Customer Service Failures / Responding With Your Wallet

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Share your stories, rants, etc.

Here's what got me thinking about it:

I had to drive out to San Bernardino for work today so in the course of all my running around and meeting with the various folks I was supposed to meet with out there, time ticked away. Since it was getting late in the day and I wanted to make sure I beat traffic back, I opted to say "screw getting lunch right now" and just hit the road.

So I get back into town and stop into Baja Fresh on my way back to the office. Normally you're immediately pounced on by the counter personnel before you have time to even glance at the menu to decide what you want, but not today. There was one girl working the counter (I was the only customer) and as soon as I entered, she turned her back on me and disappeared into the back room.

"OK fine", I'm thinking. "I've got time to figure out what I want. No biggie, she'll be right back". Nope. 30 seconds go by. . . then maybe 60. Finally a different guy (manager) comes out and at least says "hello", which is all well and good (at least I've been acknowledged by someone). Phone rings. Manager is standing there at the counter for a full two and a half minutes jawing with someone on the phone while there's a customer standing right in front of him patiently waiting to order and not being serviced.

This is a huge pet-peeve of mine and in my dealings with people, warm bodies ALWAYS take precedence over phone calls. I can always say "can I put you on hold for a second" or "can I call you right back". Not sure if this is a symptom of our cell-phone-obsessed society where everyone thinks it's acceptable to yak on the phone in the presence of others, on the crapper, etc. or whatever. It just annoys the hell out of me that personal conversation and interaction has evidently become so valueless.

So I walked out. Spoke with my wallet. I won't be back for a while either.

Anyone got similar stories? What was the particular "customer service failure" that set you off and what did you do about it?

[widgeon13]

People just don't care, your experience happens all too often. Sometimes I think it is intentional, that they just want to fuch with people sometime. They have no respect for the customer or don't think about the potential of repeat business.

I have never understood that attitude. I like to be kind to strangers because you get this total look of surprise on there face's (sometimes) for doing the most simple gesture.

This subject could be endless but I think I'll pass on telling some of my stories, it's just too disturbing to rehash that part of life.

[peppy]

That kind of stuff drives me insane. I own a QSR and it is getting harder and harder to get employees that can do simple tasks.

Most that I see are just plan rude!

[Christien]

The problem with lousy customer service is that the vast majority of people in the service industry that we come into contact with on a daily basis have absolutely no interest in the overall profitability of the company they work for, save for actually staying in business. So if the customer walks out and "speaks with their wallet" as you say, hey, one less bother to worry about. Do they care that the company lost $5 in sales? Nope. They'll still get their paycheque. Absentee ownership does nothing to help this problem.

Now, the manager probably gets a bonus based on the performance of the franchise, so to yack on the phone while a customer stands there doesn't make sense, especially a customer holding money. The guy on the phone is most definitely NOT going to buy something in the next 5 minutes - guaranteed. The guy at the counter most definitely IS going to buy something.

[Buckterrier]

Shell station. Card wouldn't work at the pump. Went inside the guy couldn't be bothered with running it. Haven't gone back since. Now I drive a lot, probably spent $120 - $130.00 a week in gas there, I hope they see me everytime I go into the Mobil station across the street.

[Dueller]

Somewhere in my wife's research she found that in a "full service" restaurant, customers get really annoyed if their waitperson does not make contact within 43 seconds after being seated. Not to take their order but just to acknowledge them. My wife's biggest pet peeve which may be grounds for immediate dismissal dependiing on her mood is the customer should never receive their check if their plate has not been cleared.

In the bar, bartenders are required to greet their regular customers by name and have their drink on the bar before their butt hits the stool. A regular is defined as anyone who has been in more than once in the last three months. My wife's recall of customers' names and drinks is astounding. Once a couple came in six months after their first visit...they were from out of state and just stopped in at random (near the interstate). She remembered their first names, what state they were from and what they drank the first time they were in.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Wow, I wish I had that kind of memory for names - I'm horrible with those! It's a conscious and deliberate effort to remember them and even then I sometimes goof it up.

Another one of mine is wait staff asking "how is everything here" when they've seen you just take a bite and have your mouth full. I know for a fact this is deliberate (a friend of mine who's been a waiter for the last 15 years tells me that wait staff will do this just to amuse themselves sometimes). Once? Okay fine - haha - you got me. Twice? Not funny anymore. Three or more times? I break out the tip hatchet.

