Hello,
Regarding:
The Source, Store #55113
Morningside Crossing
4525 Kingston Rd Unit #H7
Toronto ON, M1E 2P1
(416) 282-4406
I went to The Source store (see above) near my home on June 8, 2014, to exchange the batteries on my cordless handsets for one replacement (payable by me as it was an original battery) and two replacements (which I thought were covered by a warranty sold to me by this same store a year or two ago.) At the time that I bought the warranty, I bought two batteries and was told that the batteries were easily identifiable as being from The Source and that my warranty information would be kept on the stores database. I was told that coming in for replacement batteries would not be a problem even without a receipt.
I walked in to the store with my kids (9 and 13 years old) for what I thought would be a 10 minute trip to the store. The trip to this store, for the exclusive purpose of just exchanging my batteries, took 35 minutes.
I explained to the sale person (Faraque) that I thought my batteries were under a warranty and that I was looking to replace my dead batteries. From the start, Faraque told me that I should simply get a new cordless phone set from the store. That getting batteries would be too expensive. I thought that he did not understand that two of my handset batteries were covered under a warranty and since the batteries cost about $25 each that it made more sense for me to just buy one set of batteries and replace the other two as per my warranty. I explained this to him again.
When we returned to the sales counter, Faraque checked my battery type and said that this store did not have any batteries of the type I needed but that I could go to two other nearby Source stores to get my replacement batteries. I was surprised that The Source did not have even one of the three replacements I needed. So I went to the shelf with the batteries and managed to find one of the type of batteries I needed. As I continued my search, Faraque insisted that I stop looking for more of the same batteries. He said that he missed seeing the one battery that was in the store and his computer was not showing any other stock in the store. Just the one I had found.
As it turned out, Faraque was right. Unable to find another battery, I went back to the counter. Faraque then asked me for my contact information for the second time. I gave him this information and then after a long search told me that only the batteries for one handset were covered under a warranty but not from the second handset. I told the sales person how he knew, without me having a receipt, that the battery inside the one handset contained a battery previously bought at the source. He said that the batteries sold at the The Source have numbers unique to The Source. I wondered than how my two batteries bought at the same time a few years ago were not equally covered? Why would a customer put one set of batteries under warranty and not the other? And since he recognized that both batteries that I was claiming were under warranty, were from The Source, could he not make an exception? I asked him to check his records to see that I was indeed a loyal customer of this particular location? He said he had a charger of some sort which I had, in the past, also put under warranty.
Faraque insisted that he could replace one battery under the warranty but offered me no other options. He did not offer to call nearby stores, or check to see when a shipment of this particular battery might be coming in or offer any other alternatives that might have been open to him. Since I did not have a receipt and I was relying on The Source to keep track of my warranty purchase, I had to admit that there was not much I could do to pursue the warranty on the second battery. When I asked what Faraque thought I should do to replace batteries for my other two handsets, he suggested going to the other Source stores or buying similar batteries from some electronics store.
I finally asked this sales person to print a receipt of some sort showing that I had requested and gotten a replacement battery from the store under my warranty. The printing of any kind of document, I said to him, would be fine: such as my warranty or a receipt. Faraque said that since they were using a new computer system, the printer was not working properly. At this point I became very upset, but not abusive. I wondered how a store that specializes in selling electronics could not get their cash register to send a print command to their printer. Eventually, after a 5-10 minute delay, a document was printed out.
Once the document which was printed was brought from the back of the store, Faraque handed me a plain piece of paper on which he had handwritten the identifying numbers of my battery type. I insisted that I get the paper that he had actually printed out that carried identifying numbers on it for my records as I was going to be calling the customer complaints line due to the terrible customer service I had gotten at this store. Faraque then told me that the print out which he had produced was for store use only and was private. Then, Faraque, challenged me by saying: ‘why do you want to call the customer complaint line?’ So I went over the facts of my visit thus far for him:
1. I came in to replace my batteries 30 minutes ago
2. He asked me to buy an entire cordless phone set
3. Insisted he didn’t have the batteries I needed
4. When I found the batteries I needed in the store
5. He insisted that there was just the one and I should go elsewhere for my other batteries
6. Then he found my warranty but only for one set of batteries
7. Then he couldn’t print a receipt or warranty information for me
8. When he did print warranty information for me….he couldn’t give it to me because it was private
9. Then he tried to simply give me a handwritten piece of paper
10. And was now challenging my idea of calling a customer complaints line like there was nothing wrong at all with all our interactions.
At this point, Faraque finally decided to hand me the print out from the printer. Since there were no phone numbers on the print out I had been given, I asked for an 1-800 customer service number from him. Faraque began by giving me a 705 area code number. I protested and asked if there was no one number that a customer could call to lodge a complaint about service. Faraque said that he was not aware of any other numbers and that the 705 number was for the head office for The Source.
After about 35 minutes of trying to get a helpful answer from this employee, I finally headed out the door (with my kids in tow) without a word from this sales associate or the other two sales people who were in the store.
I am deeply disappointed that someone who works at a well known chain store such as The Source would be so cavalier with the loyalty that I have shown, especially to this store, over the years. I assure you that I do not plan on going to this store ever again
I will not be shopping at The Source ever again.
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