Damon's bad service rant

Just yesterday, I had two bad service experiences right after each other.

I went into a store and bought 4 chairs only to get home and open the sealed boxes to find that two of the chairs were broken and the seats damaged.
I called the store and explained that I’d needed to change them.

I spoke to the manager who said that his store didn’t have anymore stock, but I could go to one of their other stores in Durban and change them, as they had stock.

Credit where credit is due. Being in Ballito, the manager said he’d order the chairs and let me know when they were in his store so that I could fetch them from there, so that I didn’t have to take a 30-minute drive to Durban to collect them at the other store. But…. he was ready to put down the phone when I reminded him that he hadn’t taken my name or telephone number…

A little later in the day, I realized that I needed the chairs quite urgently so I opted to take the drive out to the other branch.

On the way to the store, I thought I’d try and save some time by calling the store and asking if they could perhaps get the chairs from the storeroom and have them ready.

The drive took me 30 minutes and in that time I called one of the directory enquiry numbers 9 times to get the store number.

Every time I called, I was given every store number except the one I was looking for.

I was even given fax numbers!

Each time I called back, I’d patiently explain WHICH store I was looking for ... but still, I got no help.

Nine times I called, I was cut off four times.

When I got to the store to change the chairs….

You guessed it. They didn’t have stock!

I left furious and frustrated asking myself why I bothered to call to get a telephone number when the operators are no help at all and constantly cut you off and how a huge store can tell you which of their other branches have stock of something – but actually don’t.
I called both places and told them how disappointed I was in their service and got a feeble excuse from both.  

The reality of the situation is that when customers have a bad service experience, they do one of many things. They badmouth the store in question, they stop doing business with the company that wronged them or they take to social media sites to air their frustration.

Other things that are frustrating are having to speak to numerous agents and start your story over again and again. Being kept on hold for long periods of time. Rude or inexperienced people handling your call or query … and then there are those irritating speech recognition applications that just never seem to pick up your answer no matter how many times you push the number, star, hash key – or speak clearly!

Bad service has tremendous consequences … and the potential to cause serious brand damage.

In my opinion, it’s how mistakes and problems are solved that makes all the difference in the world.

If I can give my humble opinion, when there’s a problem, as a company don’t avoid the issue. Tackle it; be accommodating and as helpful as possible.
Don’t take time trying to solve the problem either. Get onto it and keep in touch with the client so that there’s an open line of communication.

I believe that the most important points to remember when it comes to good customer service is to listen and acknowledge problems quickly and then react with focus. 

And if you’re an employee reading this….
Today, smile and say a friendly ‘Hello, how are you doing and how was your weekend’
Be helpful by asking what you can do to help… and leave the customer blown away by your passion to make their phone call or visit to your store, the best experience they’ve ever had.