I had lunch with Tony on Wednesday. Our usual spot, BYOB and mounds of good food for reasonable prices. We split a salad and an entree for about $30.
Wednesday’s topic was customer service. Tony has been helping his son with shopping for a new vehicle. He’s been dealing with insurance companies on the old vehicle which is totaled and car dealerships for a replacement vehicle.
Across the board, customer service has been subpar at best. The insurance company is trying to price his vehicle as a lower trim model and pay him less than it’s worth. The car dealer is unfriendly and gruff. On pick-up, the car has not been cleaned and promised work has not been done. No one returns calls.
It was a 3 1/2 hour lunch, we covered other topics too, food was great and I tried a new chocolate stout (yum!). All in all a success so don’t feel bad about our lunch.
Is This the New Standard?
I had a dentist appointment scheduled for next week. I called 2 weeks ago to cancel. Spoke with a young lady who asked if I needed to reschedule, I said not yet. We ended the call. A week later, I get a text reminding me of the appointment – respond “YES” to confirm. I did not respond. The next day I get an email to confirm. I replied that I had spoken to someone and needed to cancel. The email bounced back – couldn’t find sender. Yesterday I got a call from a live person reminding me of my appointment on Monday. I explained the situation, hopefully they believe me this time.
Poor customer service does seem to be the new norm. There are plenty of examples out there. But maybe not.
ThermoPro
I do a lot of meat smoking. I have 2 smokers, and I’ve done pulled pork, brisket, pork belly, filet, short ribs, sausage…See proof below. A nice 18 hour brisket with a coffee house porter.
The key to getting the meat right is a good thermometer. I bought a $40 ThermoPro thermometer a year ago, and it died this past weekend. As any good BBQ chef would, I had a back-up. The filet was saved, but the ThermoPro was dead.
I looked up my order on Amazon. I had purchased over a year ago, and I called ThermoPro’s 800 number to see if they had any advice. I talked to a friendly young man who said, “Yup, sounds like it’s dead. Let me send you a new one.” I got shipping confirmation and it is out for delivery today.
Home Depot
My dishwasher also went belly-up this week so I made 2 attempts to fix it. I replaced the heating element and the thermostat. Thank you Youtube. No way I could have done this on my own. It still doesn’t heat.
I fought with Lowes recently when I replaced my Mom’s dishwasher so I left them off the list this time around. Poor customer service. Friendly but incompetent.
Home Depot had the best price and I ordered online. Next day, I wanted to check on some of the specs, went to homedepot.com and searched for my washer. Holy cow, it’s $131 less today. I called customer service and explained my problem. “No problem sir, I’ll refund the $131 (and the tax) to your credit card.”
Not Dead Yet
There are definitely lots of examples of sub-par customer service, but, as I think back, I have had quite a few positive experiences.
Our LG refrigerator died and after a couple of ineffective calls to offshore customer service, I visited the website and found there is a link to contact the president of LG. I told my story and the next day an LG concierge called to help me through the process of having the repair done free of charge.
Serial Returning
My Dad, who passed away in 2009, was a serial returner. He once returned 2 pairs of pants to Sears after he wore them for 2 years. When asked the reason for the return, he politely said he just didn’t like them anymore. Full credit.
My Dad had diabetes and was told by his doctor to cut out alcohol. He did this for a couple of years and got his sugar under control so the doctor allowed him to go back to a drink or 2 here and there. He went to his favorite liquor store and picked up 2 cases of Piels 16 oz bar bottles. Piels is far from the king of beers. My dad went for price, not quality.
Anyway, he sat down to have a beer and realized he’d lost the taste. The next day, he headed back to the liquor store to return his 2 cases of Piels and get his $8 back. After a 30 minute discussion with the cashier, she called the manager over and 15 minutes later, his refund was approved. As the manager was restocking the cases, he realized there were 2 bottles missing and confronted my dad. My dad replied that he needed to try it to know that he’d lost his taste for beer. And off he went with a full refund.
Common Ground
One final dad story. He had a problem with his newly purchased used car. One tire leaked. He went back to the dealer several weeks after purchase. My dad was patient, the dealer not so much. He said that my dad probably hit a curb. Rather than fighting and escalating the tension, my dad agreed that could be true, but it could also be true that it was defective when he bought it. My dad left with a tire at half price.
Wrap-Up
There is a point here…I do believe customer service has declined. A lot of customer service has been sent offshore to save money and there are both cultural and communication barriers. Even here at home, companies are cutting costs to the bone so there are fewer people to handle our issues. And issues seem to be growing. I did some research and appliances really did last a whole lot longer years ago. It’s not just me. But the appliances didn’t have wifi, crystal dry, noise-control, a door that pops open, a complex control board, and a laundry list of additional features that can break.
What Can We Do?
But from reflecting on my experience, Tony’s experience, and my dad’s stellar performance as a serial returner, a couple things jump out.
- Call or visit at an optimum time for the customer service person. My dad always said that 10 on a Tuesday was the ideal time. The weekend chaos, that creeps into Monday was over, the store had been open for an hour or more and the lunchtime rush hadn’t started. Support and sales people will be less stressed and will have more time for you. I bought my last car on a Tuesday at 10. It was a delight. I bet Saturday at 2 would have been a totally different experience (just ask Tony).
- Be pleasant. Very few people call or visit customer service to commend them on a job well done. Imagine if your job were to deal with angry people 5 days a week, 8 hours a day. You’d probably bend over backward for someone who was friendly towards you.
- Don’t be afraid to ask. Whether it’s 2 year old pants or a year old thermometer, ask (but do it nicely). “I’m really stuck. Is there any way you can help?” People generally like to help.
- Be persistent. Still be pleasant, but if one door is slammed in your face, try again, and again, and email the president (of LG, not the US). Find creative ways to get to someone who can help.
Let us know if you’ve had an experience you’d like to share.