No Customer Empathy or Delight

<p>We purchased a hi sense fridge at the ottery branch this week Monday. Delivery took place on Wed. My husband removed the packaging late the eve on Thurs. On Fri morning we noticed that the fridge was making a funny sound and not getting cool at all. We consulted the manual to make sure that the settings were correct.At that point we had to keep all our perishables in a big coolerbox as we were expecting guests, it was our sons 9th birthday. This was a huge inconvenience to us especially with it being Good Friday & we had seafood that we had to keep in a fridge but couldn't. I called the store at 8:30 on Saturday morning thinking that they could collect so that I could purchase another brand at the store that same day and have my perishables placed in a fridge. I was called back by a Manager who explained the process and that it will only be collected the following Tues/Wed. I expressed my dissatisfaction and informed him that we have children and using a coolerbox is not going to help me until then. He wasn't empathetic and had no customer intimacy. He seemed agitated and said he will see what he can do. He then phoned me back and told me that he can try for Monday. I explained to him that we were desperately needing a fridge and at some point I had to remind him that I was the customer. I made it clear that I was going to buy another fridge at the store and pay in the difference if necessary. I then even suggested that I will hire a courier to collect and deliver and also suggested that Makro pays the cost since they sold me a defaulted item. He mentioned that they could not take the responsibility for that but that he would give me a discount should I take a fridge that is not on promotion. Delivery and collection would both take place on Monday. I wasn't happy and he then mentioned that he would compensate us with a R200 voucher. We got to the store the Saturday afternoon, met the Manager who never once apologized. It seemed as if he was the unhappy customer. He had no empathy and this was clear in the manner that he addressed us. No customer service or delight. We eventually chose a fridge and the Manager gave it to us at a discounted price. Once all our delivery details were confirmed by the Manager, he ended it off by saying "that is all I needed". At that point I was so shocked and just left. We've been customers of Makro for many years and I am extremely dissapointed with the service that we received from the store. I do believe that the the Manager could have provided us with a better service. We had to spend the entire Easter weekend without a fridge. I will be certainly sharing my experience with all my family and friends. </p>