Habitat (Shop)

Well, I am a home-improvement addict. I love Habitat as a rule. It is everything right about the world in what it sells, it is the staff and sales system that fail it.

Habitat is the ultimate in snobby interior stuff! It sells everything from candles to glasses to cushions to tables and chairs. There seems to be a Habitat in almost every city and although not cheap it sells VERY nice products. Everything is very trendy and colourful.

I have been shopping there for as long as I can remember - even before I was able to pay for it myself!

But this op is not about all that is great in Habitat, in fact quite the opposite.

When I bought my first house (a little over a year ago - how about that for a 21 year old!!!!), I knew where I was going to shop for it! I found a table that screamed my name and begged me to take it home. Well, what could I do? I signed on the dotted line and arranged to pick it up three weeks later (once it was in the shop - they said two to three weeks). Three days after the initial purchase they said that the product was there to be collected and I asked if they could hold onto it for another week until I could collect it. It took 10 minutes on hold for them to come back just to say "can we call you back"! In the end that was not a problem so we collected it in due course and took it home.

Little did I realise that they had given me the wrong table. It said on the receipt that it was a particular table and in actual fact they gave me one that was the same except for a different colour. Hmmmm, I thought - no worries, I will just call them and tell them and get them to give me the correct one. So, I did. That was August. I have evidence that shows that the new table arrived in early December after two letters, 6 or 7 phonecalls and a LOT of hassle. When the correct one did arrive it was scratched and bashed so I complained. After another two months I was told that I was not entitled to any compensation and that was that.

I still shop in Habitat but have sworn off buying anything that I haven't hand-picked and can take out of the shop that day.

They now do a 10% student discount. I noticed that the sign says it is only in operation until the end of November so if you are a student and love home stuff as much as I do - go there, even just to get some glasses and a nice candle. Just don't expect much in the way of customer service, or maybe I was just unlucky with the Glasgow store! Who knows!