The Death of Customer Service and Bringing It Back
I thought updating my credit card information at the gym was going to be a simple procedure. Initially the experience went well. A new employee at the desk was doing a polite job processing the request, however, some strange charges popped up on the form I had to sign to update my billing information. The new employee couldn’t offer explanation, so he asked for the assistance of a membership counselor. That move unleashed one of the rudest, most inexplicably hostile customer service experiences I have ever encountered. And having grown up in the New York City area, I have a pretty high threshold for being annoyed by rude service.
The membership counselor didn’t bother to address me as she came to the desk. She barked at the new employee to “just get him to sign the form.” I asked for her to come back, and well, she actually got in my face and told me that I failed to do my duty to keep my information up to date, and that I’m being charged $15 to update my information.
Mind you, I was updating my credit card information before the next billing cycle. There was no interruption in my automatic bill pay. Only two minutes pass, and she’s already wild-eyed and fuming because I’m trying to explain that I’m being charged in error. I saw that I was clearly dealing with an insane person who was trying to physically intimidate me, so I kindly asked for someone else to assist me.
In the end, I had to call the corporate headquarters’ 1-800 number that the psychotic membership counselor gave me, grudgingly. Updating my credit information over the phone was painless, and I received confirmation that the charges on my form were erroneous. I told corporate headquarters about how I was treated, and they gave me a free month to keep me from canceling my membership.
What bothers me most about this experience is that I’m paying for a service, and I’m doing work for the people providing me the service. I had to write an email to the club manager informing him that 1) it would be helpful to inform members that they are better served by the 1-800 number for billing matters, and 2) someone needs to have a talk with the unstable membership counselor before she gets more out of hand. Basically, I’m doing their job by pointing out problems in gym operations, when in fact, it should be their job to catch and fix them before customers have complaints.
I honestly would have been happier to have never dealt with the deranged membership counselor than to have received a free month of membership. Giving me free stuff in response to a bad experience is not customer service, it’s customer retention.
I guess watching my dad run a business influenced what I believe customer service is all about. Come to think of it, he entirely shaped my perspective. The saying around his shop and at home was, “Get the job done right the first time, and everyone is happy.”
It’s true. I believe good customer service entails being knowledgeable about what services you offer, and providing those services from start to finish in a respectful and conscientious manner. Good customer service also requires that you know who at your company can help a customer when you can’t. It’s a simple formula.
I’m not sure if poor customer service is some strange strategy used by businesses to make more money. If it is, it’s not working with me. Though I really don’t want to give businesses another way to reach deeper into my wallet, I have to say this to any business owner or manager: I don’t need over-the-top friendliness; I don’t need to feel like royalty when we’re on the phone or when I’m at the store. If you really want my money, knowledgeable service is all it takes to keep me coming back.
What are you customer service horror stories? Do you have suggestions to bring customer service back from the dead?
John,
I can relate… poor customer service drives me batty. When Jeanine senses that I’m about to go off on the person delivering the poor customer service, she always says, “Be nice.”
Oh my, that’s hard sometimes, especially when it’s American Airlines, Hertz or a Sheraton property… and I think my “status” with them (miles flown, cars rented, nights spent) should entitle me to no “f-ck-ups.” I mean really, isn’t that the point – so that I get better service as a Platinum, Gold, Super star-studded customer? And watch out for the poor soul if my complaint gets routed to some call center in India. It’s hard to be nice.
In a post awhile back, I wrote about Reaching a Live Person at the Call Center. There you can click through to tips at 37signals for Getting Good Customer Support.
You’re my customer service soul-mate… thanks for the fun post.
I’ve had the most horrible experience with Wal-Mart recently. I was doing an ad match and didn’t have the ad and according to policy i’m not supposed to have the ad. And yet the cashier refused to let the transaction go through, when the assistant manager came in – instead of following policy and giving me the ad match – he barked at me like i was a beggar trying to take free goods from Wal-Mart. And the worst thing is even when I complained to the district manager at Wal-Mart – someone from the store called and apologized but it was just like – ya, we have to apologize so we’ll do it – we don’t f**king care.
what do you do when you complaint and they still don’t bother with correcting the issue?
A little over a year ago, I had a bad experience with an employee at Best Buy. She worked in the customer service area and was extremely rude. I found out later that she lied to me (probably just to get me to go away). I tried to call their corporate office, but the person told me that they no longer took complaints. They couldn’t even tell me who I could talk to other than to go back to the store and talk to a manager. I wrote a letter instead giving them my address, phone number and email address. I never heard from anyone about it.
Let me guess — Ballys Health & Fitness? I have a membership at Ballys and have had a terrible time. In fact, I’m going to cancel it next week.
Someone else commented on Best Buy. I had a terrible time once at Best Buy. I went there to buy a laptop and the salesperson insisted on trying to sell me a $150 service plan. Service plans are a rip-off and I didn’t want one. When I said “no,” two other salespeople wandered over and all three tried to pressure me into buying a service plan. In the end, they flat-out refused to sell me a laptop unless I bought the service plan too. I asked to make a formal complaint and was directed to the customer service desk, where a line of about 100 people were waiting. It was like stories of Stalinist Russia.
