This post is also posted in my friendster blog. The reasons I post it here are:
1. I am not active in FS anymore.
2. I want to have most of (if not all) my postings in one blog.
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Klantvriendelijk??? NIET!!!!
November 28th, 2008
I went to V&D this afternoon at around 2.15 pm in my city. V&D is one of the major department stores in the Netherlands. Bad experience with one of the shopkeepers there.
I went to the fitting room to try on some clothes - 2 long-sleeved T-shirts and a pair of pants. There was no one to watch the fitting room… but this is not unusual at V&D. And I’ve been to many V&D’s for so many times so I know the routine. I went in… looked for a ‘room’. I saw one of the bigger rooms was empty… naturally I went for that. Who would not if you could get a bigger room??? Someone had used the room. I saw a hanger and a price-tag lying on the floor. That is also not unusual in a changing room. So I went on trying my clothes. None was good. When I went out the fitting room, a shopkeeper with short blond hair and blue skirt (V&D uniform) was taking care of the clothes left-behind by other fitters. That was not unusual so I took no great notice of that and went on my way to return my clothes to where they were. In front of the fitting room, I stopped to look at some other T-shirts. The shopkeeper who seemed to be around 30-40 approached me and asked for the clothes that were still in my hand. I still had the clothes that I meant to return to their racks. I thought… ‘now… unusual’. They don’t usually ask for the clothes you bring out of the changing room after you are well away from the changing room… But I did not think much about it because by giving her the clothes, I would not have to return them myself to their original racks. So I gave her the clothes. Then she stuck out the hanger with the price tag from the ‘room’ I used. She said something. I assumed she was asking about why there was a left hanger in the room. I said, in my limited Dutch, that it was not a clothing I tried on and that I did not know anything about it. She asked to look inside my bag. I started feeling that something was not right. I felt that she suspected me of stealing the lingerie that used to hang on that hanger. But ok, they do that all the time - look inside someone’s bag if they suspect something. Usually if the sensors by the shop’s entrance/exit make those beeping noises, though. But I was nowhere near the entrance/exit. I was IN the shop, still shopping around. But ok, I did not want to cause a scene so I let her look inside my bag. So she did and saw nothing there. I thought that was that. But no. To my irritation she pressed on. She asked if I could come back to the fitting room to see if I did not have the lingerie on me. I said “I did not even try the thing on.” She said, “Are you sure? Because now you still have a chance…”. A chance for what? A chance that she would not turn me in to the police if she found the lingerie on me???? I said again “I’m sure. I did not even try it on.” She pressed on. “Are you sure? Because you had so many clothes…”, she said again and she went through the clothes I tried on, which by now already hung at her “clothes rack”. By that time I was so irritated that I spoke louder that I usually do. I said,”I am sure. You can look if you want.” She kept pressing on. She asked if i could open the coat I was wearing so she could see the strap of bra!!! That was outrageous. But I am by nature not a person who is confrontative. And it was embarassing so I just wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. So I did what she asked. She saw no stolen bra and she said ”ok”. That’s it. No apology. NOTHING. She had on a long face during this ordeal. Not even an ounce of politeness.
Never in my whole life had I been treated like I was a thief before - and an already convicted thief at that. Whatever happens to ‘not guilty until proven otherwise’? Whatever happens to ‘klantvriendelijk’ (client-friendly)? Whatever happens to ‘politeness’?
This kind of klanvriendelijk-NOT can only be experienced in the Netherlands. Last year, when I was still a student, I also got a bad experience with one of the chain clothing stores in the NL, namely H&M. But that was not so bad compared to this experience at V&D. By H&M it was just a teenager shopkeeper who made a mistake but he did not apologize. Today was a much more irritating and degrading experience.
Klantvriendelijk???? These dutch people should have their dictionary check. Which part of klantvriendelijk that they don’t understand???
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A new note on this: If I could, I would have done it differently. I would have fired my anger at this particular shopkeeper right there right then. Next time something like that happens to me again, I WILL get angry and demand to see the person in charge.
