My sister and I attended the Rochdale store to request refunds for two oil-filled heaters due to inadequate heat output. One heater had been opened (purchased by me on Monday 12th January), while the second remained unopened, as my sister had not used hers after experiencing the poor performance of my heater. In addition, the heaters had been displayed under a £14.99 price label, however the receipt showed that I actually had paid £19.99. This information was mentioned purely for awareness and transparency.The cashier called the store manager, Vicky, to process the refund. We mentioned the issue with the price labelling as this was false advertisement, again, just for awareness and transparency. From the outset, her behaviour was hostile and confrontational. She immediately accused us of being customers who had complained about heater pricing on a previous day. Despite us calmly explaining that this was not us, she was extremely adamant, raised her voice, spoke over us, and refused to listen.The manager stated she had CCTV evidence to prove it was us and left us waiting for approximately 15–20 minutes while she checked the footage. When she returned, after I asked her 'was it us on the CCTV footage?' she mumbled that it was not us on the CCTV, but only muttered this under her breath. At this point, we reasonably expected an apology. Instead, she told me to “shut up”, using a rude and aggressive tone that drew the attention of other customers.When we explained that we felt we had been profiled and wrongly accused, she dismissed this and accused us of “playing the race card”. She then admitted, under her breath, that the customers she had confused us with had actually been in the store 15–20 minutes before we arrived, yet she still did not apologise for her accusations or behaviour.Throughout this interaction, the manager repeatedly interrupted private conversations between my sister and me, telling us to “shut up” and stating that she “didn’t have to give a refund”, and pointed her finger at me and my sister telling us to shut up. Initially, she refused to refund both the opened and unopened heaters, despite clear explanations. Eventually, after shouting and stating she “didn’t have time for this”, she processed the refunds, threw the receipts at us, and then told us to “p**s off” in front of customers and staff. We asked for her name for confirmation and she said 'I don't have to give you my name', which we replied it's fine as we had already got her name from another cashier earlier.Due to the volume and severity of the confrontation, three security guards were drawn to the front of the store. After leaving, we spoke with the Security Manager (who was fantastic) at Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre, who was shocked by our account and advised us to contact head office, Trading Standards, and submit this complaint formally.This experience was humiliating, intimidating, and deeply upsetting. Being sworn at, falsely accused, racially profiled, and publicly degraded by a store manager is completely unacceptable. We have emailed customer services that they urgently:-Review the store CCTV footage-Speak to the cashiers present and the security manager -Investigate the conduct of the store manager thoroughlyAnd that we expect serious consequences and remedial action to ensure that no other customer is ever treated in this way again. At minimum, this should include appropriate disciplinary action and substantial customer service retraining. We also stated that do not accept that this behaviour can be excused as someone “having a bad day”. We are both professionals and teachers, and we would never consider speaking to another person in this manner. If “0”was an option for the rating I would be giving that. (Still awaiting for Head Office to contact us)
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