The ugly side is with one of the purchases we made there last month. Since the lulu hypermarket opened in Qatar we have been shopping there at least once a month for almost all our grocery and other needs too. To get everything under one roof at low prices the first thing that comes to almost everyones mind is LULU.

And so we bought a ZOJIRISHI flask along with other grocery items on 24th january. On using we found the water doesn’t stay at boiling point overnight. the boiling point temperature reduces and the water starts getting warm ONLY. As for the ZOJIRISHI brand we r sure that water stays at boiling point even for 48 hrs. we have been using this brand for many years and know its performance. And so decided to exchange it. On taking it to lulu the customer service man said he will test it and then let us know. The next day we went and he said the water is warm so he cant exchange it. As we were not satisfied with the flask we asked for an exchange so he told us to see Mr. basheer from the purchasing. He said he will contact the supplier and get back to us.But again no response from them. After some weeks we ourselves went there to enquire and they said the supplier has refused to exchange whereas they had still not contacted the supplier which we came to know later on. On arguments and protest Mr. basheer was rude and told us he will see to it that we don’t get an exchange. Then another customer service guy (Palestinian) came and was very polite and said he will call us after looking into the matter.

After 2 days we got a call from the zojirishi salesman Mr.shafi in Qatar BLUE SALOON. He asked us the matter and HIMSELF agreed that zojirishi is guaranteed to keep water at boiling point for at least 12 hrs or even more. He also said that he got a call from LULU just yesterday about this matter whereas they informed us wrong. He promised to clear this matter himself with lulu and give us an exchange. For many days no response from him again. We ourselves tracked him down calling BLUE SALOON. And this time Mr.Shafi was a changed person. He said he cannot do anything about the whole matter which we r sure is cause of pressure from Mr.Basheer from lulu.

Again we went to lulu and this time talked to the manager himself . On talking to him about the system of complaints or exchange in a hypermarket he got very annoyed. He said he will test the flask and let us know. After 2 days we received a call from lulu that there is no exchange and to take our old flask back and this was on the 6th of march.

For almost 50 days our purchased flask is with them... with no follow up from them in the whole matter. All this incidents has made us to think should we make our purchases at THE GREAT LULU HYPERMARKET... when they cant guarantee their commodities. Also such bad behavior with the customer... it is really shameful.

Also once we had purchased fresh chicken from lulu during eid-ul-adha. On coming home and checking it the chicken smelled of bleach and had changed color. We returned It to lulu that moment but now we think we should have called up the Food control officer instead. I also want to appreciate the other hypermarkets in Qatar who have really taken care of their customers and have really shown the decency of following a system of rules in hypermarkets.

1) DASMAN hypermarket... we had purchased a Black and Decker water kettle and found leakage in it after using it at home and returned it in 2 days. With no harassment to the customer they exchanged it for us to a even different brand we were happy with.

2) CARREFOUR hypermarket... very good service from them... the customer service counter too solves any problems then and there and they themselves get back to us on a complaint and assure that we r happy with them. They give so much value to a customer unlike LULU.

3) GIANT STORES... we r very happy with them too... the customer service people have been very good to us on our complaints... they themselves had solved our complaints and saw to it that we return with a smiling face from their hypermarket.

Lulu should not call itself a hypermarket as customers discomfort or dissatisfaction is not important from them. Instead of taking care of the customers dissatisfaction it has taken care of its own employees dissatisfaction.