Shopping at Office (The shoe shop in Drake Circus)

By Neo on Sunday 2 November 2008 at 09:26

Ok everyone this is a copy of the email I sent Office from their web site and within it is my shopping experience.
(Email)
I decided the other day (2 days ago) to try and surprise my wife with a pair of Converse All Stars as she mentioned she liked them, so I looked all over Plymouth and found the best selection was in your shop in Drake Circus.
Turned out that a bloke trying to buy a woman shoes is a fairly risky business which I failed miserably at and I would like to say at the time of buying these I was warned that I could not get a refund but fair enough I thought you have a lot of stores and a good looking website.
Anyway on failing my task in such a dismal way, wrong colour, the style of All Stars do not suit her and she was referring to it suits certain men better not herself
(I should listen more and take it in) we went back and looked to get a replacement and saw a pair of Rocket Dogs but they were 20 pounds more than I had already spent so we got a gift card refund instead as the other 2 pairs of shoes she liked you did not have in her size.
Well we took a look at your website and my wife found a pair of Sugar Halo Wedge Biker Boots Black/Wool/Plaid available in a size 5, though five pounds more expensive I was willing
to pay a little more to obtain these as my wife loved them.
Anyway we discovered shortly after we could not use the gift card on your website so I wrote all the details of the boots down including the style number 27709003 and took that
to the Office at Drake Circus.
There a member of staff informed me politely that they did not have them in stock nor could order them in as they could not do that from your main website or any other branch.
At this point it felt that Office was a bit of a disjointed company and this shop seemed to be on its own in the grand scheme of things, anyway I felt at this point a bit let down as
the shop assistant informed me that “I am sure a woman can find a pair of shoes here within the 2 years” being the time I have to use the gift (refund) card.
So I called my wife who mentioned the Rocket Dogs and I decided to spend an extra 20 pounds in your store to get them, I took them to the same assistant and asked for them in a
size 5 and was informed that they did not have that size. I asked if she could order them in at a size 5 (as this branch already had this style on display) and again was informed
that “I am sorry but I cannot do that, I don't have a clue what is coming in until around 5pm but if you are ever in Exeter we have a branch there you can try”.
Now as a customer at Office I feel you have 45 pounds of my money which I can't even spend in your chain of shops and have to visit your Office in Drake Circus every week now until
we find something my wife likes as long as you have the size there, its not from your website and you don't request it to be ordered from another branch.
I agreed to the no refund gift card alternative but if I had known this shop is practically on its own in the chain I would not have even considered this.

It seems you have limited our options within your own chain of shops to 1 shop in Plymouth and shoe size dependant on its stock availability.
Now is there anything you can do to correct this? You have my money, you have shoes I want within your chain, I wish to buy them with the refund gift card.
I look forward to hearing from you.
(End of Email)

So far I have not heard back from Office but I am not totally surprised as I bet that department has nothing to do with the web site or its stores.
Overall I would highly recommend not purchasing any items from Office unless you have no other choice.

4 comments:

On Monday 3 November 2008 at 16:11, The Masked Avenger said:

740 words, all of them screaming “DON'T BUY SHOES FOR WOMEN, YOU WILL F*CK IT UP”. Tune in next week to see how Neo gets on buying lingerie in Marks and Spencers and accidentally purchases a 42” LCD TV and some luxury profiteroles instead.

On Thursday 6 November 2008 at 19:36, stu said:

what the fuck are sugar halo wedge biker boots? and why have they been made out of wool? this strikes me as a bit careless for the biker community.

On Friday 7 November 2008 at 19:07, Keely said:

Echo the don't buy shoes for women advice.... 2 things women love..... shoes and shopping. Next time sign a blank cheque and hand it to your smiling wife (who will then hopefully take me shopping with her ;o)). You will save yourself a whole lot of hassle and she gets two things she loves into the bargain. Everybody's happy! Oh and if J ever wants to buy me anything please offer him the same advice!!!

On Saturday 8 November 2008 at 15:08, billybean said:

I'm looking forward to the 'Neo goes to La Senza' debacle.

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