Just one of those things. . .

BTW got your lens boxed up and it's going out tomorrow - sorry so long.

[Christien]

When out for a meal with friends, I often joke about my "invention", the tip clock. You press a button when you want service. After a 90 second grace period, the clock starts counting down from 30, one point every 60 seconds. At the end of your meal, the tip is what's left on the clock. If you get really good service, you pay 30%, but for lousy service you pay little or nothing.

If I ever open a diner, I'll install these!

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Dueller

Somewhere in my wife's research she found that in a "full service" restaurant, customers get really annoyed if their waitperson does not make contact within 43 seconds after being seated. Not to take their order but just to acknowledge them. My wife's biggest pet peeve which may be grounds for immediate dismissal dependiing on her mood is the customer should never receive their check if their plate has not been cleared.

In the bar, bartenders are required to greet their regular customers by name and have their drink on the bar before their butt hits the stool. A regular is defined as anyone who has been in more than once in the last three months. My wife's recall of customers' names and drinks is astounding. Once a couple came in six months after their first visit...they were from out of state and just stopped in at random (near the interstate). She remembered their first names, what state they were from and what they drank the first time they were in.

Your wife is correct. I bet she is very successful.

One other pet peeve in restaurants.

Usually my card is ready before you bring the check but if you catch me by surprise then don't disappear for 10 minutes after dropping it.

[Dueller]

On the flip side is the customer's attitude. I personally am overly kind to any young kid working the counter at a fast food restaraunt or the bus boys or the cooks in the kitchen or the dishwashers. For every kid trying to make a living rather than being on the street hustling, I feel they need to be acknowledged and appreciated. Often when you encounter a surly young counterperson in a Burger Doodle, merely responding in a polite or appreciative or understanding tone yourself will diffuse their attitude.

Of course there are limits

[dipso]

I used to have a 62 Impala convertible. Red, not hard to notice.
One day 3 friends and I ran out of gas in Newport. We pushed the car into the gas station. The attendant is sitting in his chair out front soaking up some California rays. He didn't offer to help push or move from his chair at all, that's fine it is not his job to help us push.
This was before pay first, I think in the early 80's.
Anyways, I fill up the car at self serve and look at the guy to come and take my money. This lard ass still doesn't move and expects me to walk over to him, even though the cash box is out at the pumps.
I just sat back in my car, started it up and drove away.
F that guy.

[Joeaksa]

Jeff,

Write an email or better yet a real letter to the parent company. I have had very good response with doing something like this in the past.

Joe

[biosurfer1]

This just happened to my friend the other day, here is her story:

Now don't get me wrong - I'm all about supporting local coffee shops, but my experience on Sunday was unbelievable!

Every Sunday for about a month now I've been meeting a few girls for coffee and knitting (my two favorite things ) The normal Sunday morning guy wasn’t working, so I just figured it was his day off. Anyway, all of us were sitting, knitting and chatting from 9 to about 11. Cindi and Wendy took off and Sue soon to follow. I was finishing up and was planning to leave when I was done.



All of a sudden, the employee working came up to me and said, “I know that you’ve been sitting here a while but if you’re not going to buy anything, you need to get the hell out. This isn’t the library.

”

Needless to say I was BLOWN AWAY! All of the girls that came out today bought something and the only reason I didn’t was because I didn’t have any cash on me. I think that if you’re with a group of people and a majority of them buy something then it’s acceptable to hang out for a bit. I could understand if it was totally crowded and I was taking a seat away from a customer, but I wasn’t and was literally on my way out the door.



Aren’t coffee shops for hanging out and enjoying a social atmosphere? I was really hurt by the way he confronted me. If he would have explained nicely that it is their policy that if you’re going to hang out for a little while then you need to purchase something, I would have been fine with that. I just don’t appreciate the way he handled the situation.


