How you make them feel

Shawn K at Tue Jan 16 08:08:54 -0600 2007

"People will forget what you do.......People will forget what you say.......BUT, People will never forget how you made them feel."

I couldn't agree more.

David B. at Tue Jan 16 09:03:54 -0600 2007

Too true. What's worse is: if you make them feel terrible, they're 3 times as likely to tell someone about it.

Tracy L at Wed Jan 17 12:44:53 -0600 2007

I'm curious, what is the worst customer service experience that everyone has experienced?

I'll start...

I called a popular online computer company to check the balance owing and could not get through to anyone because I couldn't enter my account number into the IVR because I was at work and didn't have my account number with me. I called their other 1-800 and they kept telling me to call the same number! There was nothing I could press to get past the IVR and speak to a REAL person. ARRRGH!!

Can anyone top that story?

David at Wed Jan 17 13:07:20 -0600 2007

Recently had a run in with GM. 2 yr old car has been into shop 14 times. Not only would they not comment on my service issue but were unwilling to do anything about it...thats right...nothing. They said that I have a warranty for that.
I guess my time spent taking the car into the shop and picking it up is of no value not to mention the irritation of driving a car that requires service all the time. This is not a dealership issue but a manufacturer issue. Why would I ever buy another GM car. This is the single worst customer service issue that I have ever experienced.....ARGHHHHHHH

Mike M at Wed Jan 17 13:15:08 -0600 2007

Oh i think i can top that story, its a little hard to put into words but ill try my best, i once called D-Link for support on my router, i was on hold for 1hr b4 anyone answerd, when i got to speak with a live person i told them im a A+ Certified tech and ive tried everything and cant seem to get it to work the way i wanted. i explained to him all the things i tried then right after i was done they told me that he HAD to go through every step to find out what the problem was..which was all the basic stuff like power cycle and duplex settings..after another hour of trying everything that i just did before i even called them, they tell me my problem has to be sent to a Tech level 2. Could have saved me a hour and just transferd me from the start since i explained everything i did to troubleshoot it then he made me do it again. so after all that he sais all tech lvl 2's are busy and to call back in 10min...so i call back in 10minutes and the rep that answers said "before i transfer you to a tech 2, i must go threw all these things 1st..(which was what i just spent a hr doing with previous rep) i told him to check his info cuz i just went threw all of that and it should be in system from previous rep. Well turns out previous rep didnt take down ANY info. so after another hour on the phone going threw all the steps again he finally tells me that there is nothing he can do and that i need to buy a new one....so basically i spent 3hrs with customer service to find out only that ill never call them back again! and 2 days letter i found some ports on the internet i never opend up. and now it works almost perfectly.

Mike M at Wed Jan 17 13:21:15 -0600 2007

David, i completly know how u feel i got treated the exact same by Vickars Chev.

nadine m at Fri Jan 19 14:06:42 -0600 2007

while at coffee break at work, one of the nurses mentioned to the group of us how she had such terrible service from a shoe store. She specifically mentioned the saleslady's name. I needed a good pair of shoes but unfortunely the only place that had them was this place. I was looking for the shoes and yes, I too was getting no service. When I finally found the shoes myself and approached the cashier to pay, low and behold a salesclerk approached me. Yes it was the very gal that was the topic of our coffee break conversation. i gathered my courage and politely said to her that i didn't want her to ring it up. then i proceeded to her inform her why. last going off i said to her that if she thinks that her actions didn't go unnoticed. 20 women heard the story of the bad service. word of mouth it does damage. i then put the shoes back and didn't buy them. at least she knows why. as much as i wanted the shoes i couldn't give her the sale.

jeremy i at Fri Jan 19 14:18:14 -0600 2007

my wife and i saved for a weekend away at high class resort in b.c. when we arrived at the resort we were told that the kitchen was closed for renovations. it would be closed for a couple more days. we were told there were vending machines we could get something from.
my wife explained to them that she was a vegetarian and i am a type 1 diabetic. we had to drive back 40 km to the closest town in order to get some food. we had prepaid for the weekend. when we called to report this later; there was no apology. they just didn't get how vitally important it was that there was no alternative for food while we were there. the customer service reps. response was "well, what exactly do you want us to do about it" we said "you could've contacted us ahead of time" some people just don't get it!!

