CUSTOMER SERVICE - AN OXYMORON

Hello again, Blogging Pals!! Thanks for stopping by!

Okay. I know the title makes you think a rant is coming... and you are right but only to a point. Having recently encountered four terrible "customer service" experiences, I am beyond ranting. I am simply at the point of no return... to those who have so badly wronged me (actually "us" as one experience was solely the spousal-unit's!).

The contest for First Place (Worst Possible Customer Service Known to Mankind) was a tie. I will score them both as #1 below. :)

#1 - A large computer firm. The spousal-unit had purchased three occurrences of "assistance" when he found his laptop shut down with a virus. He had a GREAT experience with the individual who assisted him and encouraged me to contact them to have my laptop "shadowed" and checked out. I had experienced some slowness and had a couple of pop-ups that were very suspicious. Even though I don't click on anything I suspect, I know it is not always necessary for me to do so for infection to occur. With that said... I set aside an afternoon, knowing it would likely take some time. This is when the nightmare began. I called the toll-free number on the receipt he had received in the mail when he had purchased these "assistance" calls. Without boring you with the detail, let's just say that when I reached the fifth person (which took one hour... I was timing each transfer!), I advised him I would not be transferred again and that I would hang up if he told me that was his intent. Another hour later (as he "shadowed" my laptop and pretty much didn't know any more than I did... AND he fouled up my HotSynch for my Palm Pilot!), he pronounced my laptop running much faster (it wasn't) and highly recommended that I purchase Norton 360 which he could provide to me (since he had removed my downloaded "free" spyware and told me it was that which was causing the slowness... which was not correct). I was so worn down and unable to process logical thought, I told him to send it on and leave me alone. It arrived about 3 business days later, I installed it, and my computer continues to run at about the same speed it did before I spent two hours sending my blood pressure through the roof. I will never, ever again purchase a product from this firm. That's my little way of fighting back.

#1 - A large wholesale club. Again, this was so incredible, I can't even begin to tell you how ridiculous it was. Bottom line: Found an item online that we wished to purchase. Price was good. No shipping info provided, however. We had found a similar product in one of the warehouses but it was not the size we needed. Could not purchase and put into truck to bring home. Tried to figure shipping but it turned out to show more than the item cost!! The three units we wanted would run about $180. The shipping for those three units would run about $297. LOL!! So, thinking I would try to email Customer Service, I submitted an online inquiry about how to determine actual shipping costs. The answer I got was to a) place the order [we're talking a commitment here!], b) contact Member Services with the order number, then c) Member Services would submit a REQUEST for a refund of shipping costs "for review." Are you getting this, Blogging Buddies? I am to commit to $300 in shipping costs for $180 worth of product then they will THINK ABOUT maybe refunding my shipping charges... or not. Uh... no. I fire back advising I need something more substantial and I will not allow charges on my credit card without some assurance they will be backed out. This is what I receive:
"Thank you for contacting XXX. A shipping quote can be given depending on quantity of item,
item has to be delivered to a commercial address with a dock, and if the member unloads truck. If you are fine with this, please provide the answers to the information requested. I apologize for any inconvenience" HUH??? Oh... and it has been nine days since my initial inquiry. Okay. So I email back the specifics on the order, advising it is for residential delivery AND that I have gone back to the web site to find a 42% increase in price for the product AND a "shipping charge" of $99. Maybe they added the shipping charge after one of my earlier emails? Dunno'. I include in my email response my concern that the pricing has changed dramatically and that, had this firm responded to me in a more timely manner, I would have been able to purchase at the previous price. I even suggest we would be happy to drive 50 miles to pick the items up if the firm can have them delivered to the store nearest to us!! What else can I do to make it easy for you to sell me something?!?!?!?!?!? Excuse me. I'm alright now. So... eight days later (we are now 17 days into this!), I get the following: "Thank you for contacting XXX regarding product information. A LTL quote can be given depending on quantity of item, item has to be delivered to a commercial address with a dock, and if you unload truck." Sigh. No one read what I wrote. No one paid any attention to my email which was VERY specific about lots of things... including the delivery was to a residence and the driver would need to unload the product. So... I fired back the final email advising I would not be doing business with them and my disappointment at the inability and/or unwillingness to actually respond to my very specific questions. Sigh.

#3 - A local flooring/countertop firm. On September 18th, I contacted this local firm asking if I could send measurements and photos to obtain a quote on countertop replacement (kitchen and two bathrooms). Absolutely. Send them on. I put together a package with photos and a diagram with measurements and emailed the on September 20th. I received a confirmation from the individual I had spoken with advising: "I did recieve the pictures and they are very good. I will forward the information on to the company and have an estimate for you as soon as possible." Okay. They would sub-contract this work out. That's fine. Today is December 22nd. I have had no further communication from this firm. You ask, "Well, Mary Nell. Why don't you call or email them to ask them why you haven't gotten anything?" I respond to you with this: With our nation in its current economic state and my quest to become a paying client, I should not have to beg anyone to take my money. I received a confirmation that my information was received. Someone, not me, should be following up. If I had handled my real estate clients this way, I would have never made a dime!

#4 - A local tire company. The spousal-unit found himself with a flat tire one morning. I suggested a local place that I knew of for him to take it. He returned, an hour and a half later, with a fixed tire but with a very bad taste in his mouth about the experience. The actual repair time for his tire was about 5 minutes. The actual cost for the repair was about $20. The problem? He was the only other person waiting. There were about 4 employees, all working on replacing rims and tires on another vehicle. That vehicle's owner was waiting, also. Instead of taking one person off of the rim/tire replacement job for five minutes to handle the repair on the spousal-unit's tire, these 4 employees continued working on the other vehicle until they were finished with it before addressing the 5-minute repair needed by the spousal-unit. He sat for nearly 90 minutes for a 5-minute repair. Hmmmmmmm. What about the concept of at least checking for his problem to determine if one of the four employees could handle it quickly? I dunno'. Call me customer-service queen!! Do ya' think?

Whew!!! Sorry about this one, folks. Just had to get these rants off my chest. I know now why Nordstrom's remains the poster-child for Customer Service Excellence. They actually provide it. There are tons of tales about how excellent their Customer Service has been over the years. They say a dissatisfied customer will tell 20 people about the bad experience whereas a satisfied customer may only tell one person.

Do you think folks just shrug their shoulders and continue doing business with firms that treat them so poorly? I don't know about that one. I know I have a few firms on my "banned" list and I will never darken their doors again. My refusal to do business with them will not cause them to go bankrupt and it may even create an inconvenience for me. I know that. But it is the only way I have to fight back against a system that rewards bad behavior. I encourage you to do the same. Do not tolerate poor service. You don't have to scream about it. You should let the representative or even his or her supervisor know when you feel your situation has been poorly handled. On the other side of that coin, you should take a few moments to let a supervisor know when one of his or her representatives has done a GOOD job for you!!!

Goodness! I really rambled on this one. Guess it is just that important to me.

We may be going to see Christmas lights this evening. I will try to capture a few worthy ones on digital and provide them to you in the next few days.

Thank you for listening. Until next post...