Menu
Login
Please see attached.
I was assured in August that the case would be reviewed whilst I was on holiday. I was initially offered £30 compensation which I turned down. I asked for a complete refund to be considered and was advised that I would be contacted on my return from holiday. Despite continual emails, I have received no follow up call except from the manager of the franchise who claims that they are not liable. The email sent by her clearly states that the retainers were disposed of, therefore the are completely liable.
The service from the customer complaints department has been dreadful, with constant promises of follow up calls and an initial admission by Costa Coffee that this behavior was unacceptable and that I should replace the retainers and keep the receipt to claim back.
Please see the email trail below.
Resolver Case 8176697
Complaint against Costa Coffee by Georgina Taylor Generated 10/01/20 at 14:01 GMT
Case Details
Company: Costa Coffee
Service: Coffee shops
Reference:
Date Raised: September 26th, 2019 07:11
Restaurant name and location: Wyndley Leisure Centre, Sutton Coldfield
When it happened: June 28th, 2019
Where it happened: 70 Frederick Road, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B73 5QN
3 / 27
What I want: The full amount of the retainers to be refunded as was agreed with them at the time.
User account email [protected]@hotmail.co.uk
Timeline
Day 1 - 26/09/19 email sent 07:09 GMT: "Lost Property..."
Day 8 - 03/10/19
email sent 06:10 GMT:
"No response to my complaint..." unsent document uploaded 06:10 GMT:
Day 15 - 10/10/19
email sent 06:10 GMT:
"No response to my complaint..."
email sent 06:10 GMT: "Issue still unresolved..."
Day 32 - 27/10/19
email sent 10:10 GMT:
"Dissatisfied with the response I've received..." unsent document uploaded 10:10 GMT:
Day 62 - 26/11/19
email sent 10:11 GMT: "Issue still unresolved..."
Day 69 - 03/12/19
email sent 20:12 GMT:
"No response to my complaint..."
back to complaint details back to timeline
EMAIL
sent on 26/09/19 at 07:09 GMT
attachments:
2852614-Costa Response Tom.docx [application/vnd.openxmlformats- officedocument.wordprocessingml.document]
2852615-Costaphoto.docx [application/vnd.openxmlformats- officedocument.wordprocessingml.document]
If you are unable to open any of the above links then you can open the file directly from the files/sent folder contained within this zip.
Lost Property
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am writing to you to raise an issue about: Coffee shops
The issue that I have experienced was: My son Thomas wrote to Costa regarding the deliberate disposal of his mouth retainers, by a member of the Costa team at Wyndley Leisure Centre back in June. Tom accidentally left his retainers on the table, and when he realised his error, returned to the store where he was advised by the employee who had disposed of them, that they were in the bins, and he told my son where to ‘feel free to go and look through them'. The employee has since denied this, and states that he merely told my son where the bins were but that he didn't advise him to go through them?
I have asked how my son would have known which bins belonged to Costa Coffee (as they are colour coded according to the Leisure Centre) without very specific instructions. The employee was unable to answer that question.
In the original email from Costa, they advised that telling a customer to go and look through any bins is totally inappropriate and should never have happened.
I have had several conversations with the franchise manager, who has claimed that they have checked the CCTV and that apparently the retainers were actually on the floor and were swept away. (Tom disagrees that they were on the floor. I have also asked to see the evidence of this and so far been refused) as a further point the excuse for deliberately throwing them away was that they are unhygienic. I put it to the manager that should somebody have left false teeth behind by accident, would the employee have thrown them away? The manager and employee both failed to answer.
The actual answer to that question would have been to wear a pair of gloves and wrap them up; it would not have been to dispose of them.
If it is a health and safety issue then might I also bring into question how big a health and safety risk it is to advise a teenager to go through bins without any form of protection? The manager of the Leisure Centre gave Tom a ‘grabber' to save using his hands.
I have since contacted both the manager and been into store to speak to the area manager in there as I have had absolutely no correspondence (without persistently chasing)
I visited the store (in August) to try and speak with the area manager that I had previously spoken to but soon realised that I was actually speaking to the staff member responsible for disposing of the retainers. When I politely asked him why he did it and whether he would have done the same with a mobile phone, a gold watch, a child's dummy or bottle etc. he couldn't answer, but what he did say (and laughed) when I advised that I had a witness statement from the manager of the Leisure Centre who found Tom going through the bins was ‘who have you had one from there, no such person even exists' and also claimed that ‘you don't have a leg to stand on!' Unfortunately for your employee that person does exist, and I have all his details.