Ellen at Sat Jan 20 02:12:18 -0600 2007

Someone once told me "The customer may not always be right, but they are always the customer." So True!

Thank you for providing an avenue for customers to share (or rant about) our experiences, in this day and age customer service should be better considering all the technology available to companies but customer service just seems to be getting worse! The thing that really gets me is companies don't seem to put any efforts into retaining the customers, they will call, mail or email me with promises of discounts to try their product or service and then once I do, they don't care anymore, mission accomplished. It ticks me off when I am loyal to a brand or company but then all of their "Special Offers" are for new customers only! I have been loyal yet I don't get rewarded? Go figure! COMPANIES, if you don't entice me to stay guess what I will go to the next company that comes knocking on my door.

Todd at Sat Jan 20 08:54:46 -0600 2007

Interesting comment. Businesses are constantly faced with balancing the rising costs of great customer service and effective product pricing. So..are we willing to pay a premium for great customer service....is brand loyalty limited to the lowest price...?

Ellen at Sun Jan 21 00:37:18 -0600 2007

It is exactly what Polly said...

"People will forget what you do.......People will forget what you say.......BUT, People will never forget how you made them feel."

Great customer service does not have to cost more, again it is all about how they make us feel that matters. That brings me to ask...what is the definition of good customer service? Has a company ever asked this question to anyone?

paul at Tue Jan 23 17:13:02 -0600 2007

whatever happened to common courtesy?
guess it's not so common.
treating someone like you would like to be treated
seems simple enough

Melanie at Tue Jan 30 11:54:12 -0600 2007

I totally agree with Paul. You go to these places and treat the staff nicely just to be treated like they don't care about your service. Like once I took back a power supply for my computer and it didn't work i had gottent he warranty on it and everything and they started acting like I didn't know how to use it and that I did not install it properly. I had not installed myself for the fact that i knew something that that would happen. As my father is a Computer Technician I got him to instal it . Still even with that and the warranty they would not exchange it or refund me my money. They were also very rude about it. So I gave up and none of my friends or family members shop at that electronic store anymore!

Dave L at Tue Feb 06 13:28:08 -0600 2007

Worst story I have - was a call to chicken restaurant - ordering dinner for the family - was told 45 minutes for delivery. No problem - an hour goes by, and there is no food, so I call and nicely explain my situation, trying to find an ETA - The CSR puts me on hold as they need to contact the store to find out whats going on. No problem - I wait, and wait, and wait, and wait - 5 minutes, 10 minutes - 15 minutes, not ONCE did someone come back and say "just a moment" or "hang on still with ya" nothing... 15 minutes of music on hold. So, keeping on the line, I call using my cell phone, talk to another CSR, explain that its now 1 hour and 15 minutes since I placed my order, and that I am on hold with another CSR - please give him a nudge as he has forgotten about me. She puts me on hold too - now I have a phone in each ear - listening to music on hold (psedo stereo) and waiting. The second CSR comes back, and says she has contacted the store and that the food will be leaving shortly. Fine, its now over 20 minutes of music on hold on call #1 - I ask to speak to the Manager, as I would like to discuss call #1 with them as I think its not right to be put on hold for 25 minutes. The CSR then says the supervisor is unavailable. So I said if I leave you my name and number can you get them to call me. "No - we dont do that here" - So I said - fine - I will hold until the Supervisor is available - The CSR Said - no you wont and hung up on me. Ok - so I am REALLY frustrated here. an hour and a half has passed my food is STILL not here. I am hungry and quite upset. So I call back, get CSR #3, and immediately ask for the supervisor. Detecting that I was not the happiest of customers, the CSR wisely put me on hold and magically a supervisor was all of a sudden available. So I start to explain my story - and as I am speaking with the supervisor, the delivery driver appears and my food is here. The supervisor says "We'll take $5.00 off your order for your inconveneince". I said you will take 50% off my order or take the food away! (I got my 50%)... So the next day - still feeling VERY upset - I went to chicken restaurant's website, and left feedback explaining the whole thing. A week goes by, and someone actually called me - To make a long story short - I never spoke to a supervisor - it was another CSR "pretending" to be the supervisor - and the manager / supervisor on shift that night never once heard my complaint. This was all done by a bunch of CSR's. The manager I finally spoke to made things right with me. I tell this story frequently, and people are in total disbelief that the service I got that day was so poor.

