Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Customer care and consumer rights "Turkish style"

One of my negative experiences in Turkey has been with customer service. I am used to the generous customer rights in Germany, where it is absolutely no problem to bring a product that you've purchased back to the shop within two to four weeks and get your money refunded. Not so in Turkey!

One example: I needed a headset with mic for my Mac. I went to a well-known electronics shop. I found a headset, asked if it would work with my Mac and they said "yes". As I had already become cautious, I asked whether I could bring it back if it didn't work. And the answer was in the affirmative - as long as I brought it back in the original package. Sure enough, it did not work with my Mac. So, I brought it back to the shop, carefully packed. Well, guess what! They agreed to take it back but not to give me the money back. They wanted to give me a voucher. I told them that there was nothing else I needed and wanted my money to buy a headset that worked. After insisting on talking to the boss, I was handed a telephone. The person on the other end asked me if I had opened the package. I said: "Of course." How else was I supposed to find out whether it worked?! "Well," she said. "In that case, we can refund you but have to deduct 15 % of the purchase price as you have used the product."
So, think very carefully when you want to buy something in Turkey.

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