Trying out a new London Drugs location - Marine & Byrne

I'd heard that London Drugs had opened up a new store in Burnaby on Marine and Byrne and had not gotten a chance to go but as I had to go to the airport today I thought I'd stop by and "test" it out and see what kind of customer service I would receive there.

I found the location easily, and found ample parking, and got a cart easily.

The store itself is a nice size, bright, clean and relatively quiet. I was there on a Friday afternoon around 3pm. Their shelves seemed well-stocked, and they had a good number of staff around. I approached the customer service desk and said,"I have a question about pricematching."

To which the CS person groaned and said,"oh no, pricematching, we don't like pricematching!"

I was slightly shocked, but in that same breath the CS person said,"I'm kidding!"

She was very nice and answered my question (no limits unless indicated on the flyer), and off I went shopping. I bought 6 Old Spice Bodywashes, 2 Old Spice antiperspirants, 4 Cascade Action Pacs (I know, read this post), 2 Clorox Wipes and 2 Clorox spray cleaners.

I approached the CS desk and the same CS lady rubbed her hands together and said,"Ok, give me your best shot!"

I had pricematching from Zellers and Pharmasave as well as LD-priced items, and I must say, the pricematching process was one of the smoothest I've ever experienced. There were 2 staff at the CS desk helping me (no line ups behind me), and their attitudes were positive, their rapport with one another seemed wonderful and I felt very welcome as a couponer at the cs desk.

They handled my stack of coupons professionally as if they see them often (which apparently they do), and although the CS person missed out $3 worth of coupons, once I pointed that out to her, she apologized and quickly fixed the error.

Throughout the whole process, the cashier did not seem flustered nor upset, rather, she was very welcoming and treated me like a customer (and you'll notice I do not call myself a "regular customer" vs a "couponing customer") should be treated. There was a good stream of conversation and I left quite pleased.

My highlights:
- staff were courteous, well-informed and customer focused
- staff had a sense of humour
- staff had pride in their work (evident when I told her I'd heard good things about their store, and she high fived her colleague)
- products were in stock, pricematched with no problems
- advertised products were in stock

The downside:
- CS person missed $3 worth of coupons. Another reason to have your lists/coupons ready and documented before you start your shopping!
- I suppose to the CS person I looked like someone who can take a joke, because otherwise her "we don't like pricematching" comment might have seemed odd/rude.

I do recommend the Marine and Byrne location, and regret that I did not get the names of the 2 ladies at CS who helped me. I may call in tomorrow to let their manager know that I appreciated the good service I received today.

Here's the location if you are in the area (scroll down to the bottom).

Here's a little challenge for you Extreme Shoppers this week: if you receive good service at the store of your choice, why not let a manager know?

And in case you were wondering, I ended up paying $6.14 for the items, out of which $5.38 was tax, so I actually paid .76cents for all the items (before tax).