The replacement retainers were £161.40 (for which I have the receipt) and I was advised to keep the receipt for a full refund. (For further reference the employee argued with me in the store that the cost of the retainers was actually only £80 and that I was making the figure of £161.40 up. I had the receipt with me and showed it to him, to which he then made no further comment) I am appalled at not only his behaviour but also complete arrogance.
I was both angry and extremely upset that I had been spoken to in this way, and I immediately contacted head office again prior to our family holiday to complain about the behaviour of the employee and also about the fact that he has blatantly lied. The area manager told me that he apparently claimed he didn't know that it was a retainer, and thought it was a piece of plastic, and yet in his statement and verbally to me in the store he admitted that he saw what he described as a ‘gum shield'. He further went on to advise me that it was Toms fault for leaving them in the first place. I asked would he say that to a customer who had ‘accidently' left a mobile phone/purse etc. and would he have disposed of it and given them the same reason that he gave us (we both know that that the answer to this is an absolute no) again he failed to answer the question.
I am also well aware that all lost property is kept for several months as the duty manager on that day advised me of this and showed me where all lost property is kept in the office. She also advised that they have coats that people left 6 months ago still sitting in the office unclaimed. The area manager commented that it took Tom some 3 hours to realise he had lost them and return to the store (which it did because he was on foot) however there is property in store from 6 months ago, so the length of time taken to return to store by Tom is completely irrelevant.
I have now been back from holiday for almost 6 weeks and have had absolutely no communication from anyone regarding this matter. I was offered £30 on 6th August as a ‘gesture of goodwill' which in light of the way we have been treated, the blatant lies by the Costa employee and distinct lack of regard for this incident, I turned down.
I was advised that on my return from holiday a further investigation into the matter would have been completed, that the employee would have been spoken to further about his disgraceful customer service (he has already been spoken to about what he did in the first place) and yet there has been absolutely nothing.
It occurred on: 28/06/2019
This meant that I have had to pay out for something which is absolutely essential following 2 years' worth of braces for my son and this has come at a huge cost to me because a Costa employee took it upon himself to not only dispose of something he recognized was a personal belonging but then followed this up with a barrage of lies. Unfortunately his version of events lack any form of substance, and are not backed up with any witness statement unlike mine. This has now gone on for far too long with very poor communication from Costa Coffee and therefore I am writing to you to resolve the issue.
The full amount of the retainers to be refunded as was agreed with them at the time.
I look forward to your prompt response on this matter. As recommended by Trading Standards, I would like to keep a complete record of my case, so please reply to this email address.
Yours faithfully, Georgina Taylor
Restaurant name and location Wyndley Leisure Centre, Sutton Coldfield
70 Frederick Road
Sutton Coldfield West Midlands B73 5QN
-----------------------------------------------
Resolver improves outcomes for everyone. Find out how we can help your organisation at https://www.resolvergroup.com/?utm_source=rg
Resolver Case Reference: RES8176697
This user's email address [protected]@hotmail.co.uk has been authenticated by Resolver.
back to complaint details back to timeline
EMAIL
sent on 03/10/19 at 06:10 GMT
No response to my complaint
Dear Sir or Madam,
I have contacted the customer services team at Costa Coffee with my complaint, but have not yet received any form of response.
Therefore I am following up my original letter in the hope that we can achieve a resolution. As I am sure you understand, the situation as it stands is very frustrating and I would be really grateful if we could move forwards towards a solution.
What happened: My son Thomas wrote to Costa regarding the deliberate disposal of his mouth retainers, by a member of the Costa team at Wyndley Leisure Centre back in June. Tom accidentally left his retainers on the table, and when he realised his error, returned to the store where he was advised by the employee who had disposed of them, that they were in the bins, and he told my son where to ‘feel free to go and look through them'. The employee has since denied this, and states that he merely told my son where the bins were but that he didn't advise him to go through them?
I have asked how my son would have known which bins belonged to Costa Coffee (as they are colour coded according to the Leisure Centre) without very specific instructions. The employee was unable to answer that question.
In the original email from Costa, they advised that telling a customer to go and look through any bins is totally inappropriate and should never have happened.
