The Leroy Merlin thread

[Myrtle Hogan-Lance]

Guanche did us a great service introducing us to Leroy Merlin, so good that I hereby inaugurate the official ChalkCat Leroy Merlin thread.

For background, if you haven't been on the rant thread, start here.  Make sure to go at least through here. 

So, two weeks ago OH and I went up to the north and walked around slack jawed at the sheer enormity, selection and prices in Leroy Merlin.  Surely we instantly marked ourselves out as provincials from the west.  What a store. 

OH had found exactly the Junkers solar water heating system he wanted so we arrived ready to buy.  We may have met one or two of the exemplary employees Perikles and Janet encountered.  Then we found a guy who was primed and ready to help us.  Did we want to buy immediately or have them install it?  To install it they would have to visit the site and give us a quote for the products, grua, installation, etc.  30€ for the service and if we purchase the system they will take the 30€ off the price.  Deal!

So he gave us a date for the visit, Friday the 20th, and the engineer would phone to confirm a time.

We know what happened next, don't we?  Friday came and went....nothing Monday.  Tuesday I phoned the installation department and had to leave a message on their machine.  No return call.  Wednesday I got a - wait for it - live human being!  I explained the situation, she took my information and said she'd phone me back.  No return call.  Friday I phoned and guess what - I got the same woman.  She knew immediately who I was and said quite animatedly "Do you mean nobody phoned you?  Give me 10 minutes." 

In 5 minutes my mobile rang and it was the engineer who said he would come today between 3.30 and 4.00.  He sounded like he had really been scolded.

The phone rang early this afternoon and it was the engineer, apologising because he was on a job running over, and could not come today, but would phone me tomorrow to confirm a day/time.  Obviously I forgave him and I really do expect to hear from him tomorrow.  If I don't, no problem - I have his number in my mobile. 

So this thread will develop as the situation develops, and as people add whatever Leroy Merlin news they have.  It is one hell of an impressive store so I hope it develops pleasantly.  I am beginning to understand what a cargo cultist feels like. 

[Perikles]

Your sojourn in LM was the same "department" as the one we were searching, so very likely you were talking to one of the morons who failed to help us. In our case, the absolutely clear fact was that they had in stock just what we wanted, but they were just too lazy to get the item from store so denied it was possible. It required a minimum of effort which nobody was prepared to make, unless given a kick up the arse. The only solution seems to be to kick up a fuss every time, but what a mentality when you have to fight to actually buy something. 

[Myrtle Hogan-Lance]

"but what a mentality when you have to fight to actually buy something"

You will recall but other members will not know about our struggle to buy a chest freezer from Electro-Cris.  We got the default English-speaking guy who would fit right in in our favourite department in Leroy Merlin.  After three visits over several weeks which resulted in nothing, even after complaining to a supervisor, we went home  and were astounded a few weeks later when a Spanish-speaking employee phoned me up and told me the freezer we ordered had arrived!  It was never an official order.  Nevertheless, we hurried over and paid for it and they delivered it.  And the delivery guys walked off with OH's Stanley tool (box cutter).  He went out and bought himself another one.

We shall be lending no more tools to any deliverers or installers.

[Janet]

Bastard electrician still has my best kitchen knife ... do you have one, he asked, showing me his knackered knife. Yes, I said, lending him the only one to hand which happened to be my best one. I'll leave it on the step when I'm finished, he said. Guess which fucking knife he left ... and which he walked off with?

[Nova]

I know what I'd do with it if I ever caught up with him.......

[poker]

Never lend anything here , you either get it back broken or don't get it back at all .
Talking with experiance here .

[Myrtle Hogan-Lance]

If I were going to write an open letter to Leroy Merlin, it would go along these lines:

Dear Leroy Merlin,

Hello and congratulations for being at the top of my shit list!

It is now three weeks since we visited you in your lovely store 90km away from where I live.  In the intervening time, the date for your engineer to come by to give us a quote for hardware and installation passed without notice by anyone at Leroy Merlin.  Trying to get a live human being to answer the fucking phone is a real challenge, and there is no sense leaving voice mail because people do not return my calls.  It took me a week to get you to get the engineer to phone me.  On a Friday (one week after the first date) he promised me a visit on Monday between 3.30 and 4.00 only to phone on said Monday to say he had a job overrunning and would phone me Tuesday.  Admittedly, he did not say Tuesday of which century.  But I am clever and his mobile number is in my mobile so I phoned up the next day when another guy took a message.  Once again, the trail went cold.  Today at 13.45, he phoned and said he'd be here in half an hour.  Anticipation!  In less than 15 minutes he phoned to say he'd been called to an emergency in Los Cristianos and couldn't make it.  When I asked when he could come, he said he really couldn't say.

So Leroy Merlin, that is why you occupy the top spot on my shit list.  And you can 

Warmest regards, Myrtle

[Delderek]

I understand they now repair Mercedes!!!

[Perikles]

You know, it's quite clear that a complaint to them would just go into the bin. I think the only way forwards would be to complain to their head office wherever that is. I'm thinking of doing that just to let them know that the La Laguna branch is staffed by total arseholes and they need to know. Time for a futile jesture or two methinks.

[Janet]

apart from Montse. She really tried ...