Here is the reply I received; more repeats than UK Gold!

Thank you for your email.

I was most distressed to hear of your dissatisfaction at the service received from our Woking store. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for bringing this matter to our attention, as it provides us with first hand impressions of areas in which we need to improve our service and training.

Our relationship with our customers is usually excellent, so I am very concerned about your perception of the service you have received. I am going to conduct a thorough inquiry, bearing in mind all the points you have raised and I will take whatever action appropriate, to endeavour to ensure that we do not fail to offer the correct level of service to our customers at all times.

When my investigations are complete, any action that we find necessary to take against any member of staff will be dealt with as an internal matter and the outcome will remain confidential, in accordance with our Company disciplinary procedures.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience that may have been caused.

The headquarters & a very large store (I think the largest) is only about 14 miles from where I live. I have to say & I don't work for or have any connection with SD I have always been more than pleased with the service & quality of goods.

Reasonable/Good quality & extremely well prices goods are available from them & as I write this my T-Shirt is from SD.

Maybe if you want the very best service go to M&S & pay 3 times the price for the same quality, but me, I'll keep buying from this company.

@spuds, I thought I made it clear I have always been happy with the service I get from SD - That is my experience.

As a realist though as with most things, if you are willing to pay for a premium service (as in first class aircraft travel etc.) with one to one customer care & for example in sports & leisure goods, assisted clothes & trainer fitting, it's a fact that the costs of that do not come out of the ether.

If you want top customer care above all things you are not going to get it perhaps at the likes of SD. However: You will get extremely good prices for decent quality goods. I for one will keep calling in at SD as I am quite capable of trying on footwear & garments without assistance.

I also appreciate that although the stores are pretty full that often means I am able to get larger sizes for me that I often cannot get in traditional stores such as likes of M&S (which was just an example, as you know) who carry less out of average stock yet are airy & spacious.

For me the positive aspects outweighs the negative & that’s the basic rule I use in life:

What do I really want?

What compromises am I willing to put up with to get what I want?

Others 'Wants & Needs' may be different.