I have had several conversations with the franchise manager, who has claimed that they have checked the CCTV and that apparently the retainers were actually on the floor and were swept away. (Tom disagrees that they were on the floor. I have also asked to see the evidence of this and so far been refused) as a further point the excuse for deliberately throwing them away was that they are unhygienic. I put it to the manager that should somebody have left false teeth behind by accident, would the employee have thrown them away? The manager and employee both failed to answer.
The actual answer to that question would have been to wear a pair of gloves and wrap them up; it would not have been to dispose of them.
If it is a health and safety issue then might I also bring into question how big a health and safety risk it is to advise a teenager to go through bins without any form of protection? The manager of the Leisure Centre gave Tom a ‘grabber' to save using his hands.
I have since contacted both the manager and been into store to speak to the area manager in there as I have had absolutely no correspondence (without persistently chasing)
I visited the store (in August) to try and speak with the area manager that I had previously spoken to but soon realised that I was actually speaking to the staff member responsible for disposing of the
retainers. When I politely asked him why he did it and whether he would have done the same with a mobile phone, a gold watch, a child's dummy or bottle etc. he couldn't answer, but what he did say (and laughed) when I advised that I had a witness statement from the manager of the Leisure Centre who found Tom going through the bins was ‘who have you had one from there, no such person even exists' and also claimed that ‘you don't have a leg to stand on!' Unfortunately for your employee that person does exist, and I have all his details.
The replacement retainers were £161.40 (for which I have the receipt) and I was advised to keep the receipt for a full refund. (For further reference the employee argued with me in the store that the cost of the retainers was actually only £80 and that I was making the figure of £161.40 up. I had the receipt with me and showed it to him, to which he then made no further comment) I am appalled at not only his behaviour but also complete arrogance.
I was both angry and extremely upset that I had been spoken to in this way, and I immediately contacted head office again prior to our family holiday to complain about the behaviour of the employee and also about the fact that he has blatantly lied. The area manager told me that he apparently claimed he didn't know that it was a retainer, and thought it was a piece of plastic, and yet in his statement and verbally to me in the store he admitted that he saw what he described as a ‘gum shield'. He further went on to advise me that it was Toms fault for leaving them in the first place. I asked would he say that to a customer who had ‘accidently' left a mobile phone/purse etc. and would he have disposed of it and given them the same reason that he gave us (we both know that that the answer to this is an absolute no) again he failed to answer the question.
I am also well aware that all lost property is kept for several months as the duty manager on that day advised me of this and showed me where all lost property is kept in the office. She also advised that they have coats that people left 6 months ago still sitting in the office unclaimed. The area manager commented that it took Tom some 3 hours to realise he had lost them and return to the store (which it did because he was on foot) however there is property in store from 6 months ago, so the length of time taken to return to store by Tom is completely irrelevant.
I have now been back from holiday for almost 6 weeks and have had absolutely no communication from anyone regarding this matter. I was offered £30 on 6th August as a ‘gesture of goodwill' which in light of the way we have been treated, the blatant lies by the Costa employee and distinct lack of regard for this incident, I turned down.
I was advised that on my return from holiday a further investigation into the matter would have been completed, that the employee would have been spoken to further about his disgraceful customer service (he has already been spoken to about what he did in the first place) and yet there has been absolutely nothing.
To resolve this: The full amount of the retainers to be refunded as was agreed with them at the time.
Yours sincerely, Georgina Taylor
Restaurant name and location : Wyndley Leisure Centre, Sutton Coldfield Reference:
Address: 70 Frederick Road, , Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B73 5QN Original complaint date: 26/09/2019
Resolver Case Reference: RES8176697
This user's email address [protected]@hotmail.co.uk has been authenticated by Resolver.
back to complaint details back to timeline
UNSENT DOCUMENT
uploaded on 06:10 GMT
AF7B5547-27DF-49FF-876F-A13BCF276D4E.jpeg
2875340-AF7B5547-27DF-49FF-876F-A13BCF276D4E.jpeg [image/jpeg]
Unsent documents have been uploaded to the resolver case but not sent to the company.
back to complaint details back to timeline
EMAIL
sent on 10/10/19 at 06:10 GMT
No response to my complaint
Dear Sir or Madam,
I have contacted the customer services team at Costa Coffee with my complaint, but have not yet received any form of response.
