The Brief
I’d made a genuine complaint about being overcharged on a sandwich in store. They’d agreed to compensate me in the form of a gift card, but a few weeks later, it hadn’t been sent…
The Loony Letter (and resulting conversation)
- Hi,I was in your Taunton store a couple of days ago, and bought a sandwich. You’ll notice from the photos enclosed that the sandwich was priced up on the shelf at £1.90 but scanned through at £3.00.I would be grateful if you would refund the difference to me, preferably back to the payment card used.
Regards,
Bill Bennett
- Dear Mr BennettThank you for your email regarding your sandwiches.I was sorry to hear that you have been overcharged for your pack of salmon sandwiches. Unfortunately, I am unable to refund the amount onto your credit card but if you would like to send in your address details I will happily send you a gift card.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention and I do hope you will continue to shop at M & S in the future.
Kind regards
Tracey Burns
Retail Customer Services
Your M&S Customer Service - I’ve still not recieved this, could you please advise?Rgds
Bill
- Dear BillThank you for contacting us. I’m sorry we’ve not sent your gift card yet.Please can you email us your postal address and we will arrange this as soon as possible.
Thanks again for getting in touch and we will look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards
Anne Gledhill
Retail Customer Services
Your M&S Customer Service - Anne,It’s [address].For the inconvienence, I would also like a hand-drawn picture of a smiley dinosaur to be included with the gift card. I trust you will be able to comply with this request.
Regards,
Bill Bennett
The Reply
Dear Mr Bennett,
Thank you for getting back in touch and I am sorry to hear about the over charging in our Taunton store for the salmon sandwiches. As agreed with my colleagues Tracey and Anne please find a gift card for £5 to cover the
overcharge of the sandwiches.
Please also find a picture of a smiling dinosaur, hand drawn. Unfortunately Art was never my strong point, but I hope you will appreciate it.
Thanks and regards.
Yours sincerely
Steve Jones
Customer Adviser
Retail Customer Services
The Review
WOW! Look at the dinosaur. LOOK AT THE DINOSAUR!!!!! :-)
Press Coverage
It’s amazing, this Loony Letter has attracted the interest of the media worldwide!
Z102 (Bedford, Indiana) and Mix 95.1 (Chico, California), and Canada’s Star FM have all been talking about it, as well as an article in the Somerset County Gazette. Correspondents from The Guardian have been tweeting about it too.
Glad to hear you liked my dinosaur! :)
you are a credit to your company.
I second that – PR needs more Steves :)
That’s a great dinosaur and an even more wonderful story. So nice to know that M&S people have a sense of humor! I’m nowhere near Taunton, but I bought a sandwich from M&S in Wiltshire on the weekend, and I will happily buy more.
Bloody good effort Steve, in fact, unless you wish it not, I’m going to write to M&S and tell them you’re a thoroughly good chap.
I suggest you go back to customer service school and learn abut consumer rights. Smiley dinosaur or no, the consumer is entitled to a refund of the amount overcharged in a form that is legal tender, not vouchers. Just another example of a company doing whtever they can, even drawing pictures, to avoid admitting liability and upholding consumer rights.
Ray, I suggest you chill the hell out. This story is focussing on a very light-hearted complaint – arising from a very common misunderstanding at the till point. You are correct when you say that a customer is entitled to a full refund in legal tender, however, this post is not about consumer rights – it is an example of ‘humanity and humility’ between the customer and the business.
Bill, the customer, is OFFERED a £5 gift card by M&S Customer Services, which he accepts (as suggested by his note asking where it is). He was only overcharged by £1.10. Stick with me here Ray but this is going to get complicated (and apologies if I have interrupted your complaining to Channel 5 weather for reporting on the poor weather we’ve been having) but this complainant has, in fact, been compensated more than generously, apologised to and thanked for his comments. The staff at the Customer Service centre have been more than attentive and have, heaven forbid, shown a great deal of professionalism resolving this matter, drawing of a dinosaur or not.
Had Bill asked for a cash refund, he is, as a consumer, and an M&S customer, more than welcome to return to a store of his choosing to have this request fulfilled. Mr Bennett asked initially for a refund to his card, and, being a responsible retailer, the M&S representative offered a voucher because not only do they not keep card details of every customer who buys a sandwich, sending any “legal tender” as you so vaguely described, in the post is both a security nightmare and an accounting nightmare for any business. It is also clearly stated in their refund policy that (long story short) a credit voucher will be issued if a proof of purchase is not supplied or if the cardholder is not present.
