Website's fine but the Dunhill House in London needs some new staff
Dunhill is a great, iconic British brand.
Promising the best in classic, British gentlemen's attire the flagship store "Alfred Dunhill House" off Berkeley Square in London should be an oasis of classic great service and flawlessly executed.
Unfortunately it's not. I was lucky enough to receive a voucher, beautifully presented in a box with as shirt cuff, for a custom made short at Alfred Dunhill House. Unfortunately the beautifully fitted out house, in a listed building, is the best part of te service and the staff are sadly lacking.
My shirt took 3 months longer than planned to produce. The order was lost several times and today, when I went to collect, I found the staff wet, listless and muddled.
There is a cafe in a small courtyard at Alfred Dunhill House where you can smoke a cigar from their in-house merchant and enjoy a coffee. It's nicely designed but the waiter service was listless. A hot, smartly dressed barista with knowledge of good service was required, instead we had a guy who frankly seemed like he would rather be anywhere else. During my visit I entered the main store from the courtyard three times, but each time it seemed to take the doorman by surprise and he didn't manage to do his basic job of actually opening the door.
Inside staff looked mildly bewildered that there were customers inside and as I stepped over items of rubbish on the floor and tried to avoid tripping over the heavily ruffled seagrass rug in the second room I realised I wasn't enjoying the retail experience.
A stripy shirt caught my eye - not cheap at just under £200, but it appeared to have been recently pulled from a bag from China and was crumpled and in desperate need of an iron - who could have hung it on a hanger? Surely not someone engaged with and proud of the Dunhill brand.
Overall, it's a beautiful building with a good range of attire and is dreadfully executed by staff. If I was the GM I would fire at least 50% if not 75% of the staff and start again. Heaven only knows why Dunhill think it's good enough - guys, it just frankly is not.
G
June 11, 2011
Unprompted review