We approached all three companies that were named Canada's worst for customer service for an on-camera interview. Walmart agreed to speak with us, but Zellers and Canadian Tire responded via written statements:
"We are disappointed in our performance with respect to the Marketplace customer satisfaction survey.
"Zellers
takes customer service very seriously and we have made significant
improvements in areas where our customers have historically rated us
below their expectations.
"We have prioritised customer service
improvement based on the areas most important to our customers. Our
improvement in being in-stock and providing customers with a better
shopping experience through our new store formats have been our key
focus.
"We appreciate the feedback provided through this survey and will
make the appropriate changes to our internal procedures and areas of
focus."
Statement from Canadian Tire, via Glenn Butt, executive vice president of customer experience and automotive:
"Thank you for your request to appear on CBC Marketplace to discuss customer service at Canadian Tire.
"In
reviewing the Marketplace show format and previous episodes, we don't
believe your show lends itself to a fair and balanced discussion of the
issues you raise. It's clear that you establish a story you wish to tell
and are selective in the company responses you choose to air. We are
one of the most-shopped retailers in the country with 180 million
transactions per year, so we have no doubt that you can find a bad story
if you're determined to find one.
"Although the CBC spoke to
just a few hundred or few thousand customers, we engage more than 30,000
customers every month in detailed customer feedback to improve our
customer service. We know directly from our customers that we are one of
their favourite stores - that we have made tremendous improvements to
their shopping experience - that they love the changes we have made to
our store layout - that they have noticed the impact of extensive staff
training across the country - and that there are still areas where we
can do better. For example, we know we need to do a better job improving
the complete customer experience around returning products to our
stores.
"We deeply value our customers and wake up every day with
the commitment to make their experience in our stores better. We will
continue to directly communicate with our customers about the many ways
we are improving their shopping experience."
To those of you who have questions about the CBC carrying ads about products Marketplace investigates: CBC has Advertising Standards policies, which can be found at http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/docs/policies/ads/. The approval process for commercials is supervised by CBC's Advertising Standards Department, which operates independently from CBC News.
Thank you for your comments. Please be assured that all mail is read and shared by senior program personnel. However, the amount of mail we receive makes it impossible for us to respond to everyone individually. The Marketplace team moderates comment boards Tuesdays to Saturdays during regular business hours. The comment board is open for 14 days following the initial broadcast.
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