I am sure Mr Bennett was delighted with his compensation and more so with his smiley dinosaur. Hell, I would have just settled for the picture, it’s awesome (I bet you hate the word awesome too). I hate it but I have a sneaking suspicion you will hate it more because that’s the kind of person you are.
Oh, and before you go and pee on any more bonfires, your reference to “customer service school” is ironic. You have the time to sit there in your cardigan and dampen what was a light-hearted story yet you take no time to check your own mistakes ( since you cannot spell “about” and “whatever”). Really takes the shine off a self-involved, narrow minded outburst. Suggest Ray re-visits “school”, pipes down and unclenches one’s bum.
I think I want to have Horton’s babies.
Fantastic… that is all.
Horton……. TOP MAN
Ray ……. Cock
Well said Horton, Britian could really do with more people like yourself xx
Ray 0 – 5 Horton
You should sign up for West Brom!
great story, ray shut up and go back into your hole. horton well said.
You don’t understand what the phrase ‘legal tender’ means.
Ray, you absolute penis.
Horton, one of the best come backs I’ve ever read. I’m not sure who I like more now, you or Steve.
simply not true! in the UK anyway
What a wonderful Dinosaur! Your hidden talent is awakened. You should either get a fat raise or be head hunted!! :-)
Nice to see someone in CS going along with the joke, rather than get angry and threaten to press charges.
That smiley dinosaur is amazing!!!!
This just made my day!
Dear Steve,
next time I’m in the UK I will totally buy something at M&S. Please tell your boss.
its a copy of the first google image result for ”smiling dinosaur”….
So what if it’s a copy, still a bloody nice drawing that has made a few people laugh!
Customer service reps are people too! Who’d have thought ;-)
haha, that’s fantastic! great to see a huge company making taking a personal approach :)
This is not just a smiley dinosaur, this is an M&S hand drawn smiley dinosaur.
How do we nominate Steve Jones for a customer service award?
haha thats funny!
Excellent dinosaur – well done Steve :-D
Thats been traced! Good work though, everyone needs a little more silliness in everyday life.
Pulitzer prize stuff there.
M&S have definitely gone up in my estimation!
Pay me 5 quid! And draw me a dinosaur that’s smiling!
What the hell?
whether it be traced hand drawn or imported from space, I am totally chuffed that he has taken the time to draw it and send it out. Well done!!
Excellent drawing, very impressed – traced or not, it’s a quality choice. Made by day !!!! Off to M&S tomorrow :(
This really made my day!
Well done. Almost makes up for the terribly rude M and S employee who left me in tears some years ago to such an extent that I have never been into one of your stores since, and urge friends and families not to shop with you either. If all employees were like you, I wouldn’t feel like this.
Hilary,
Perhaps time to consider moving on? Let the smiley dinosaur bring you closure.
Fucking LOL Eccentrica!
If M&S have any sense, they should promote this man. And give him a bonus.
Brilliant. Well done M&S
Traced from the first Google Images result for “smiling dinosaur”, but hats off.
Haha I absolutely love this. Also, am I the only one who’s impressed with his drawing? I can’t draw to save my live, but with basic art supplies he’s managed to create a decent looking dinosaur and boosted M&S’s reputation massively. Legend.
Top effort by Steve and M&S, I hope the weird request gave all the customer service teams as much a laugh as this has me
Brilliant story.
is the dinosaur doing a chicken like dance?
I love this – so good to have an example of people not taking everything so seriously!!
Nearly used this in a job interview today as an example of good customer service…unfortunately the relevant question didn’t come up.
That’s class! Both in the old sense of the word and the new. I totally love that Steve went to the trouble of sending you your smiling dino.
P.S The reCAPTCHA on your comments both sucks and blows.
:) A nice story at last. Well done Steve from M&S.
that steven chap is so getting laid. everybody knows smiley dinosaurs are hot.
Loving the smiley Dinosaur.. Good job steve, M&S are now a lot more appealing ;o)
I think Steve should send Hilary Mackelden (above) a smiley dinosaur also.
If I worked at M and S customer services, I wouldn’t let a complaint like that go unanswered for too long.
Wasn’t there a story recently where M&S paid loads of money to have a birthday cake that was late delivered by cab to get there in time for a little girl’s birthday party. All very impressive. Give Steve a chat show…
I love this story – am going to use it for assembly next week with a theme of perseverance, it will be great to have a bit of fun with the 6th form!
