By John Blodgett, MacKay & Company
I have hit a Tsunami-size wave of customer service issues in the last few weeks, across a number of industries, and it just boggles my mind on how they happen. It reinforces that you can never let up on training, monitoring and measuring how well your customer-facing people are doing.
Parts Availability — Have Inventory: We have a 5-year-old dishwasher that broke down. I was told it would take three to four weeks to get replacement part. Really? For a five-year-old machine? Good thing we got that service contract. (And good thing I was traveling most of those weeks — don’t want to ruin my hands).
Parts Availability — Have Accurate Inventory: My car rear window wiper disappeared. Based on how hard it was to find replacement, I now think it was stolen. After visiting a couple of auto parts stores, (who told me within a couple minutes they did not have the part, but could order), I went to the dealer. Once I found the parts department, I stood in line and eventually was told they had one but that I would need to go to another window to purchase. I went to other window, stood in line, then paid for wiper. I was then told to go back to parts window, where I stood in line again only to be told they were mistaken — they did not have wiper. To get a refund, I was told to go back to other window where I stood in line and got the refund. Thirty minutes of my life lost forever.
(Related: I was at an AASA meeting last year and someone stated car dealers are good in the aftermarket as long as customer comes to them. I’m not sure even this is correct, although statistical sample size of one is quite small).
Get Paid: Our garage door opener failed. I called a repair service who came same day. They called, told me the problem and cost to fix. I gave go ahead; they told me they would call for payment when complete. Came home and the door was fixed. Went a few days with no call, so I called them and told them I owed money for a repair and nobody had called. They asked me how much I owed. I said 67 cents (I didn’t say that, but that’s what I felt like saying). I knew the approximate amount, but not exactly, they had to get back to me.
Get Paid A Fair Amount: This was a good customer experience. I got a flat on the highway. I replaced the tire (in a suit, no less) with one of those small donuts, found Walmart with tire service just down the road. They spent 30 minutes fixing the tire. Charged me $10; I told the cashier, “You’re not charging me enough.” I gave the technician a $20 bill and figured I was still ahead.
Get Paid Once — Then Stop Asking: I needed some medical records. I was told to contact a company that kept them. The company sent me the records and included the bill for their service. I paid online immediately. They keep sending notices that I owe them, despite sending them a copy of the receipt.
Follow Though/Communication: We have a rotted-out window on our house that was manufactured by a well-known window company. I have been working for three weeks to get a quote on what it will cost to fix or replace. They are terrible at follow up. I got a quote for a new window but was told I should investigate having it repaired by their company. The service side of this company asked me for window measurements; I said they were on the quote for new window. I was actually told that the quote was from another division and he did not have access to their information. I sent him the measurements; he said he would review and get back to me. I am still waiting to spend money with them, if I ever hear back.
I’m done venting. I promise I will follow up with positive customer experiences in a future column. Just not sure how long in the future that will be.
John Blodgett has worked for MacKay & Company for more than 20 years and is currently vice president of sales and marketing, responsible for client contact for single- and multi-client projects. He can be reached at [email protected].