Therefore I am following up my original letter in the hope that we can achieve a resolution. As I am sure you understand, the situation as it stands is very frustrating and I would be really grateful if we could move forwards towards a solution.
What happened: My son Thomas wrote to Costa regarding the deliberate disposal of his mouth retainers, by a member of the Costa team at Wyndley Leisure Centre back in June. Tom accidentally left his retainers on the table, and when he realised his error, returned to the store where he was advised by the employee who had disposed of them, that they were in the bins, and he told my son where to ‘feel free to go and look through them'. The employee has since denied this, and states that he merely told my son where the bins were but that he didn't advise him to go through them?
I have asked how my son would have known which bins belonged to Costa Coffee (as they are colour coded according to the Leisure Centre) without very specific instructions. The employee was unable to answer that question.
In the original email from Costa, they advised that telling a customer to go and look through any bins is totally inappropriate and should never have happened.
I have had several conversations with the franchise manager, who has claimed that they have checked the CCTV and that apparently the retainers were actually on the floor and were swept away. (Tom disagrees that they were on the floor. I have also asked to see the evidence of this and so far been refused) as a further point the excuse for deliberately throwing them away was that they are unhygienic. I put it to the manager that should somebody have left false teeth behind by accident, would the employee have thrown them away? The manager and employee both failed to answer.
The actual answer to that question would have been to wear a pair of gloves and wrap them up; it would not have been to dispose of them.
If it is a health and safety issue then might I also bring into question how big a health and safety risk it is to advise a teenager to go through bins without any form of protection? The manager of the Leisure Centre gave Tom a ‘grabber' to save using his hands.
I have since contacted both the manager and been into store to speak to the area manager in there as I have had absolutely no correspondence (without persistently chasing)
I visited the store (in August) to try and speak with the area manager that I had previously spoken to but soon realised that I was actually speaking to the staff member responsible for disposing of the
retainers. When I politely asked him why he did it and whether he would have done the same with a mobile phone, a gold watch, a child's dummy or bottle etc. he couldn't answer, but what he did say (and laughed) when I advised that I had a witness statement from the manager of the Leisure Centre who found Tom going through the bins was ‘who have you had one from there, no such person even exists' and also claimed that ‘you don't have a leg to stand on!' Unfortunately for your employee that person does exist, and I have all his details.
The replacement retainers were £161.40 (for which I have the receipt) and I was advised to keep the receipt for a full refund. (For further reference the employee argued with me in the store that the cost of the retainers was actually only £80 and that I was making the figure of £161.40 up. I had the receipt with me and showed it to him, to which he then made no further comment) I am appalled at not only his behaviour but also complete arrogance.
I was both angry and extremely upset that I had been spoken to in this way, and I immediately contacted head office again prior to our family holiday to complain about the behaviour of the employee and also about the fact that he has blatantly lied. The area manager told me that he apparently claimed he didn't know that it was a retainer, and thought it was a piece of plastic, and yet in his statement and verbally to me in the store he admitted that he saw what he described as a ‘gum shield'. He further went on to advise me that it was Toms fault for leaving them in the first place. I asked would he say that to a customer who had ‘accidently' left a mobile phone/purse etc. and would he have disposed of it and given them the same reason that he gave us (we both know that that the answer to this is an absolute no) again he failed to answer the question.
I am also well aware that all lost property is kept for several months as the duty manager on that day advised me of this and showed me where all lost property is kept in the office. She also advised that they have coats that people left 6 months ago still sitting in the office unclaimed. The area manager commented that it took Tom some 3 hours to realise he had lost them and return to the store (which it did because he was on foot) however there is property in store from 6 months ago, so the length of time taken to return to store by Tom is completely irrelevant.
I have now been back from holiday for almost 6 weeks and have had absolutely no communication from anyone regarding this matter. I was offered £30 on 6th August as a ‘gesture of goodwill' which in light of the way we have been treated, the blatant lies by the Costa employee and distinct lack of regard for this incident, I turned down.
I was advised that on my return from holiday a further investigation into the matter would have been completed, that the employee would have been spoken to further about his disgraceful customer service (he has already been spoken to about what he did in the first place) and yet there has been absolutely nothing.
To resolve this: The full amount of the retainers to be refunded as was agreed with them at the time.