M & S is awesome for accommodating such a dinosaur request!! I want one!!
Customer service at M&S is damn good and the company should be proud of this. Unfortunately there are lots of processes which simply aren’t joined up. Living as I do about 2000km from the nearest M&S store, I do a lot of shopping on-line and have recently had orders cancelled (by M&S) when they had already been delivered, wrong items shipped etc. That said, I ordered a gift card for one of my kids and despite him having been my son for 21 years, I got his address wrong and the card (worth £50), was delivered to another flat in the same block, signed for by the occupant who subsequently denied all knowledge of having taken it. M&S customer services were brilliant. Even though the stupidity was 100% mine, they cancelled the card and refunded the £50 to my account without even lowering themselves to point out that perhaps, next time I send something to one of my children, I should ensure I use their correct address.
M&S – damn expensive, but quite nice.
Like my wife.
Sam, nicely put. Steve, absolute ledgend.
This is not just any dinosaur…. this is an M&S Dinosaur.
Fantastic! I too would settle for the picture alone. If only there were more Steves in this world!
So, did Steve get promoted? Can someone find out??
This is a lovely story. Going the extra mile isn’t hard, I wish other Customer Services were like this.
Well done Steve! :o)
Came across this after it was linked to by a friend on Facebook and it made me giggle.
Traced or not, it’s brilliant and shows M&S staff have a sense of humour, as has been said.
An aunt of mine works for M&S and has done for years. And now I think I know why. Obviously they’re great to work for.
made me cry laughing. love it. :)
Why couldn’t the guy check his receipt before he even left the store?! O_____O
You should have asked for a hand drawn smiling dinosaur that wasn’t traced from an image found on Google Search. Those cheaters!!!
http://t1.ftcdn.net/jpg/00/23/80/46/400_F_23804664_dXf5xDHpvdmVoZhdfAcRYlgKwgodKDNn.jpg
I’m glad I’m not the only one writing silly letters of complaint! It shows you should always follow these things up until you get a satisfactory result.
I’ve chanced upon a few ‘Steves’ in my time and they certainly make one’s day more interesting. Nice work!
This Smiley Dino should be M&S next product mascot! Like a Smiley Dino sweet ala Percy Pig! Great drawing so cute!
Let’s tweet this to M&S so they will make a new sweet product for Smiley Dino!
M&S, we want #SmileyDino as the product mascot for a new sweets! http://gu.com/p/3xp7g/tw @marksandspencer #smilingdinosaur #marksandspencer
M&S, we want #SmileyDino as the product mascot for a new sweets! http://gu.com/p/3xp7g/tw @marksandspencer #smilingdinosaur #marksandspencer
Whilst I love this story, Steve you are a plagiarist! You copied said smiling dinosaur from here:
http://www.fotolia.com/id/23804664
Bill deserves an original smiling dinosaur!!!!
Brilliant!
I forsee a Christmas marketing scheme that introduces M&S’s “Steve the Smiling Dinosaur”……
They’d be daft not to. :-)
Um to those people saying it was traced from a google image… Have you considered the image was on google at all because of this story???
it could well be a Steve original! Either way well done Steve!
Hah!
someone *please* now do a little drawing of Ray, right back in his box!?
genius.
The real question is, did M&S pay for the stock illustration this is clearly traced from? http://www.fotolia.com/id/23804664
As an M&S employee we are encouraged to ‘go the extra mile’ in providing outstanding customer service. We are rewarded as Steve undoubtably will have been. If you do recieve excellent service in an M&S store, please do mention it to a manager or write into the store.
P.S. All this could’ve been avoided if the author had taken their reciept to the food information desk and they could have got a refund on the spot onto their card.
Love it; even if it is copied from somewhere it still shows he has a sense of humour…and initiative
Wonderful stuff! What I think I like the most is Mr. Bennett’s tongue-in-cheek demands for a hand drawn smiley dinosaur. This obviously threw the gauntlet down where all previous requests for refunds were falling on stoney ground! How could Steve possibly resist the challenge!
I suspect a Hollywood script is now in the making!
Cheery stuff indeed!
Oh, I forgot to add…Ray is the antagonist in the new movie :)
i want a dinosaur – so off to buy sarnies tomorrow
You people commenting on the fact that it was traced or whatever are pathetic!
Get a life! this guy went out of his way to make someone smile! What a great light hearted idea!
