Not the worst service ever - I’d have to think about that! - but I had an experience in M & S that made me realise that their customer service isn’t what it was. I’d bought a snow globe online for £15, took it out the next year to display and all the water inside had turned a sludgy dark brown. I had to jump through hoops to get a refund - they didn’t want to know when I contacted them online, just said my local store might consider a goodwill payment if I took it in. At the till I was told firmly that Christmas decorations were only made to last one year (at which stage there were sharp intakes of breath from the queue behind me ). The manager tried to continue with this nonsense, and then begrudgingly agreed that I could fill in a 2 page form and the snow globe would be sent for analysis - if it was faulty they’d refund me. I got my
money back (without a sniff of an explanation or apology) several weeks later.
My lovely DIL took back a pair of school shoes to the same store - the stitching had come apart after 4 weeks wear. Because she’d not kept her receipt she was more or less accused of stealing them (“Well, I think it’s very odd indeed that you haven’t got a receipt”), and left upset, without refund or exchange. I wish I’d been with her!
The Republic of Ireland and their tensions with migrants.