And their response when she emailed the owner:
"I'm very sorry that you were offended, but from our standpoint, yes, that was the owner, we have a family with two young children and high overhead. It is very difficult and requires all our heart and soul to run this business. It isn't a public library, or a public restroom, but a place of business. I'm surprised by your aversion to this policy, knowing that even the lights you sew by are being paid for by someone, and that money has to come from somewhere. If you let people hang out without buying something, it taxes us beyond our means to stay in business. Ideally, everyone could come and never buy stuff and hang out all day and use our facilities. I really wish we could offer that, but this is our livelihood and how we feed our children, so if you are unable to understand that and show that basic respect (an exchange between members of a community, not just taking from the community by one party while taxing another member) than I am sorry, but this isn't the place for your group to hang out. I hope you will see my point and return, but it is entirely up to you folks what you're comfortable with. It seems a little silly not to buy something out of respect when items are priced as low as 75 cents (sodas and bottled water). It is unfortunate that you have to adhere to this policy with every person, but after nearly 3 years in business we've found that if you don't, people take advantage of you.

Thanks for bringing this question to us rather than just never returning again and I hope this helps you understand where we are coming from.

Nicole Kangas
javalounge co-owner"

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Buckterrier

Shell station. Card wouldn't work at the pump. Went inside the guy couldn't be bothered with running it. Haven't gone back since. Now I drive a lot, probably spent $120 - $130.00 a week in gas there, I hope they see me everytime I go into the Mobil station across the street.

You do know that they only make a penny or two per gallon. If I were the owner, i would really come running with oranges and coffee.

[look 171]

3 words. At home Depot...(at least the ones around LA) Need I say more?

[Paul_Heery]

I believe that Customer Service needs to be a part of the overall culture of the business. It is something that must be a top priority for the employees and management alike. It needs to be part of the everyday practice of all employees.

I happen to work for a company that knows the value of our customers and takes Customer Service very seriously. Let me share the philosophy and how it came to be:

How Stew Leonard’s Customer Service Rock of Commitment Came to Be


Two weeks after Stew Leonard’s grand opening in 1969, Stew Leonard, Sr. was standing at the front door of the store greeting customers.

Suddenly a customer came up to Stew and said, "YOUR EGGNOG IS SOUR!" and thrust into his hands a half-gallon carton.

"My eggnog is sour, from my brand new dairy plant? Impossible!” exclaimed Stew, "You're wrong! It can't be sour. We've sold over 200 half-gallons of eggnog from this batch and you're the only one who's complained!"

The customer was so mad, veins were popping out in her neck. She said, “I don't care how many cartons you sold, it's sour and I want my money back!"

Eggnog was 95 cents per half-gallon so Stew reached into his pocket and gave the customer a dollar bill. She snatched it out of his hand and started out the store. The last words he heard her say were, "I'm never coming back to this store again!"

That night, Stew relayed the story to his wife, Marianne, and she, too became upset with him.

"I don't blame her at all,” said Marianne. “You didn't listen to her. You contradicted her and practically called her a liar. I hope you are not going to run your store like other store managers, who think all customers are trying to put something over on them. They don't trust us -- but we fix them -- WE JUST NEVER GO BACK!”

After thinking about it for a while, Stew realized that he had everything in the world tied up into his dairy store. He could not afford to lose a single customer by telling them they were wrong.

He realized that most customers were honest and wouldn't try to take advantage of him. However, if he tried to protect himself from the one percent who were dishonest, he'd end up penalizing the other 99 percent who were really good and honest!

Stew decided Marianne was right and that no customer was ever going to be wrong in my store again.

On his way to work one morning, Stew drove by a monument yard, where they were unloading granite. Suddenly, Stew got an idea. He stopped and bought a huge slab of granite from Mr. Bates. It weighed 6,000 pounds. Then Stew had him deliver the rock to the front door of his store, and had their stonemason chisel the store’s new policy into its face:

• Rule 1 The Customer Is Always Right!
• Rule 2 : If The Customer Is Ever Wrong, Reread Rule 1.

To this day, 39 years later, the rock still stands firm at each of Stew Leonard’s store entrances. Every single team member knows of the eggnog story, and how the rock came to be. They know that they can do anything in their power to make the customer happy. Happy customers not only come back, they bring their friends!

How Stew Leonard’s Keeps Customers Happy

“We strive every day to create happy customers, to make them feel welcome in our stores and do everything in our power to exceed their expectations,” said Stew Leonard, Jr., President and CEO of Stew Leonard's. “To do this, we really listen to and love our customers.”

