A new Morrisons conversion in Plymouth has performed well below its previous Safeway levels for availability and customer service in this week’s The Grocer 33.
The store had featured as a Safeway in The Grocer 33 in May 2004, just two months after Morrisons acquired the chain, and had provided a full basket of items, as well as customer service that was reported as excellent by our mystery shopper.
However, this time it failed to provide a full basket, and was described as “appalling” by The Grocer 33’s shopper. While the store had benefited from a large extension while it was still a Safeway and a refurbishment programme when it became a Morrisons, the mystery shopper said that customer service was poor.
Abandoned packing trolleys and empty boxes made navigating around a trial, said our shopper, the store generally appeared rather untidy, and staff were described as poorly trained and verging on rudeness when asked for assistance. Our shopper was also offered no help with packing her goods.
“Standards shouldn’t drop to this level. It is quite different to how it was when it was a Safeway,” she said. “This is supposed to be the season to be jolly, but there were not many laughs to be had on that day,” she added.
A spokesman for Morrisons denied that there were problems at the store.
“We pride ourselves on the high standards we achieve throughout our stores. Our Pomphlett store converted to the Morrisons format in November and is trading very well. We are attracting new customers who are returning week on week.”
>>p18 The Grocer 33
The store had featured as a Safeway in The Grocer 33 in May 2004, just two months after Morrisons acquired the chain, and had provided a full basket of items, as well as customer service that was reported as excellent by our mystery shopper.
However, this time it failed to provide a full basket, and was described as “appalling” by The Grocer 33’s shopper. While the store had benefited from a large extension while it was still a Safeway and a refurbishment programme when it became a Morrisons, the mystery shopper said that customer service was poor.
Abandoned packing trolleys and empty boxes made navigating around a trial, said our shopper, the store generally appeared rather untidy, and staff were described as poorly trained and verging on rudeness when asked for assistance. Our shopper was also offered no help with packing her goods.
“Standards shouldn’t drop to this level. It is quite different to how it was when it was a Safeway,” she said. “This is supposed to be the season to be jolly, but there were not many laughs to be had on that day,” she added.
A spokesman for Morrisons denied that there were problems at the store.
“We pride ourselves on the high standards we achieve throughout our stores. Our Pomphlett store converted to the Morrisons format in November and is trading very well. We are attracting new customers who are returning week on week.”
>>p18 The Grocer 33
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