Belk Dept Store / Hattiesburg, MS

Belk Dept Store / Hattiesburg, MS

March 30, 2006

Belk Dept Store / Hattiesburg, MS ...for the past 1 hour I attempted to call Belks in order to verify they stocked a certain item in the bedding dept. The telephone switchboard operator transferred the call to a phone which rang 40 or so times...no one ever answered...in frustration, I tried again and was given the dept direct number...again about 40 rings..no answer...I then called L.D. again...asked for the manager and was told by another member of management, sorry she is gone for the night....so, I voiced my displeasure to this guy...he stated as did the original switchboard operator that once a call is transferred, they have no further control over the call. I explained to him (John Clayton) that to allow a phone to ring continuously without at least going on the line and telling the customer, "I am with a customer, I will be with you in a moment"...is unacceptable and improper in any business situation. He finally agreed after some excuses which do not fly. He actually stated that late at night, near closing time, some departments have only one clerk who cannot answer the phone and wait on in-store patrons....thus, please take my advice...since this seems to be STORE POLICY at all BELKS, avoid the place, especially near shift endings. I make this prediction, those dumb employees who do not seem to have any proper telephone training or elect not to use them will not long have a job...as with this attitude, BELKS will soon be out of business. No sane would-be customer will stand for this type business relations. Good luck shoppers, go elsewhere. THEY ARE LOSERS!

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If the associate in that section was with a customer on the floor, they would not have been able to leave that customer to run to the phone to answer your call. The chances of this being the case are very good. I am an associate at Belk, and we are not allowed to stand around at the register, which is where the phones are located. If the associate just, by chance, happened to be at the register when you called, they would have answered. My store generally has one associate per area all of the time, not just at night. The employees are not necessarily "dumb" for not answering the phone. They are trying to help customers in the store, as best as they can, for $8/hour, with little to no help.

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I find it funny that you think Belk will be out of business soon, especially considering that they have no debt to anyone and are actually trending up with their sales (only 2nd place to Kohl’s), plus they are buying all the businesses that ARE going bankrupt.

I hope to never shop at a store you frequent because apparently your needs are much more important than everyone else’s. I'd hate for an associate to just stop helping me to deal with some stupid customer on the phone. Get some patience or please do us who do have patience and understanding and do all your shopping online. Geeze!