This is being written on a bad day after having been jerked around by several different businesses from home improvement to a carpet manufacturer. I am upset about the way businesses treat their customers.
We had custom cabinets made for my wife’s home office. We used over a dozen post it notes to mark all the spots where there were problems from shades being off, damage being covered up and drawers and computer cabinet being reversed. The field service representative came out the next day and agreed we had problems and he found several more. They had workmen out several days later to remove the cabinets, which we were told would be back in about two weeks. When they came back today there were still problems and the reversal was never made. When I called, at which time the workmen were re-installing the cabinets, I was told they could make the reversal and we should have been notified. We weren’t and had we been I could have had our electricians move outlets easily as they had been doing other work of this kind in the house days before. No one communicated and as a result we were frustrated and upset.
We took some very expensive watches in for repair to two separate watch stores, at neither one was the person we had to see in, so we asked to be notified when they had a chance to look at the watches and tell us what needed to be done; neither called back. I had to call them to find out what was going on. No one communicated and it was aggravating and frustrating. Besides that we had to be assertive as to the newer watches being under warranty and covered for service.
As for the carpet manufacturer, we helped a client get some commercial carpet. Turns out it had streaks, that the manufacturer knew about because they told us, after our client got it and complained, that they had a yarn problem and all of this product has streaks. But, they shipped it anyway and didn’t bother to tell us and then wanted us to assume some responsibility! Wait a minute. You make the stuff, you know it has a visible blemish and you ship it and then don’t want to take responsibility for it. I don’t think so! Not in Lews’ world, this does not happen. So now we’ll wind up discussing this issue which did not get communicated.
How is it that a business can sell a product and then give you a hard time when they created the problem and a simple phone call would have allowed you to resolve the issue without getting ticked off. Why couldn’t they call and say we can’t reverse the cabinetry and allowed us the opportunity to have the outlets moved, easily and inexpensively to avoid the upset. We won’t do business with them again.
Why couldn’t the watch people call and let us know what was going on and what needed to be done to very expensive products we bought from them? When I called I found out one watch was fixed and the other one needed to go back to the factory. We had to provide them with proof of purchase for the warranty coverage. And how were we to know this? Apparently we were supposed to know by some telepathic means because no one called to communicate it. When I asked why they didn’t call, which we specifically asked them to do and they agreed to have the technician call when he got in, they said there must have been a mis-communication on our part. I won’t buy another watch from them.
In the case of the carpet manufacturer, he had the audacity to be upset with us for a problem they have, they created, they know about and they should do something about. This individual also said they were not in customer service. You know what, everyone in the business in is customer service! They say it’s first quality with a yarn problem –that they know about. Does that make sense to you? If you admit you have a problem that’s visible, it can’t be first quality! Hey, you make it, you mess it up, you have to take responsibility.
All of this mis-communication happened yesterday all at once. Maybe the planets were aligned wrong and it threw off all of these businesses common sense and reasoning systems. Actually what it is, is everyone being so busy that they don’t take the time to pay attention to any of the details that satisfy the customer. They don’t know what customer service is. Just call and be honest with people and let them know what’s going on which will impress the customer, not anger them. We do it with our clients, contacting them with a phone call or email, just to let them know what the status of things are. But occasionally things get botched up here as well and when that happens we admit our fault and say we’re sorry. I am adamant about taking care of the customer and communicating what’s going on, even though I am not 100% on it all the time – but we strive do this.
All of the situations mentioned made me angry and in every case I asked why didn’t you call and let us know and all I heard was silence on the other end of the phone. This does not make for good customer service. I find it getting worse and the businesses who work to reverse this trend are going to be the most successful. Are you going to be one of them?
Author: Lewis G. Migliore
LGM and Associates – The Floorcovering Experts