Dear Sir,
I am delighted that Harrods is celebrating the 70th Year since The Wizard of Oz was first released. I have loved the movie since I was a very young girl, losing myself in the magic and fantasy of this story. I believe that the staff in your Department Store has created a wonderful tribute to the film, from the Emerald City light display, to the creative Christmas windows.
The one area where Harrods has truly failed in its mission statement to: ‘provide every customer with a truly unforgettable experience,’ however, is the Ruby Slipper Boudoir. While The Ruby Slipper Boudoir did succeed in providing me with an unforgettable experience, it was certainly for all the wrong reasons.
I tried in vain last week to purchase a pair of Limited Edition Ruby Slippers in an adult size. It was a desperate shame to be told that they were sold out. Even now, at the age of thirty two, I was not averse to that childish feeling of disappointment and sadness when I was told that I could not have something that I wanted. But, as I am an adult, one must be adult about this. Nevertheless, I do feel compelled to write to you and express my heartfelt disappointment and disillusionment with your store.
I do not understand why, when the shoes have clearly sold out, your store continues to promote their sale? Your website does nothing to inform potential customers (who often travel from a significant distance) that a visit to the store for this purpose would be a waste of their time, since there are no adult shoes left. Furthermore, when I visited the Boudoir, I was told that the shoes had sold out a number of days prior, yet there was a glass display stand advertising the adult shoes’ availability. I don’t see the point of advertising something that is unavailable, particularly when I was informed that the likelihood of more shoes becoming available was slim. The sales assistants also refused to add my name to the ‘already too long’ waiting list.
It is disappointing that this worthwhile project of releasing an edition of these shoes, the sale of which benefits a very deserving charity, seems to have been handled so poorly. The demand for these shoes seems disproportionate to the quantity of shoes made. The intent is unclear to me: was the aim of the exercise actually to benefit Great Ormond Street Hospital, and if so, why weren’t more shoes made? If the shoes were going to be so limited, why was the price tag not set significantly higher so that the percentage of money going to charity could be increased to further benefit the cause? Why has an area of your shop been given over to the sale of a product that cannot be purchased? From November through to the end of December, your Dorothy themed sales assistants (each wearing a pair of these coveted shoes) will be turning away disappointed customer after disappointed customer. This will inevitably amount to many customers, all of whom will experience something set in direct contrast to your store’s intrinsic ethos.
You may or may not be aware that Ebay is now cluttered with these Limited Edition shoes. Most are selling between £150 and £200. You may ask why, if I desire these shoes so much, would I not purchase a pair from an ebay seller? I can assure you that the thought has crossed my mind, even though it seems so at odds with the raison d’etre of this enterprise. I have looked at most of these shoes online, and no seller is passing on any of the inflated sale price of these shoes to Great Ormond Street Hospital. I find this very wrong. At the very least, your company should liaise with Ebay and halt the sale of these shoes, or insist that a percentage of profit is passed on to charity. It feels very much as though others are profiting in an area where they should not, simply because of an oversight on your company’s behalf.
I am so disappointed by the way that something potentially so wonderful and magical has been managed. Not only has your store given customer’s a deeply disappointing experience, but has also limited the financial benefit of a deserving charity. I very much hope that a store which once prided itself on being able to get anything for anyone, will find a way of getting more shoes manufactured as soon as possible. At the very least, if this is impossible, sufficient information should be conveyed to potential customers via your website or the press.
I very much look forward to hearing from you regarding this matter.
With very best regards,
Hannah Mardell
Very eloquently put!
I didn’t even know the ruby slippers were available, but after reading your letter, I too want a pair now!
A well researched and structured complaint that warrants a positive response. 10 out of 10.
i got my ruby slippers from harrods whilst visiting london 😀
A well written letter!
I didnt know these ‘Ruby Red Slipper’s’ exsisted until I was messing around on ebay one day, of course like any other fan I NEEDED a pair and bid over £100 for them but losing out to a bid of £152!!
I was very upset when I lost the bid so was then on a mission to find out a little more about these shoes and to see if I could perchase another pair somewhere else.
Since I’ve now learnt that they would of never cost anywhere near the price I nearly paid for them on ebay, and the fact that the original idea of sale was to raise money for charity, I’m am glad I never won the bid for them.
However I would still love a pair and would be more then happy to buy a pair if I knew the charity would be benefitting from my hard earnt cash. So Harrods please sell them again as I and many friends would love to buy a pair and help support the charity and fullfil a childhood dream!!
Although i agree that your letter was well written, i believe that Limited Edition means a limited number.
I got a pair of these shoes and a friend wanted some as i was her childhood dream, i simply rang harrods who pulled out all the stops and promptly found a pair and posted them to me with a beautiful card, the customers sales team were amazing, i use Harrods for special gifts and i just call and they take great care of customers.
I would suggest that if you register with them you find out about amazing deals.