This story - unfortunately - is 100% true - and a classic example of how NOT to treat people.

Cindy at Thu Mar 22 07:59:24 -0500 2007

Here's one. I was looking for venitian blinds. I had gone to one Home Depot and the blinds I wanted were on sale for $80.00 and the size of blinds I wanted they only had in wood grain colors. So I went across the street to Rona to see if they had the color I wanted. The sales representative proceeded to tell me they are a standard size and I would have to get them specially made and the cost would be $325.00. When I told them I had just gone over to Home Depot and the only reason I was at Rona was because they didn't have my color they still insisted that I was mistaken and that the size is a custom order size. While at Rona, I called another Home Depot and the Sales rep there said yes they had the color I wanted in the Size I wanted at the sale price. Then I told the Rona Sales rep this and he still did not believe me. I went to pick up the blinds at the other Home Depot and the lady there said she just got a call from a Sales rep at Rona to confirm that Home Depot does in fact carry the type and size of blinds as a normal stock item. Even though Rona is Canadian, and I normally try to support Canadian companies I will not shop at Rona again because of this one Sales agent. This Sales rep implied that I was lying and that is just not acceptable in any customer service industry. I am probably not the only person that feels this way. With just One bad Customer Service experience you actually need 10 good experiences to recoup from that one bad one. Bad experiences get around alot faster then good ones.

Dave at Fri Jul 13 08:44:50 -0500 2007

Here is a story of how to do it right.

I recently had my car broken into, and my satalite radio stolen. What a way to start your day. So I call XM RADIO and explain the story, and am prepared to cancel my account (nothing more). The follow on the phone informs me that I might be eligable for a free replacement radio. "REALLY?" I ask with a bit of skeptcism. He asks me if I remember what the make and model of the radio was. I did not, but with a bit of fast typing and a google search or two I was able to tell him it was a Delphi Roadie XT. He said thats not a free replacement, but we can send you a replacement for 20 bux. COOL.. Now thats still an acceptable deal in my books. Then he adds, we will also pause your billing on your account until you get the replacement, and activate it. Once its avtivated we will commence you billing again, so you will not lose any of your paid service. "Really?" I say again as my bad day is suddenly finding a silver lining. And he continues, I'll also mark your old radio as stolen in the system, so if someone attempts to activate it, they wont be able to. Now curious I ask how that works, as if there is a way to find out who stole it. He replies "Oh sure, what happens is we ask the name, address and credit card info of the caller first, and once we have all the details, the system will then come up and say stolen - at which time the information is dispatched to the police to hopefully recover the item."

WOW... WOW... WOW... I am truely impressed!!!!

XMRADIO - WELL DONE!!!!

at Fri Oct 05 08:37:35 -0500 2007

Jan at Thu Jan 24 19:37:17 -0600 2008

How you are treated is everything. The other day I was having problems with my internet so I made a call to my internet provider. My call was answered within 10 minutes which was alright with me. This was a technical issue and he was able to get me back up and running immediately. I then asked him if he could help with another problem I was having. My XP Control panel is now a classic style and there is no way to get the XP control panel back. The person I was living with did something. The tech was great and although the tried and true methods did not work, he asked to put me hold so that he could obtain more information. When he came back on the line he told me what needed to be done but advised unless I was computer savy to not attempt to make the changes myself. He was not able to make the change for me but emailed me the documentation on how to change it. The email arrived immediately and we said good-bye. What makes this great service is that the tech did determine how to help me but also made sure I was aware of the difficulties the change could cause. I appreciate his help and his honesty and consequently haven't made the script change yet.

at Wed Jan 30 22:17:00 -0600 2008

Lisa at Fri Feb 15 12:10:04 -0600 2008

This has to be the best one ever! My husband went to a local gas station to put gas in the car as well as get a car wash. He filled up the tank and went inside where he paid for the gas and the wash. Upon driving up to the car wash and trying to enter his code, he found the machine would not accept it so he went back inside to the clerk and told him he was having problems entering his code. The attendant looked at him (and in all seriousness) said "That's because the car wash is out of order."
Luckily my husband was reimbursed for the car wash...but my question is, if the guy knew it was broken, why did he sell a car wash in the first place?

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