom lightly greased.

Join the queue, along with everyone else!

I want Eliza Dushku sent to my bedroom lightly greased.

Join the queue, along with everyone else!

Is this someone I need to Google incognito?

Was the food served in a shoe - a la hipster menu generator.

No, it was Dover Sole…

Anyway, a guy joined one of the 14mph groups and at the end of the day he complained to the Route Director (who was essentially Head Chaperone) that the group he’d been in had actually averaged 13.8mph, not 14mph as advertised.

I think I can better that. Our club runs are split by approx speeds, with a typical range given although it's always noted that the ride will go at the speed of the riders in it, and speed may vary depending on whether it's flat or hilly, windy, whatever.

One person complained to the committee that the 22-24kph ride had actually averaged nearly 26kph on this particular day. It had been a flat ride, with four well matched riders all taking turns. The complainer wasn't even on the ride but was insistent that the riders that were should have moderated their speed because if they had been they'd have struggled to keep up.

@theotherjohnv
So, he complained about the speed, of a ride, that he didn’t go on, where, as it happens, nobody got dropped?
Surely the immediate reply would be “well, so ****ing what?”