Yours sincerely, Georgina Taylor
Restaurant name and location : Wyndley Leisure Centre, Sutton Coldfield Reference:
Address: 70 Frederick Road, , Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B73 5QN Original complaint date: 26/09/2019
Resolver Case Reference: RES8176697
This user's email address [protected]@hotmail.co.uk has been authenticated by Resolver.
back to complaint details back to timeline
EMAIL
sent on 10/10/19 at 06:10 GMT
Issue still unresolved
Dear Team Manager,
Wyndley Leisure Centre, Sutton Coldfield
I am writing to complain about an issue with Coffee shops.
I have already raised my issue within your organisation, but I feel that my issue is still unresolved, hence my need to involve you in helping to resolve this problem.
Here is what happened: My son Thomas wrote to Costa regarding the deliberate disposal of his mouth retainers, by a member of the Costa team at Wyndley Leisure Centre back in June. Tom accidentally left his retainers on the table, and when he realised his error, returned to the store where he was advised by the employee who had disposed of them, that they were in the bins, and he told my son where to ‘feel free to go and look through them'. The employee has since denied this, and states that he merely told my son where the bins were but that he didn't advise him to go through them?
I have asked how my son would have known which bins belonged to Costa Coffee (as they are colour coded according to the Leisure Centre) without very specific instructions. The employee was unable to answer that question.
In the original email from Costa, they advised that telling a customer to go and look through any bins is totally inappropriate and should never have happened.
I have had several conversations with the franchise manager, who has claimed that they have checked the CCTV and that apparently the retainers were actually on the floor and were swept away. (Tom disagrees that they were on the floor. I have also asked to see the evidence of this and so far been refused) as a further point the excuse for deliberately throwing them away was that they are unhygienic. I put it to the manager that should somebody have left false teeth behind by accident, would the employee have thrown them away? The manager and employee both failed to answer.
The actual answer to that question would have been to wear a pair of gloves and wrap them up; it would not have been to dispose of them.
If it is a health and safety issue then might I also bring into question how big a health and safety risk it is to advise a teenager to go through bins without any form of protection? The manager of the Leisure Centre gave Tom a ‘grabber' to save using his hands.
I have since contacted both the manager and been into store to speak to the area manager in there as I have had absolutely no correspondence (without persistently chasing)
I visited the store (in August) to try and speak with the area manager that I had previously spoken to
but soon realised that I was actually speaking to the staff member responsible for disposing of the retainers. When I politely asked him why he did it and whether he would have done the same with a mobile phone, a gold watch, a child's dummy or bottle etc. he couldn't answer, but what he did say (and laughed) when I advised that I had a witness statement from the manager of the Leisure Centre who found Tom going through the bins was ‘who have you had one from there, no such person even exists' and also claimed that ‘you don't have a leg to stand on!' Unfortunately for your employee that person does exist, and I have all his details.
The replacement retainers were £161.40 (for which I have the receipt) and I was advised to keep the receipt for a full refund. (For further reference the employee argued with me in the store that the cost of the retainers was actually only £80 and that I was making the figure of £161.40 up. I had the receipt with me and showed it to him, to which he then made no further comment) I am appalled at not only his behaviour but also complete arrogance.
I was both angry and extremely upset that I had been spoken to in this way, and I immediately contacted head office again prior to our family holiday to complain about the behaviour of the employee and also about the fact that he has blatantly lied. The area manager told me that he apparently claimed he didn't know that it was a retainer, and thought it was a piece of plastic, and yet in his statement and verbally to me in the store he admitted that he saw what he described as a ‘gum shield'. He further went on to advise me that it was Toms fault for leaving them in the first place. I asked would he say that to a customer who had ‘accidently' left a mobile phone/purse etc. and would he have disposed of it and given them the same reason that he gave us (we both know that that the answer to this is an absolute no) again he failed to answer the question.
I am also well aware that all lost property is kept for several months as the duty manager on that day advised me of this and showed me where all lost property is kept in the office. She also advised that they have coats that people left 6 months ago still sitting in the office unclaimed. The area manager commented that it took Tom some 3 hours to realise he had lost them and return to the store (which it did because he was on foot) however there is property in store from 6 months ago, so the length of time taken to return to store by Tom is completely irrelevant.
