A couple of weeks ago I purchased an item manufactured by Durex. It proved faulty, and I couldn’t find a consumer address on the packaging. My next move was to go to the Durex website where I found a contact address. On Sunday I emailed their customer contact address with all the relevant details. And no, I’m not telling you what the product was—suffice to say I write erotic romance and like to do my own research! On Monday morning at 9.00 am, I received a response. They apologized and offered to replace the faulty product. On Thursday, I received my replacement item plus a few freebies. This is excellent customer service, and I’m impressed. I will happily continue to research Durex products (the inspiration for my contemporary romance, Fancy Free, which is about a woman who inherits a condom factory.)
Throughout my working life, I’ve held jobs that dealt with the public: a bank, a pub, an accountant and administration. In my last job as administration for the local McDonald’s franchisee, it was my job to field telephone complaints and write letters to customers who had problems with their McDonald’s experience. I know what it is like on the other side, and quite frankly, there were some horrid, rude customers who were completely unreasonable. Because of my experience, I’m very sensitive to customer service. While I expect good service, I try not to take out my frustration or a bad mood on hapless shop assistants. I smile and say thank you to the guys who pack my groceries. I know what it is like to be on the receiving end of an unreasonable rant.
I actually think that customer service has declined in a lot of businesses here in New Zealand. I don’t know why this is, but there are times where I lose patience and will walk away to spend my hard-earned money elsewhere.
In CatNap, book eight of my Middlemarch Mates series, brother and sister Rohan and Ambar Patel run the family grocery store. (They consequently sell it and move to a new grocery story in Middlemarch) The cornerstone of their business is customer service. Their strict parents have taught them that the customer is king and this is the way they run their business, going the extra mile to please their customers. Good customer service works for them.
What do you think about customer service? Is it better than it used to be or worse? Do you have any experiences to share?
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As soon as I hit sixteen, I got my first job at K-Mart. From then out, it was CS central. I love people, so I enjoyed the jobs, and I think that’s why the state of customer CS has declined rapidly.
I’m of the humble opinion that a majority of the folks pushing groceries, serving tables, and renting videos don’t particularly like what they’re doing, and with the economy like it is, they’ll take what they can get. Unfortunately, it shows, and makes the world a miserable place.
I was in Hell-Mart the other day (aka the Death Star) and this older gentlemen was purchasing some hamburger meat, buns, ketchup, and a few other small things. He appeared to be down on his luck (unkempt and dirty) and the cashier refused to touch him when he handed over his check (waited for him to place it on the register bay). If that didn’t piss me off enough, the moment she placed the slip of paper into the machine to process, she snagged the counter cleaner, swiped it off, then nabbed the hand sanitizer and went to work. Meanwhile this poor old man is watching (and I know he noticed) her wipe away whatever taint she felt he had left behind.
When I got to the register I told her I thought she was an incredibly rude person and, as she was notably pregnant, that she never fell on hard times and was treated so shallowly. She gave me the evil look but kept her trap shut.
I just wish people would remember that those they serve (or those that serve them) are people too.
My 2 cents! ;)
Jaime
by Jaime November 13th, 2009 at 6:35 amI have to hire many vendors and i am very loyal to companies with excellent customer service.
Flash 55 – Blue Gill
by nessa November 13th, 2009 at 8:19 amHi Shelley :)
by RKCharron November 13th, 2009 at 10:08 amI love excellent customer service but you are right, customer service has deteriorated. Especially those businesses with computer voiced phone loops that end nowhere! *pet peeve* Some businesses are great though.
Also the smaller the business the better the customer service I’ve found.
Thanks for sharing,
Love & Best Wishes to you & yours,
Rob
xoxo
I agree that CS has declined lately. It must be everywhere. Great post Shelly! And Jaime–you added a wonderful tale as well!
by Kaye Manro November 13th, 2009 at 11:00 amWhen I was 18 I had a job in a deli/bakery. I was constantly being told by customers, “Smile, it can’t be that bad.” Or , “You should smile more.”
One day my boss pulled me into his office and asked me why I always have a sour look on my face. I just looked at him and said, “You stand back there cutting Headcheese, Liverwurst, and Braunschweiger all day for customers and see if you don’t make faces too! The stuff either stinks to high heaven or looks like jellied organs..I’m not getting paid enough to smile through that.
He just laughed.
by Mary November 13th, 2009 at 2:01 pmJaime – that’s terrible. I think sometimes people forget to put themselves in other people’s shoes. I try to treat people in the same manner I’d like them to treat me.
Nessa – the thing is good customer service leads to word of mouth recommendations, which in turn leads to more sales. It’s all good!
by Shelley Munro November 13th, 2009 at 3:20 pmRK – those phone loops drive me crazy. My husband says if you shout and swear at the mechanical voices they tend to put you straight through to a person. He swears by this method, but it’s very disconcerting listening to him. He’s cursing and swearing a blue streak, and when he gets a real person he’s really polite.
by Shelley Munro November 13th, 2009 at 3:24 pmMary – the worse thing is people telling you to smile. I hate that.
by Shelley Munro November 13th, 2009 at 3:24 pmMy daughter and I went out to breakfast Wednesday morning and the server we had was not friendly and took forever to take our order and never asked if we needed anything else and when she brought our check she didn’t say anything, just put it on the table. We had to ask another worker for napkins and jelly for our toast. We didn’t complain about her, we just didn’t leave her a tip. I’ve been a server, my daughter has been a server, we are fanatic about leaving tips for people who wait on us. This is the first time I can remember not leaving one. The sad thing is, I felt guilty. I just couldn’t bring it in me though to reward her for less than bad service.
by Linda Henderson November 13th, 2009 at 7:21 pmLong ago and far away, I managed movie theaters. We were evaluated on everything from the condition of the parking lot to the quality of the picture on the screen.
It made us (staff and management) realize that no matter how often we looked at a thing, it was always the first time for someone else.
While first impressions are important, the proof is in whether or not you can continue to make a good/quality impression even if you are long bored of the subject / business / item / or even book you are writing.
by Lisa November 13th, 2009 at 7:35 pmLinda – most places in the US that we’ve visited have had great service. I thought the purpose of the tipping system was to reward good service. If a server doesn’t give good service then surely they don’t expect to get tips?
Lisa – great point. I know that lots of businesses in NZ use mystery shoppers to report back on the quality of service. I think this is a good way for management to work out how they’re doing in the CS field.
by Shelley Munro November 14th, 2009 at 1:14 amshelley, I agree. Telling someone to smile …to me is just kinda rude.
by Mary November 14th, 2009 at 1:07 pmI think that customer serves is getting better because they do not want to louse there customers
by stacey smith November 14th, 2009 at 2:48 pmsasluvbooks(at)yahoo(dot)com
As someone who spent over 20 years in retail, I’m constantly horrified by the customer service in many stores, especially from the front-line cashiers.
I’ve had my share of nasty customers too, but I found that most folks are reasonable if you acknowledge their problem and treat them with courtesy and respect.
by N.J. Walters November 14th, 2009 at 3:00 pmStacey – I agree that there are some businesses that have awesome CS. I think the instances of bad service stick in our minds for longer, and maybe that’s why we think the balance is going the other way?
NJ – Yes, there are some customers who are very reasonable. I think the bad instances tend to linger…
by Shelley Munro November 14th, 2009 at 11:47 pm