Disappointed And Frustrated Client

I am writing this email with great disappointment and hoping that my case will be treated fairly. I am a married man of 37 years old. I have been a loyal customer since 2003 when I was still in Varsity. I had an account with Truworths, which I closed in 2015 due to personal reasons but I still continued shopping at Truworths on cash as I still do even today. We always purchase our fragrances there at least twice a year. We spend at least +-R20,000 a year at Truworths. On this particular day alone we spent just below R8000 cash.

It was the 11th of February 2019 when my wife and myself went to Truworths Pavilion to spoil ourselves on fragrances and few items. I went there knowing very well what I wanted. I wanted Gucci Oud and Jean Paul and my wife kept her options open. An agent convinced me to replace Jean Paul with Versace Dylan Blue. I fell for it because she was good at marketing it and it did smell very good. So we bought Gucci Oud, Versace Dylan Blue, Marc Jacobs Decadence, Clinique lipsticks and a dress.

For the first few days I was wearing Gucci and was pretty happy with, it lived to my expectation and more. I then started wearing Versace. On the first day I thought maybe there was something wrong with me as the cologne did not last on me. I wore it on the second day, it was the same issue. I asked my wife if she could smell it, she said it’s too flat, even on the previous day it was as if I was using a body spray. I am not trying to be negative or to take the whole credit away from Versace. I am a fan of Versace. I must say the cologne smells pretty good when you spray it and it’s not overpowering, which is what I like from most of my colognes.

However, I was or I am not happy with the fact that the cologne is flat, very weak and has poor longevity and sillage. It’s like a shampoo on me, you can only smell it while spraying it, after an hour or so the smell is gone. As a result I decided to return the cologne to Truworths. I was assisted by a very friendly and customer focus lady by the name of Khethiwe. She understood my concerns and called the Versace representative who said she will come a day later to collect and test the cologne.

Khethiwe promised to call me a day later for an update. A week later there was no communication. I called and she said the rep did not come to collect. I called again few days later, Khethiwe said the rep came and tested the cologne on herself and she was happy with it, concluded that there is nothing wrong with the cologne and cannot allow for it to be returned. I reminded Khethiwe what were my concerns and explained to her that fragrances react differently on different people, it can be a skin chemistry issue. On myself it just disappears in an hour or so. In my understanding, one cannot test a cologne by just spraying and conclude it ok. Colognes are chemically processed through labs, therefore has to be tested at a lab. The rep’s conclusion alone showed me that she did not give this the attention it deserved and my issue was not a priority.

I gave Khethiwe my email address and phone number to give to the rep as I asked to have a report written explaining the reasons for her conclusion. Khethiwe passed the message to the rep and followed up with her several times but she never seemed bothered to either call me or write a report. I kept calling every after 2 to 3 days for an update but I never got anywhere. I got to a point where I asked Khethiwe to escalate the matter to her manager as I could not get any joy and I was not happy with the fact that I was the one to keep on checking the progress. She escalated to the area manage. They then asked for my purchase receipt, I was told chances are they will replace my cologne with any of my choice. I forwarded the receipt then they were quiet again. I called, Khethiwe was off for 4 days, she called me when she came back and said she is still waiting for final decision from the area manager who was not available for few days.

When the area manager by the name of Saadiya Vaid came back, she called me and advised that unfortunately they cannot exchange my cologne. I was so tired, frustrated and drained. I did not want any more stories. I asked her to email me a report explaining her reasons for her conclusion and carbon copy Versace South Africa. She also did not write a report, instead she emailed me details for ********** – National sales manager and ********** – Account executive for KZN.

It has been almost 2 months now with no joy. I feel that Truworths has failed me as their customer. Now I have to deal with Versace where else I am not their client but Truworths. Truworths has not played their role in this matter. As a client it is your duty as Truworths to maintain my happiness and satisfaction. I am not being an irritating customer and I am not asking for refund. All I am asking for is an exchange. Is that too much to ask? The cologne was sprayed only twice, Truworths Pavilion kept it with them. For 2 months I am using 1 cologne instead of 2, is that fair? I paid full amount but I do not see any value for money. This is highly unacceptable. I went online and checked people’s views on this fragrance. I am not the only one who is complaining about it, there is other people who are not happy with it. So please Truworths do the right thing for your clients. I could have posted this to HelloPeter and dent your reputation but that is not my style . I always look for positive solutions, as you may see that I have been very patient with this matter and gave everyone a chance to do something.

I know this is a long email and might be boring for somebody else but I really hope you will look into this matter and resolve it urgently. I hate complaining and I do not like writing such emails but I am one person who believes in value for money and customer satisfaction. Where I come from we always put our customers first, so I get worried and disturbed if the same is not app**** to me.

I hope you will find the above in order . I would appreciate it if I can get a response within 24 hours of receiving this email as this has dragged long enough already.