Great whiskey selection, but inconsistent experience with staff.
I just had the unique opportunity to layover at Heathrow on both my inbound and outbound flights to/from Europe. On my inbound trip I did some tasting at World of Whiskies with the goal of selecting the bottles I'd purchase during my return trip in a week's time. I was helped by an older Indian(?) gent who was quite knowledgeable and friendly, even politely excusing himself when he went to ring up other customers. I got on my next flight feeling very good about WoW and looking forward to my return visit.
When I came back to Heathrow I was very excited to visit WoW again and savor the experience of purchasing my chosen items - maybe even tasting something different that would cause me to rethink my selection. However, when I arrived my Indian friend was not on duty that day (understandable) so I spoke with a young man and asked him to recommend something rather smokey. He mumbled something about not being too familiar with those products but asked another staff member who then poured me a taste of something I requested (in other words, not something they recommended). Deciding to stick with my original selection, I gathered the bottles from the shelves and went to the till. I was met by a young Asian man who was all business (no smile, "did you find everything you need?', or any other indication of interest in customer service). He took my credit card and asked if I would like to pay in British Pounds or US Dollars. When I asked him about the exchange he just gruffly said "it's a good rate" and again asked me to select a currency. Feeling a bit under pressure due to the customers queueing behind me, I went with my home-country currency of Dollars and signed the charge slip. I then took my purchase and headed back out into the terminal feeling like I had just been "processed" by WoW and that I had missed the fun experience I had so anticipated after my first visit.
When I had a spare moment at my gate I took a closer look at the receipt only to see a notice that my credit card had added a 3% foreign currency fee to the transaction based on my choice of paying in US Dollars. My card advertises that it charges no foreign transaction fees but I guess this only applies when paying in a local currency. This is my own fault and I take full responsibility for not being familiar with my card's policies. However, as someone who deals with these transactions on a regular basis, it would have been helpful if the gent who rang me out at the WoW till would have mentioned this rather than steering me towards a selection that he must have known would be likely to incurr fees (or he could have at least mentioned to me that some cards charge such fees).
Given the excellent product selection and availability of tastings at WoW I will certainly continue to stop off there during any future Heathrow layovers. However, I will be much more alert to the knowledge and customer service skills of the staff with which I interact. read more
