M&S Simply Food Bankside

I'd also add that their shelf edge pricing is very bad... it rarely has much to do with what's on the shelf! The wine section is phenomenally bad for this and you basically have to guess most of the time.

Really badly run... I will send a note to M&S and mention this thread... I've been meaning to do it for ages.

------ Forwarded Message
From: xxxx
Date: Thu, 14 May 2009 14:50:49 +0100
To: Retail Customer Services <RetailCustomer.Services@marks-and-spencer.com>
Conversation: Store comments & feedback
Subject: Re: Store comments & feedback

Dear Claire,

Ironically, I've literally just sent a letter (copy attached) to Sir Stuart Rose, even though I'm certain he will never personally read it.

To be frank I'd rather given up on ever getting a response from "Retail Customer Services", so in that sense you're correct in your supposition that I have indeed arrived at a place where by I have gained a poor impression of your service.

I submitted the message to you via MarksandSpencer.com so theoretically if it's gone astray it will have done so within your infrastructure. It might interest you to know that I did received a confirmation email at Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:54:49 +0100 -- I've taken that from the internet header of the message.

As I submitted the message via your website I do not have a copy of it. So it seems that I will have to repeat my comments from memory.

In essence I was pointing you towards a debate which has been ongoing on a local community website about your London Bridge More Simply Foods store, which I believe is wholly owned.

You will note that there are 7 pages of comments: http://www.london-se1.co.uk/forum/read/1/89352/page=1 these turn quickly from excitement to annoyance.

In essence my view and that of others would seem to be that:

- Wait times for service are frequently too long
- The Shelf-edge pricing is an unmitigated disaster, it literally is a lottery as to what you pay for items. Potentially this is an issue best brought to the attention of trading standards.
- The staff are disinterested, often rude and view customers as an obstacle to them placing more items on the shelves.
- Stale or rotting produce is left on the shelves.
- The security guard often lurks in a manner that people find oppressive, although he seemed content to leave people alone yesterday evening as he was far too busy having a chat on his mobile phone.
- The wine section is particularly disastrous, especially on the shelf-edge pricing front. Furthermore the choice of wines placed in the fridge is very peculiar!
- Stock levels are highly variable and don't seem well managed.
- They seem not to have any replacement 'bag for life' bags

All in all the consensus seems to be that we're rather hoping that Waitrose will shortly wake up to the potential of the area, I believe that there are further retail units within the development.

Sorry I can't be more positive about this matter but I can only really reflect on the situation as I see it.

Regards,

xxxxx

On 14/05/2009 14:27, "Retail Customer Services" <RetailCustomer.Services@marks-and-spencer.com> wrote:

> Dear Mr xxxxx,
>
> Thank you for e-mailing us again. I'm really sorry you have not received
> a reply from us.
>
> I have checked our records, but unfortunately we have no record of your
> previous email. We respond to all our customers and aim to do so within
> 48 hours, so I am at a loss to explain why we didn't receive your email.
>
> We are really sorry if this has caused any inconvenience and left you
> with a poor impression of our service. Please could you send your
> previous email again, so that we can help you further.
>
> Thank you again.
>
> Kind Regards, Claire
>
> Claire Bolton
> Customer Services Advisor
> Retail Customer Services
> 0845 302 1234
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xxxx
> Sent: 09 May 2009 10:56
> To: Retail Customer Services
> Subject: Store comments & feedback
>
>
> E-mail: xxxx
> Name: xxxx
> Order:
> Option Selected: Not Applicable
> Comments: On the 27th April 2009 I contacted you with regard to a number
> of issued at the Simply Food Store, London Bridge More. Subsequent to
> this I've heard nothing.... and I'm beginning to conclude that you're
> not interested in customer feedback...
>
> Perhaps you'd be so kind as to reply.

jonnyp42 - your correspondence seems to be about the More London branch.

This thread is predominantly about the Bankside branch in Southwark Street which opened last year.

Are there some crossed wires here?

James Hatts wrote:

jonnyp42 - your correspondence seems to be about the More London branch.
This thread is predominantly about the Bankside branch in Southwark Street which opened last year.

Are there some crossed wires here?

Whoops... indeed... still it's interesting to see that both stores seem to suffer from the same issues.

not really to be honest

the problem with more london is that the shelves are often crowded and badly labelled

the problem with the bankside store is that there is hardly anything ever on the shelves

that said it does seem like M&S have very poor email customer feedback processes in place given your experiences

As a result of this thread I mailed M&S 2 weeks ago about Bankside when I realised it wasn't just me who was irritated. I also sent them a link to the thread from the SE1 website to indicate that there was a local debate going on. Can't fault the speed of response from M&S but it just said they would mention the stock issues to the store manager. Any ideas on other things we, as local customers can do?