I have now been back from holiday for almost 6 weeks and have had absolutely no communication from anyone regarding this matter. I was offered £30 on 6th August as a ‘gesture of goodwill' which in light of the way we have been treated, the blatant lies by the Costa employee and distinct lack of regard for this incident, I turned down.
I was advised that on my return from holiday a further investigation into the matter would have been completed, that the employee would have been spoken to further about his disgraceful customer service (he has already been spoken to about what he did in the first place) and yet there has been absolutely nothing.
. This happened on June 28th, 2019
The full amount of the retainers to be refunded as was agreed with them at the time.
Please reply back via this email address, as I would like to keep all my communications in one place. Yours sincerely,
Georgina Taylor
70 Frederick Road
Sutton Coldfield West Midlands B73 5QN
RES8176697
back to complaint details back to timeline
EMAIL
sent on 27/10/19 at 10:10 GMT
Dissatisfied with the response I've received
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to complain about an issue with Coffee shops at Costa Coffee. I have contacted your customer services team with my complaint, but am dissatisfied with the response I've received so far. This is because:
I have received no reply to my detailed email which explicitly questions why my sons retainers were disposed of . I received a telephone call from Costa Coffee explaining that the store in question is a franchise and that they would ask the manager to contact me by telephone. I asked why I had not received any response to the questions I had raised and the manager said she had responded to my son who has raised the email originally. I explained that he is a minor and that the emails from this case are from me and that they should be communicating with me The manager stated that they take no responsibility for disposing of the retainers. She also stated that the person responsible did not know what they were.
I then checked the email from her sent to my son in which she has clearly stated that the retainers were disposed of with the rubbish. This therefore admits total liability for their disposal.
I wish to raise this above her management level and to a specific complaints department as no appropriate complaints process has been followed by her.
I am happy to provide her email response to my son admitting liability for their disposal.
As I am sure you understand, the situation as it stands is very frustrating and I would be really grateful if we could move forwards towards a solution.
Yours sincerely, Georgina Taylor
Case reference: Wyndley Leisure Centre, Sutton Coldfield Reference:
Address: 70 Frederick Road, , Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B73 5QN Original complaint date: 26/09/2019
Resolver Case Reference: RES8176697
This user's email address [protected]@hotmail.co.uk has been authenticated by Resolver.
back to complaint details back to timeline
UNSENT DOCUMENT
uploaded on 10:10 GMT
Georgina Taylor
2951270-A2976093-DCC2-49D2-8723-04BF03D2CD01.png [image/png]
Unsent documents have been uploaded to the resolver case but not sent to the company.
back to complaint details back to timeline
EMAIL
sent on 26/11/19 at 10:11 GMT
Issue still unresolved
Dear Head of Customer Services, Wyndley Leisure Centre, Sutton Coldfield
I am writing to complain about an issue with Coffee shops.
I have already raised my issue within your organisation, but I feel that my issue is still unresolved, hence my need to involve you in helping to resolve this problem.
I previously included the response from the team leader of Wyndley which categorically states that the retainers were disposed of by staff. All previous conversations deny that this happened and that the staff member apparently did not know what they were. The email received contradicts this which clearly deems the staff member responsible and Wyndley liable for the disposable of personal items. I have allowed more than adequate time for a satisfactory response which I have yet to receive.
I also need to remind you that suggesting to a child that he should go and look through large industrial bins with no adequate protection OR supervision of any sort is a serious health and safety issue and that alone should be escalated, At the time of the original email you agreed that this was totally unacceptable and yet this has had no impact on the outcome of the issue. I will be escalating this as a separate issue to a third party for their advice, so please be prepared for
That's also.
My suggestion would be that you advise Wyndley to respond formally to me, answering all the points I have laid out, as they have failed to do this and unfortunately they have a responsibility to do so.
I am aware that it is a franchise however you offered me £30 as compensation previously on their behalf which I rejected, and therefore you clearly have the ability to resolve such issues on their behalf.
For information the case is detailed below.
Here is what happened: My son Thomas wrote to Costa regarding the deliberate disposal of his mouth retainers, by a member of the Costa team at Wyndley Leisure Centre back in June. Tom accidentally left his retainers on the table, and when he realised his error, returned to the store where he was advised by the employee who had disposed of them, that they were in the bins, and he told my son where to ‘feel free to go and look through them'. The employee has since denied this, and states that he merely told my son where the bins were but that he didn't advise him to go through them?
