When I went in to the Telstra shop I could sense something was not quite right. After about 2 minutes of standing there like a zombie waiting to be served behind about five other zombies, I realised that the only people in the Telstra shop were customers. There were no customer service representatives to be seen anywhere.
In the end, I asked the other customers if they were being served?, They were all standing there like clones of each other, afraid to ask for service. A young girl of about sixteen, whom I forgive for being so naive and ignorant whined away in her soft little voice, "If you don't like it why don't you go elsewhere"? This is obviously a variant of the " Patti Hearst Syndrome" where the victim ends up standing up for their attacker, the psychology of somebody not only asking, but begging, for bad service.
Just as I thought I had no support, a lovely lady approached me and told me the full story of her bad service experience with this particular shop. It was an issue that had not been resolved and this customer had lodged a complaint with the communications Ombudsman about this particular Telstra shop. She told me that she had been standing around for longer than me (about 15 minutes) and she was here to complain further as her issue had not been fixed.
All of a sudden, out of a back room, came a customer service representative, from Telstra no less, I approached him, asking "Is there any service here"? Alas, he scurried away, shouting over his shoulder "I am busy", as he did a good impression of a sly, nervous, rat jumping off a burning ship. Out the front door he went, looking very busy, but never to return.
So I am still standing there and after about 20 minutes in total, again, the door at the back of the shop swings open and the most amazing event takes place, suddenly 4 customer service representatives appear in the shop, they all scurry to the counter, along with a short, stocky, middle aged man with a beard who is standing in a defensive pose with his feet spread apart, arms crossed over and with a stupid smirk on his face. All of the staff for some reason were sneaking each other sly grins, I got the impression that they had all been out the back smoking a spliff or something, anyway they were acting very weird. Maybe they just thought it amusing that they could make their customers wait endlessly?
Back to the short, stocky man. I approach him at the counter and say, You have got the worst customer service of any business I have ever dealt with. He lifts one hand slightly, points to the door and says softly, "There's the door mate". So now I am very annoyed and a little shocked. I pick up a pen and a bit of paper and ask the man his name and title. His reply is "Tony". Despite repeated requests for his full name and role at the shop, he just keeps repeating the word "Tony". I turn to another young female staff member and ask,"Do you always treat your customers this way", and I must give her a round of applause, for she must have put a lot of thought into her reply, which was "Only when they complain about customer service"!!!? I ask her who the manager of the shop is and she says, "Tony". Apparently his surname is a big secret.
So I tell Tony that I will be taking the time, when I go home, to get on the Telstra Web site to lodge a full and detailed complaint about him and the rest of the weird staff at the Telstra shop in Geraldton. He tells me to knock myself out. So now I have their attention, I point to a phone in the phone display and tell dear Tony that I want to buy this phone, he just stands there grinning at me like a little troll, he will not serve me and just like in one of those awkward moments you see in "The Office" by Ricky Gervais, a nervous and awkward young saleswoman interrupts, and tells me she will get me the phone I want, while Tony just grins at me stupidly. I got the impression he was drug affected.
While this is all going on Tony is standing behind the counter with his arms crossed and still with that stupid grin on his face, he will not serve any customers and the only other person being served is the lady I met with the complaint when I first came in. Lets call her Tracey because she will become important later on in this sordid story. I call out to her to ask if she has heard how I m being treated by the staff but she is busy dealing with her own complaint, I could understand her reason for enthusiastically engaging the salesperson as it takes a fair bit of effort to get hold of one!
I finally get the phone I want and I pay for it. I fold up my receipt and I ask Tony his second name, again he just says "Tony". As I am leaving the shop I remind Tony that I will be making a complaint to Telstra head office, suddenly a middle aged female staff member points at the door and tells me in a stern manner, "Get out"! I laugh and leave the shop and I notice Tony is yelling something at me and pointing to the door, but I am too far away to her what he is saying.
Tracey though, the lady I first met with a complaint when I came in, was still in the shop making her complaint and she did hear what Tony said, and it involved the "F "Word and it involved a derogatory sentence towards me. She went home and lodged a complaint to Telstra about this as I also did. I found this out, as she saw the firm I worked for on my shirt and rang me at work a couple of days later. I cannot tell you exactly what was said as this is now under official investigation by Telstra.
After spending a couple of days talking to people in the community of Geraldton, I found that this shop has a horrendous customer service record and it is not unusual to see clients fighting with the management of the Tesltra shop in Geraldton. Security has been called to the shop on several occasions to deal with irate customers pushed over the edge by our dear Tony. I am also told that if you want to buy a Telstra phone go to Mitchell and Brown, the service there is excellent.
MY VIEW: I believe that the only way to get a better community is to strive for one, I hate rude, arrogant people and I dislike bad service immensely. There is no need for it. Now, Tony Ryan, who is the manager of Geraldton, Telstra has decided to treat the community with disdain. He has bought a high service franchise where people depend on his help to have proper communications.
People depend on phones to ring their doctor to ring their friends, other people need their phones and depend on them for their businesses. Phones are a critical tool in the community and the main service provider with the best coverage is Telstra. Tony Ryan thinks he is going to stand around in his shop like a rude little troll and stare at people and point them to the door when they expect service, what a nasty and vindictive pair. Tony thinks he will just treat people like dirt and rake the money in, Tony, I predict you will go broke.
I appeal to the residents of Geraldton to vote with their feet, let these two people know that we expect them to better the city of Geraldton, not get into the organisation and put spokes in the wheels and mess people around and then laugh at them when they get frustrated. If you can't provide the service and you can't stop abusing your customers then get out of the game, you are not suited to this business.
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