Why not look at it for what it is you miserable bunch of moaning morons!
Gooooo Steeeeve :-)
Sell it on e-bay lol
This is fantastic – stories like this remind us that there are happy, kind and wonderful people in the world amongst all the arseholes (Ray).
So thanks for that Bill and Steve!
Lovely Cuddly Dinosaur. I would give him a home ANY DAY!!!!
Heart warming story and Disney should use him him a full length cartoon paying appropriate royalties
I think Steve, Horton and the Dinosaur should be genetically splice together and cloned! Think of the happiness they could bring to the world?!?
Smiley dinosaurs are a joy to the world! They can make any siuation better!
To Steve – *I* love your smiley dinosaur! Brilliant stuff. Best customer service ever.
Steve, good man!
I hate awesome too but go Horton.
Dan please consider me as godmother when yours and Horton’s baby arrives.
And to all above who found the time to be miffed that the dinosaur may not be original – it was without doubt a hand-drawn smiley dinosaur exactly as requested.
Indeed Miss P, I agree with all the above… He also fessed up in the cover letter by saying art was never his strong point. Nice one Steve. Nice one Horton. (and I agree about the reCAPTCHA :( #sucks)
Genius. This is possibly the funniest thing i’ve seen
He asked for a refund and didn’t get it.
Ray is right and Horton well done for being the big man for shooting someone down for putting there thoughts forward, great comeback not.
Dan if you want to have another blokes babies you go right ahead freak.
He (Steve) should be head hunted for copying a drawing of a smiling dinosaur WTF!!!! how about just making him a director of the company, bunch of clowns YBT to all of you.
Cool story MrP
Oh dear MrP, sense of humour bypass?
I suggest you crawl back under your stone.
Well done Steve
hi guys wanted to let you know that if you googled the smiley dinosaur and clicked the link the images are all stories of this letter… furthermore i think its more an image of yoshi tweaked a bit with teeth! Go Steve! i think you dan and horton should all have babies together.
It is always a welcome to read such a funny and heartwarming tale as told.
Unfortunately, my experience with Border’s Book Store three months ago was quite the opposite of Bill’s dealing with M&S.
Simply, I paid for a magazine at one of their stores (admittedly in abit of a rush) as a gift for my elderly mother who could not make the walk into the store herself. Upon arriving home with the gift my mother find out she’d already read that issue, one published last year. I immediately telephoned the store and a clerk told me to return to the store with the “nine” month old issue and cash register receipt. I did so the next day. After a sixteen mile trip, I was told to “have a nice day” with neither a refund, offer of credit nor giftcard…Nada…zip…nothing!
I wrote the corporate office with my tale and I received polite e-mail letters not unlike B&S correspondences but with no offer to do justice.
I am so glad that there are businesses that try to do the right thing towards their customers but that behavior is not universally shared.
I believe people just hate to be robbed out of their hard earned money. Well, at least I do.
Many thanks
Classic! Crying with laughter! Steve should be awarded an honorary degree in Graphic Art for his services to Art – not forgetting the fact that the customer service itself is class!
Ray…get a life…or go buy a new cardigan!
Love marks and spencers here! Ray – come on!
Ahh, this story makes me so happy. I go to M&S very often to buy one of their lovely Cheese Ploughman’s sandwiches and this has made me forgive them for raising the price from £2 to £2.20. Good on you Steve, the world needs more people like you!
I love this dinosaur…wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle!!!
Ray….’Do one’….you fun sponge….
Horton….Legend….please send me links to more pages you have commented on for my enjoyment.
PS. if you like this ….. check out the spider
http://www.27bslash6.com/overdue.html
That dinosaur is not smiling. It’s leering! Alert the authorities! Protect the children!
hi!!!
Just saw this – it was linked to something more recent I was perusing.
With the benefit od 20/20 hindsight, maybe Steve should have pinched this one …
http://www.fotolia.com/id/33594302
Plaigarism or no, he deserved the praise heaped on him for all the right reasons. And … he had the temerity to enjoy his job which is helping people – it probably made a terriffic counterpoint to his otherwise dull day.
Cheers from OZ!
So M&S overcharge the bloke taking his money into their bank account. He only wanted to spend £1.90 but they took £3. They won’t refund his cash (which is illegal) but instead give him a gift card to spend…….you guessed it, in their store.
Mighty generous, I think not…
Horton can’t spell focusing – it’s got one ‘s’.