Boots — Local services in London

I am writing to express my severe dissatisfaction with the handling of a warranty claim for a Shark hairdryer I purchased from Boots approximately 1.5 years ago. The product, which came with a 2-year warranty, recently stopped working.

My attempts to resolve this issue have been met with a series of failures, misinformation, and unhelpful customer service from both your online team and in-store staff.

Online Form: I initially submitted an online form to request a replacement or refund, but I never received a response.

First Call to Customer Service (Case Number 74553664): I then called your contact center. The representative was helpful and advised me to return the faulty hairdryer to a store for a replacement or a full refund. They created a case for me and provided me with a reference number to give to the store.

First In-Store Visit: I immediately went to the specified store, explained the situation, and provided the case number. The manager claimed they could not find any information with the case number. When I explained that the product was still under warranty, the manager was unhelpful and displayed a very poor attitude, seemingly annoyed that the product was purchased so long ago, despite the fact that it was still within the warranty period. They refused to offer a refund and told me they did not have a replacement in stock and that I should go to a different store. After I explained that the contact center had told me a refund was an option, the manager called customer service directly. During the conversation, which was on speakerphone, it was decided that I would leave the hairdryer at the store and the contact center would immediately process a refund and send me an email confirmation. I agreed to this and left the store.

Second Call to Customer Service: Approximately 20 minutes later, having not received any confirmation email, I called the contact center again. I was now told that they could not process the refund and that the store was responsible for it.

Second In-Store Visit (Case Number 74576331): I returned to the store and handed my phone to the manager to speak directly with the contact center representative. After a lengthy discussion between them, the manager again refused to issue a refund, despite the contact center representative repeatedly stating that it was company policy for the store to do so. The contact center representative then created a new case for me (Case Number 74576331) and assured me that someone from their team would contact me soon to resolve the issue.

Third Call to Customer Service: After two days with no contact, I called the contact center again. This time, I was told that I would need to wait 7 days for the product to be processed at the warehouse before a refund could be issued. I even offered to accept a gift card instead, as I intended to purchase a new hairdryer anyway, but was told this was not an option. My request to speak to a manager or supervisor was also denied.

I am now left with no product, and no refund. I have wasted a significant amount of time and effort due to a complete lack of communication and consistency between your customer service teams and in-store staff. This situation is unacceptable and directly contradicts your company's policy and commitment to customer satisfaction.

I expect this matter to be resolved immediately. I am available to discuss this further at your earliest...

The place is terrible!! I’ve been using it for the NHS stop smoking service which is ran by the people in store who work for Boots. The lady that has been helping me (is a very sweet girl) but hasn’t had training. She charged me £44 and didn’t know the correct amount I should pay. When I questioned the cost of the nicotine substitute, she said she didn’t actually know how much I should pay but that she would find out for next time (she was embarrassed by how shambolic the situation was). She then refunded half the amount I’d paid.

She didn’t know her log in details to enter my info onto the system (this was the same the first and second time I went there) so they were written on a piece of paper. I was stood around being ignored waiting to be seen. I was told to go into the store on a day the lady wasn’t working. Since yesterday evening, I’ve called the store 9 times during opening hours and nobody answers the phone, it rings until it disconnects.

A few of the staff are incredibly rude and it would appear they feel the world owes them something they have a “I’m doing you a favour, do as I say” kind of attitude .... Half way through the girl serving me and clearly feeling awkward and flustered about the lack of training / knowledge, one of her seniors walks upto her, tells her she wants to go on her break and asks how long she’s going to be with me. It’s pretty funny if you think about it, how someone can actually be so rude....This was the same woman who ignored me when I initially went into the shop and told me to stand to one side, but then didn’t tell the girl who my appointment was with that I was there.

It would seem that not only the stop smoking service needs to be addressed, but the general Customer Service of the store and how to...

This is the fourth time that a have the unfortunate experience of having to face a very arrogant, insolent and dismissive pharmacist lady. When she is on duty (as a couple of her younger colleagues are actually quite professional) and if a customer has an issue with meds being 'misplaced', 'lost', picked up', or similar - she insists on proving the customer wrong and making them feel as small as they can possibly feel. She is some sort of pharmacist-manager it seems - quelle surprise?!? She sniggers at customers, sometimes along side of one of her more incompetent staff, literally looking down on people asking for help from a pharmacist. Customer are often put into a position to have to argue to get their medication - for it to be 'found', and then this particular lady proceeding to treeat that customer with utmost disrespect. It is out of order that this type of behaviour is displayed by a manager - who does one report this to?? To treat anyone, let alone a presumably a sick person, or at best a relative of a sick person is not acceptable - yet she is still there! Her behaviour over the last couple of years has been rude, insensitive, characterised by a complete lack of basic self awareness, let alone kindness and professionalism and a very strong air of self-importance. Despicable, and utterly upsetting when one is unwell and having to decipher Boots Pharmacy mistakes, one by one, and is at the mercy of this incompetent yet self...