1. I am not active in FS anymore.
2. I want to have most of (if not all) my postings in one blog.
--------------------------------------------------------
Klantvriendelijk??? NIET!!!!
November 28th, 2008
I went to V&D this afternoon at around 2.15 pm in my city. V&D is one of the major department stores in the Netherlands. Bad experience with one of the shopkeepers there.
I went to the fitting room to try on some clothes - 2 long-sleeved T-shirts and a pair of pants. There was no one to watch the fitting room… but this is not unusual at V&D. And I’ve been to many V&D’s for so many times so I know the routine. I went in… looked for a ‘room’. I saw one of the bigger rooms was empty… naturally I went for that. Who would not if you could get a bigger room??? Someone had used the room. I saw a hanger and a price-tag lying on the floor. That is also not unusual in a changing room. So I went on trying my clothes. None was good. When I went out the fitting room, a shopkeeper with short blond hair and blue skirt (V&D uniform) was taking care of the clothes left-behind by other fitters. That was not unusual so I took no great notice of that and went on my way to return my clothes to where they were. In front of the fitting room, I stopped to look at some other T-shirts. The shopkeeper who seemed to be around 30-40 approached me and asked for the clothes that were still in my hand. I still had the clothes that I meant to return to their racks. I thought… ‘now… unusual’. They don’t usually ask for the clothes you bring out of the changing room after you are well away from the changing room… But I did not think much about it because by giving her the clothes, I would not have to return them myself to their original racks. So I gave her the clothes. Then she stuck out the hanger with the price tag from the ‘room’ I used. She said something. I assumed she was asking about why there was a left hanger in the room. I said, in my limited Dutch, that it was not a clothing I tried on and that I did not know anything about it. She asked to look inside my bag. I started feeling that something was not right. I felt that she suspected me of stealing the lingerie that used to hang on that hanger. But ok, they do that all the time - look inside someone’s bag if they suspect something. Usually if the sensors by the shop’s entrance/exit make those beeping noises, though. But I was nowhere near the entrance/exit. I was IN the shop, still shopping around. But ok, I did not want to cause a scene so I let her look inside my bag. So she did and saw nothing there. I thought that was that. But no. To my irritation she pressed on. She asked if I could come back to the fitting room to see if I did not have the lingerie on me. I said “I did not even try the thing on.” She said, “Are you sure? Because now you still have a chance…”. A chance for what? A chance that she would not turn me in to the police if she found the lingerie on me???? I said again “I’m sure. I did not even try it on.” She pressed on. “Are you sure? Because you had so many clothes…”, she said again and she went through the clothes I tried on, which by now already hung at her “clothes rack”. By that time I was so irritated that I spoke louder that I usually do. I said,”I am sure. You can look if you want.” She kept pressing on. She asked if i could open the coat I was wearing so she could see the strap of bra!!! That was outrageous. But I am by nature not a person who is confrontative. And it was embarassing so I just wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. So I did what she asked. She saw no stolen bra and she said ”ok”. That’s it. No apology. NOTHING. She had on a long face during this ordeal. Not even an ounce of politeness.
Never in my whole life had I been treated like I was a thief before - and an already convicted thief at that. Whatever happens to ‘not guilty until proven otherwise’? Whatever happens to ‘klantvriendelijk’ (client-friendly)? Whatever happens to ‘politeness’?
This kind of klanvriendelijk-NOT can only be experienced in the Netherlands. Last year, when I was still a student, I also got a bad experience with one of the chain clothing stores in the NL, namely H&M. But that was not so bad compared to this experience at V&D. By H&M it was just a teenager shopkeeper who made a mistake but he did not apologize. Today was a much more irritating and degrading experience.
Klantvriendelijk???? These dutch people should have their dictionary check. Which part of klantvriendelijk that they don’t understand???
--------------------------------------------------------
A new note on this: If I could, I would have done it differently. I would have fired my anger at this particular shopkeeper right there right then. Next time something like that happens to me again, I WILL get angry and demand to see the person in charge.
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