In the end, CompUSA ended up selling a $2,500 laptop to me. And I will NEVER buy anything from Best Buy again.
But the problem here isn’t just that some companies provide such awful service. The problem is that so many people put up with it. If people based their decisions on customer service, Best Buy, Ballys, and probably a lot of other companies would go out of business quite quickly. But people still flock to these places.
Me, if I have one bad experience, I add the place to my personal “do-not-shop-there list.” Life’s too short.
I was just thinking about this yesterday! Here is just a few f***ups I have to deal with right now. – stuff that should have been done properly without me spending who knows how much time on these:
– Gym charged me $25 for nothing in April. Had to file the dispute with CC. Got money back. They charged me again claiming I gave them my authorization on 6/22 when I have not talked to them since May!
– USPS damaged and lost my Buy.com order in April. Just now got the email that I will receive a refund after spending at least 4 hours total on the phone with Buy.com since then.
– USPS just lost another package of mine. They claim it being delivered, but the leasing office has no record of it being delivered.
– My dad got charged for three CT scans when he only needed two done. Gotta deal with insurance and the hospital on this.
– Citi card protector benefits were not activated when I moved, contrary to what I was told on the phone when I called.
– Delta is not giving me 5000 miles for Skymiles CC signup.
– Delta not giving me another 5000 miles for a promo I completed in May.
– American Express Business Gold is not giving me $200 they promised for opening an account back in April.
– Ordered some supplements on ebay three weeks ago. Still waiting for them to ship or to get a refund.
– Trying to get a hold of utility company to find out if I can pay them using online bill pay. Get voicemail every time, left two messages already. No call backs.
– Completed a promo with Fidelity to get 25000 miles for American Airlines, got only 15000 so far.
And there some other smaller things I can’t even remember right now. I have just started a new job and do not have time to deal with all these during the day… 🙁
Politically incorrect comment alert!!!!
Let’s face it: The best and brightest simply don’t go into “customer service” jobs.
I am, of course, making GENERALIZATIONS (for all of you who will retort with exceptions), but think about it: People who are highly intelligent and possess a fantastic work ethic and who are highly motivated: They are NOT working as “membership counselors” at the local gym. They’re in highly responsible, high-paying professional careers, or they are entrepreneurs or artists/writers — something that requires some modicum of initiative and accountability….
The decline in customer service is partly due to the fact that many (not ALL!!) customer service jobs are filled by unmotivated, lazy, not-so-bright people with few of the skills necessary for upward mobility.
There.
Flame me.
Yes, Kate, I found that comment mildly annoying and dripping with classist, elitist assumptions. Yes, nothing sucks more than poor customer service. Especially when you get poor service simply for being not white.
I agree that everyone has customer service nightmares. I hate hate HATE call centers. I can tell you 100 stories just from my cell phone company.
However, I want to also say that I have also been witness to many rude customers. Customers who go into places with a sense of entitlement and no sense of empathy or willingness to see both sides when dealing with some employees. The reality is they are human, too. And yes, many are total a-holes, but sometimes all it takes is a little understanding from both sides to make a transaction beneficial.
And just a side note on call centers outside the US, getting pissed at them because of langauge barriers is not fair and will not get you anywhere, any faster. I remember yelling at this poor woman. That was senseless. What made me feel stupid was that she continued to be calm and patient until the issue was resolved. I swear she was almost Christ-like in her demeanor.
You should instead redirect that anger to the corporate offices in America because they’re the ones who hire people and don’t train them properly, or outsource jobs to places where language is going to be an issue. Ultimately, it’s not the individuals who don’t care, it’s the corporations that pay them.
I always attempt to work things out directly with the sales rep. If it doesn’t work I move on to the manager. If no on in the store seems to care I generally send an email complaint or a letter. Generally emails & letters get better responses than phone calls (in that you’re more likely to get a response). And you have the added bonus of not having to go through a phone tree or be on hold. You just (e)mail the complaint and wait for a response.
I’m also a huge fan of filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) which the company has a set amount of time to respond to before getting bad marks in the database.
For credit card purchases I’ve found it’s easiest to just call my card company & dispute the charge (this forces the business to respond if they have any intention of trying to keep your money). My cc company generally refunds the amount to me after I show them the written complaint I submitted to the company and/or BBB. They then duke it out with the company. Less headache for me.
As far as customer service reps go, a lot of times it’s just idiot management policies that prohibit the reps from offering actual service. e.g. I spent a summer in college working for United Artists Theaters as a concession stand clerk. If a customer ordered, say nachos, and my register area was out of nachos but the cashier next to me at a bunch in stock – managment actually forbids servicing the customer by grabbing the available nachos. The customer can see the nachos just sitting there as can the sales clerk but because of whacked out inventory rules & procedures the customer is forced to 1) wait for restocking, 2) give up on getting what they want or 3) argue with the manager. Sometimes companies just put stupid policies in place – customers be damned.
http://www.complaints.com has a nice database of complaints people have had with various stores that might offer people tips on how best to achieve their goals by learning from the mistakes (or triumphs) of others.