A Customer Relations Lesson
As a writer, finding hot topics to write about isn’t always an easy task. Nevertheless, I am constantly amazed at how the daily office grind proves to be a lifesaver for “ready made” article ideas.
Take for instance, this week…
Monday was supposed to be the day I received a delivery of my new office furniture. Finding myself excited at the prospect of getting a spanking-new desk, I constantly ran to the front window in search of a delivery truck.
Sadly, the delivery never arrived.
On Tuesday morning, I made a call to the customer relations department in search of some answers; however, the answer I received was not exactly what I was hoping to hear.
Are you ready?
The delivery truck could not bring my furniture because…. tah dah — my house doesn’t exist! That’s right, you heard it correctly, the truck driver claims there is no such address.
I was assured, my furniture could be delivered Tuesday afternoon, as soon as they verified that 11259 was a real address. Thank goodness! I now had renewed strength to undergo a few more hours of anticipation.
Sadly, the Tuesday delivery never arrived as promised. By this time, I’m sure you can relate to my experience. Giving the [deleted store-name] the benefit of the doubt, I accepted a 10% discount on my furniture order and agreed to wait for delivery, by noon, Wednesday.
Once again, my furniture was not delivered.
As you might have guessed, by mid-day, I was not the happy little camper. In fact, I was fit to be tied (as dad would say) and extremely furious.
As they say, tomorrow is a new day. Once again, I’ll be waiting with baited breath for the delivery of my new office furniture. Whether it arrives - is a good guess at best.
The Moral Lesson
It’s astonishing that a store chain could allow this level of customer service (or lack thereof) to go unchanged since the first tell-tale sign of a sinking business ship - is poor customer service.
When customers are treated in the same fashion as my recent experience, it’s counter-productive to the company’s advertising, product development, and image building efforts.
Fortunately, being a business owner helps me to understand accidents happen and delays are inevitable. Likewise, I know a customer should be treated superbly if a company expects to keep her business.
What do you think?
Tomorrow, I’ll share the outcome of my customer relations lesson. By that time, I’ll know whether this store chain deserves my continued patronage.
Till then, have a great day and stay warm!
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December 8th, 2005 at 12:52 pm
My night job is being a customer service rep over the phone and I know the quality I’m expected to deliver to each customer that calls in, but when I call companies I’m often amazed at the rude behavior shown to me by a representative.
Maybe I expect too much now that I know the right way to treat customers on the phone or maybe the whole world has become more rude or maybe it’s a combination of both.
December 9th, 2005 at 7:28 pm
Merle,
Thank you for sharing your comments on the topic of customer relations.
I am utterly amazed, such a big store chain continues to allow poor customer service quality.
As I previously mentioned, I spent several hours on the telephone, trying to resolve the problem of my delivery not being made on the dates, as promised. Even more nauseous, when I called back to their customer relations department and requested to speak with a specific representative — I was given a flat out “no you may not” speak to her response.
My jaw dropped and I was stunned beyond imagination!
On a previous day, I was given instructions by one of the customer service representatives to call back and specifically ask for her — since she was aware of my delivery problem and would not have to bring herself up to date with what took place this far.
As instructed, I called and asked for her but the new customer representative on the line told me that it was impossible for her to switch me over to the other representative’s extension.
My Lord! How do these people sleep at night with a clear conscience?
Since you’re a customer representative at night, let me ask:
I’d love to know how you handle representatives who treat you in a fashion unbecoming of a customer service representative.
December 11th, 2005 at 10:36 am
It’s rude behavior, plain and simple.
I often wonder how many businesses stay in business, knowing full well they don’t treat their customers with the respect they deserve.
I don’t return to stores if I experience “bad vibes” with their customer service department. I take my business elsewhere!