I have asked how my son would have known which bins belonged to Costa Coffee (as they are colour coded according to the Leisure Centre) without very specific instructions. The employee was unable to answer that question.
In the original email from Costa, they advised that telling a customer to go and look through any bins is totally inappropriate and should never have happened.
I have had several conversations with the franchise manager, who has claimed that they have checked the CCTV and that apparently the retainers were actually on the floor and were swept away. (Tom disagrees that they were on the floor. I have also asked to see the evidence of this and so far been refused) as a further point the excuse for deliberately throwing them away was that they are unhygienic. I put it to the manager that should somebody have left false teeth behind by accident, would the employee have thrown them away? The manager and employee both failed to answer.
The actual answer to that question would have been to wear a pair of gloves and wrap them up; it would not have been to dispose of them.
If it is a health and safety issue then might I also bring into question how big a health and safety risk it is to advise a teenager to go through bins without any form of protection? The manager of the Leisure Centre gave Tom a ‘grabber' to save using his hands.
I have since contacted both the manager and been into store to speak to the area manager in there as I have had absolutely no correspondence (without persistently chasing)
I visited the store (in August) to try and speak with the area manager that I had previously spoken to but soon realised that I was actually speaking to the staff member responsible for disposing of the retainers. When I politely asked him why he did it and whether he would have done the same with a mobile phone, a gold watch, a child's dummy or bottle etc. he couldn't answer, but what he did say (and laughed) when I advised that I had a witness statement from the manager of the Leisure Centre who found Tom going through the bins was ‘who have you had one from there, no such person even exists' and also claimed that ‘you don't have a leg to stand on!' Unfortunately for your employee that person does exist, and I have all his details.
The replacement retainers were £161.40 (for which I have the receipt) and I was advised to keep the receipt for a full refund. (For further reference the employee argued with me in the store that the cost of the retainers was actually only £80 and that I was making the figure of £161.40 up. I had the receipt with me and showed it to him, to which he then made no further comment) I am appalled at not only his behaviour but also complete arrogance.
I was both angry and extremely upset that I had been spoken to in this way, and I immediately contacted head office again prior to our family holiday to complain about the behaviour of the employee and also about the fact that he has blatantly lied. The area manager told me that he apparently claimed he didn't know that it was a retainer, and thought it was a piece of plastic, and yet in his statement and verbally to me in the store he admitted that he saw what he described as a ‘gum shield'. He further went on to advise me that it was Toms fault for leaving them in the first place. I asked would he say that to a customer who had ‘accidently' left a mobile phone/purse etc. and would he have disposed of it and given them the same reason that he gave us (we both know that that the answer to this is an absolute no) again he failed to answer the question.
I am also well aware that all lost property is kept for several months as the duty manager on that day advised me of this and showed me where all lost property is kept in the office. She also advised that they have coats that people left 6 months ago still sitting in the office unclaimed. The area manager commented that it took Tom some 3 hours to realise he had lost them and return to the store (which it did because he was on foot) however there is property in store from 6 months ago, so the length of time taken to return to store by Tom is completely irrelevant.
I have now been back from holiday for almost 6 weeks and have had absolutely no communication from anyone regarding this matter. I was offered £30 on 6th August as a ‘gesture of goodwill' which in light of the way we have been treated, the blatant lies by the Costa employee and distinct lack of regard for this incident, I turned down.
I was advised that on my return from holiday a further investigation into the matter would have been completed, that the employee would have been spoken to further about his disgraceful customer service (he has already been spoken to about what he did in the first place) and yet there has been absolutely nothing.
. This happened on June 28th, 2019
The full amount of the retainers to be refunded as was agreed with them at the time.
Please reply back via this email address, as I would like to keep all my communications in one place. Yours sincerely,
Georgina Taylor
70 Frederick Road
Sutton Coldfield West Midlands B73 5QN
RES8176697
back to complaint details back to timeline
EMAIL
sent on 03/12/19 at 20:12 GMT
No response to my complaint
Dear Sir or Madam,
I have contacted the customer services team at Costa Coffee with my complaint, but have not yet received any form of response.
Therefore I am following up my original letter in the hope that we can achieve a resolution. As I am sure you understand, the situation as it stands is very frustrating and I would be really grateful if we could move forwards towards a solution.
