Customer Service and Cyprus. Not a combination of words I personally would put together, and I have no doubt that every person who reads this on the island will have had their fair share of bad service experiences, ranging from the disappointing to the infuriating. And if it is slowly getting better, it is only marginally improving at best.
One of the worse things that occurs on the island is when the wrong price is on a label, ticket or shelf and the price at the till is higher. For most countries, it is not an issue; price on product is what the customer pays, after all, it is the shop's error and not the customer's…
…Not in Cyprus! You get told in no uncertain terms that someone made a mistake on the ticket, and what is displayed on the till/computer is what goes. Period. On so many occasions I have argued that it is not legal (from what I know), and that the customer pays the price displayed. After all, if this practice was allowed, then customers could take anything to a till only to be told an inflated made-up price by the cashier if they felt like it. Nope, this is a no brainer – price on ticket is price you pay – unless it is sale time and it has been marked down further! I have to note here that supermarkets are generally good and honour the price or special offer, even if it displays differently on the till (but I do say 'generally good' and not 'as a policy'!).
The other practice that I despise (and yes, that is a strong word but I really cannot stand it) is when you want to exchange something and are made to sign your name and write down your phone number on the receipt. This makes me feel as though the store is judging me and trying to ensure that I am not a criminal out to scam them. I also don't believe that they have the right to ask for my personal details, just because I have decided to return something (with receipt). Is this legal? Should they be able to ask for our personal details and claim this as a prerequisite for returning goods?
Which brings me on to receipts. No receipt, no exchange. In some cases, I can understand this - for example, if the goods can be purchased from multiple stores. But when the item has clearly come from a shop, displays their name, includes their ticket with the price and their name (again) then there is no excuse not to exchange it. Surely all that is needed is to scan the barcode to verify for the umpteenth time that said item cannot physically have come from any other shop! Apparently not. And don't even get me started on the 'no refund' and the 'can't use gift or credit vouchers during sale time' policies.
The reason why this topic came to mind is because for the first time in all my years living in Larnaca, the price on the ticket was honoured despite it being a Euro more at the till! To say I was shocked is an understatement! But I am not getting ahead of myself and thinking that there are big changes coming, because despite them begrudgingly fixing the issue, the manager did not make eye contact, smile or say a polite word to me the entire time!
