J. A. Russell Ltd - J. A. Russell Ltd 118 Cameron Street

Great staff, great service and great prices. .

JA Russell offers a good variety of electrical and electronic parts in Whangarei.

2nd time I've been in here and received the same treatment. 4 or 5 staff members look at you then put there heads down and pretend they are all busy. No greeting, no "I'll be with you in a few minutes" or "I'll grab someone for you". Stood there for a few minutes more then left. Last time i come here. Terrible customer service.

About 15 minutes ago, my friend and i, who are starting a business came to J A Russell Hamilton to seek some electrical advice and get a quote on approximately 500 light fittings. The men behind the customer service desk were very helpful and told us to wait for Richard Baker, an electrician that buys from the store and who was in store at the time, who could possibly help us with the advice we were seeking or put us on the right path if he didn't know. So we were waiting.. Only to be approached by another gentlemen (Allen White) who we assumed to be a manager in a blue dress shirt. He asked us if he could help with anything and we kindly told him we were advised to wait for Richard Baker about the information after. He then stood in front of us and continued to linger making us feel uncomfortable, over the course of several minutes he continued to ask us what our inquiry was and why we were waiting for Richard, in front of his staff and customers. We let him know that his staff members had advised to wait for Richard as he was specialised in what was to do with our query. He continued to linger and eventually told us that "these guys come into our store to buy goods, not to be hassled with stuff like this and that this type of thing shouldn't take place in the shop." He then told us we needed to phone Richard Baker at another time and that his staff shouldn't have even given Richards name. We then had to leave after being made to feel embarrassed and humiliated in front of everybody. We do see point to what was said, however, if the sales people thought it inappropriate to put our question forward to Richard we are sure they would've never suggested we do so. The way the "manager" spoke down to us, we are presuming it was because we are two young females, was so belittling that we both felt like we wanted to cry when we made it back to our car. We guarantee that the "manager" would never have spoken to a male in the manner in which he treated us. We would suggest perhaps sending this "manager" in particular on a customer service course on how to treat all people equally and with respect no matter their gender or age. What really disappointed us was that we still didnt come out with our quote for our 500 fittings after J A Russell was highly recommended. All we came out with was humiliation.