Customer service at Stew Leonard’s really is not tied-up into one or two neat, easily defined bundles of rules. Here are some of the company’s key customer service programs:

• Monthly focus groups. “We offer shoppers an opportunity to come in and tell us what we are doing well and what we can improve on. Each department manager is responsible for identifying a good customer and asking them to attend.
• Daily suggestion box. Suggestions are typed up by 10:00 a.m. the next day, and store managers either act on or call the customers about the complaint or suggestions. “We average approximately 100 per day – this is the pulse of the store, it’s important to know what everyone is thinking,” Tavello explains.
• No waiting in line at checkouts. “Stew Leonard’s strives for this – we want our customers to leave the store thinking they have had a pleasurable experience. Instead of having 15 cash registers with 5 open, we keep all 30 of our registers going so that the customers don’t wait in long lines and become frustrated,” Jill Tavello says. “As my brother, Stew Jr. says, ‘He never met a customer who liked to wait in line’.”

The bottom line, says Stew, is that: “Customer service cannot be a sometimes thing. It must be earned and re-earned every day.”

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by biosurfer1

This just happened to my friend the other day, here is her story:

Now don't get me wrong - I'm all about supporting local coffee shops, but my experience on Sunday was unbelievable!

"

I have to say my sympathy is 200% with the coffee shop owner. It´s a place of business. You don´t just sit there 2 hours, buy nothing and do your knitting. Jeez!

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by look 171

You do know that they only make a penny or two per gallon. If I were the owner, i would really come running with oranges and coffee.

I knew someone would mention that. Yes I'm quite aware of the slim profit margin stations make on gas. But that isn't the point now is it? In your eyes small profit margins mean the employees can be dickweeds? I see.

[widgeon13]

[QUOTE=Paul_Heery;3877980]I believe that Customer Service needs to be a part of the overall culture of the business. It is something that must be a top priority for the employees and management alike. It needs to be part of the everyday practice of all employees.

I happen to work for a company that knows the value of our customers and takes Customer Service very seriously. Let me share the philosophy and how it came to be:


Stew Leonard's has a great approach to customer service, It's the only place in the world where I will do grocery shopping for my wife. LL Bean is another company that has great customer service, never been dissatisfied at either one.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

In defense of the ladies in the coffee shop - I think there's incomplete information to formulate a conclusion. If they are simply there not bothering anyone and not utilizing resources that would otherwise just be getting wasted on empty space, there really isn't much problem with it. If there are other customers waiting for tables, etc. and can't find them because they're occupied by the "squatters", then obviously it's a problem and common courtesy would dictate that you either make a purchase or pack up and move along.

It costs the shop the same amount of $$$ to pay for lighting and rent on an empty space as a full one. If there is nobody else waiting to use the space, I think the heavy-handed approach on the part of the owner is a little bit over-the-top. If, OTOH there is nobody else around I feel inclined to side with the guests. No harm, no foul.

I suppose there could be a modest cost of their presence due to increased heat load in the space (body heat, forcing extra HVAC conditioning) but for three or four people? Pretty negligible. And it similarly depends on situation (is the A/C on? Economizer mode or active mode?) There's also a BENEFIT to the owner from having his/her tables occupied. The place looks active to a prospective customer strolling by. Empty seats? The subtle message is, "nobody likes this place, wonder why". Occupied? The message "read in" is, "this place must be good". There's also a security benefit from having other people around versus a stark empty shop. . .

Not saying who's right or wrong, but as with most things there's always more to the story and I don't know in this particular case if there's sufficient information to pass judgment.

I would say to that store owner that whether right or wrong, resorting to such tactics are a surefire way to guarantee a loss of customers. In this day and age when everyone is a victim, nobody is the problem, nobody ever does anything wrong, it's the wrong approach. Here's a hypothetical: Let's assume that the women involved were as rude/imposing as possible (I doubt they were, but play along here). Assume there was a line out the door and these women were simply sitting there taking up table space that other people wanted, were talking loudly, constantly using the bathroom and other "free" resources within the shop, etc. In that case, I'd have no doubt the owner is justified in coming over and telling them to scram, HOWEVER (here's the rub), do you HONESTLY think the people so confronted are going to see it that way? That's a helluva gamble with your life blood. 99% of the people out there would get indignant and say "what an a-hole" and never come back, whether they were right or wrong (in everyone's mind, they're always right no matter what). Future business lost. Future revenue gone.

Unfortunately part of working is taking crap from your boss. Even when you're the boss, you still answer to someone (your customers) and as a result, sometimes you have to take a certain amount of unjustified/unwarranted/undeserved/unfair crap from them in order to keep operating. . .