Showing posts with label customer service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label customer service. Show all posts

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.