Hope you all that were disappointed find a pair.
Agree with Michelle Dixon.
My friend from Geneva got a pair and so did my sister from New York. It is true that it took me 10 days of phone calls and 3 long queues with nervous parents and tired children. Everybody wanted a pair. Considering the panic that even being there one may not get the sparkly ruby slippers/shoes the service was superb and I was very much impressed how calm polite quick and efficient all the sale team performed.
It is no use to want a Dolce&Gabbana item from last season collection one must be there on time to get it. In these races to get “the most wanted” someone will always be left without.
With regard to the price I assure you that it was very well assessed by Harrods. I would not have paid the amounts mentioned on the ebay.
One last thing Miu-Miu had similar sparkly shoes in one of their collections. So sorry looks like you’ve missed that one too.
There are also lots of other ways to help a charity. So why not call Harrods and donate towards their Great Ormond Street Hospital charity fund?
Good luck with the future collections. Remember to be there on time!
Thanks for commenting on my complaint letter. To clarify a couple of points raised:
Let me assure you that my disappointment at not being able to get a pair of shoes did not precipitate a case of sour grapes and tantrums. My problem was that despite these shoes being sold out, and having been so for a long time, Harrods continued to advertise their availability on their website. This is not right. It was only until I pointed this out to them that they decided to adjust this.
Marlene, you may not have paid the prices on ebay, but demand of a desired item means that plenty of people will (and do – see Kristie’s comments) pay very elevated prices for such things. Therefore, surely, it certainly was not well assessed.
Michelle – Limited edition does mean a limited number, you’re right. But why would Harrods do such a thing? When a charity stands only to benefit so strongly, why would anybody cap the potential money that they may get as a result? Releasing a limited number of something creates a sense of urgency to acquire it amongst consumers. There was never any doubt that these shoes would sell, even if the run of shoes hadn’t been limited, so it seemed a complete oversight on Harrods’ behalf to limit them. Indeed, in their response to me, they admitted that they had completely overlooked the resulting demand for the shoes.
I am pleased to report that after numerous conversations (which got me nowhere), I sent this letter to Harrods, and within a week I was assured I would receive a pair of shoes. In terms of a complaint letter, then, it seems to have done its job. My motivation for writing the letter, however, was not to procure a pair of shoes, but simply to convey my disappointment to Harrods over an issue that I was certain other people could identify with. So many people must have been disappointed and wasted their time travelling to the shop – I was certain this was NOT what Harrods would want their customers to experience!
I cannot fault the customer service I received off the back of this letter – such a shame I had to write it in the first place. Nevertheless, I stand by my argument, that the initiative was mis-managed from the very beginning.
In their defence, Harrods sent me a pair of shoes and did not charge me for delivery. You will be interested to note, Marlene, that as I was keen to see Great Ormond Street benefit, I donated the £15 postage and packaging fee that Harrods waived. I was keen to see this charity benefit from a well conceived but poorly managed idea. Such a pity that those who bought up big and sold shoes on ebay appeared not to do the same thing.
Why did Harrods refuse entry of teenages into the store this week. After travelling 12,000 miles from Australia my great nephews were refused entry. They are complete gentlemen and not unruley, so why has this happened. Shame on you Harrods
I wanted some ruby slippers because Im a big gay.
I travelled from my home in pinktown (Campfordshire) to Harrods and was refused entry for being camp, annoying and overexcitable
they were tacky red glitter shoes. they still had childrens ones left so you could have brought a pair for your china cabinet if you wanted money to go to charity. harrods was not aware how many adults would want them. yes PROFIT goes to charity so make to many shoes and they dont sell there wont be any profit. they overbrought the exclusive 7oth edition dvd and ruby crackers and had plenty left. you see in retail every item you stock is a gamble. i am sure you love shopping in the sales. well every item that is reduced is where they brought to many and need to get rid of them. if a item you like is not in the sale then they are selling well. harrods sells millions of lines and they just made a mistake on these shoes.
Harrods is a lovely shop… but what lets dow3n their end to end experience is the awful telephone receptionists.
They all need to be trained on customer services and if they don’t like working on reception then they should find a job that they like, because there are plenty of people out there without jobs who would love to work for Harrods and these lady’s attitudes are just awful and makes me wonder where they are being recruited from .
Get rid of the telephone receptionists – awful attitudes!
To whom it may concern,
I was recently in England on holiday from Australia…I visited Harrods and bought quite a bit of stuff..I bought some glittery sparklers and on my return home i found there was only 5 sparklers in the box and there should have been 15…I am very dissapointed as they were a present for my niece but I couldnt give them to her as it says on the box there should be 15 in there!!
the code is D67100025192980000000….I really thought this sort of thing wouldnt happen in Harrods!..I paid 6.95 pounds for 5 sparklers!!im really not happy with that!
thanking you…Joanne Hoitink….