Good Customer Service...A Myth??

Today's "rant" is about customer service! I will keep it to just a couple situations, although I could go on and on about lousy experiences. I won't do that unless it helps to teach something of value. I think this one does in the world today.

I am a scrapbooker, at least sometimes, and I was interested in finding some products that are only sold through a direct sales person. I went online and found a local seller, gave her a call, and that's when it began. She seemed very nice on the phone, only lived a few miles away in a neighboring town, and I was hopeful that not only would I get the products I was looking for, but maybe I'd find a new person to scrap with. That can be a difficult thing to find!

My first time talking with her, I should have seen the red flags! She was reluctant to meet me face to face. She said she was in the middle of cleaning and if she didn't answer the door when I came to pick up a catalog (yes, I drove over there!), that she would just have it between the doors. O......kay....

She ended up coming to the door, barely opening the door to meet me. I thought it was a little odd, but figured maybe she had a big mess and was trying to hide it from me. Okay, that's pretty normal. I just let it go.

A week or two went by and I decided to place an order. I sent her an email with my order, which she had told me to do when I was ready. I waited to hear from her. I waited. I waited. I emailed again. I waited again. Finally she responded. What a strange response. She claimed she didn't want to "bother" me by contacting me because another customer really got mad at her for calling. Huh?? Okay. I let that one go too, although I don't know why. I guess I just wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and not judge too soon. Because of her lack of service, I decided to withdraw over half of my order. I had needed some of the products for an upcoming crop and ended up getting them at local stores instead. So, she lost quite a bit, and I really only kept the rest of the order in to be polite. Silly me.

So, I let her know I really wanted to know my total, and here's what she said to me by email, not by phone, of course. "Here is your total. You can leave your check on my door." Yes. Tape it to her door!! Not only did I drive over there....again...I taped my check to her door. She had told me she hadn't been feeling well, and may not answer the door. I took that, and just let it go again.

Weeks went by and I didn't hear from her. She didn't respond to my emails, although she had my check. I sent her another email, not as friendly as the 3 before it, and she finally responded by saying she had had all these problems, and that's why she couldn't contact me. Okay, by now I was just annoyed with the whole thing. I couldn't believe that this was the way she was going to do business with me. I was disappointed that the vision of going to workshops and having crops with this person was completely shot! Not only did it take her forever to contact me, but now she tells me part of my order didn't come in. At that point I had lost any trust I had in her, and figured she just never placed the order anyway.

So, two months had gone by from the time I placed my order to the time she finally told me it was in (after I called her, of course) and guess what? She told me part of it didn't come and she was trying to get it from someone else. She also told me that when it came in, I could pick it up on her porch, between the doors, because she wouldn't be there. No explanations. No apologies. Nothing but weak excuses! So, for the third and final time, I drove to her house, picked up my order between the doors, and vowed never to contact her again.

I didn't get nasty, because I kinda figured out that she didn't have a clue to begin with. I just chose to speak by never doing business with her again. She made a big mistake with me. "Huge!" (As Pretty Woman would have said!) Of course, now I'm looking for a new consultant. Just a note about these consultants, I can't believe how many I've dealt with that give the worst service! I figure if I'm forking out the money, they can at least say thank you and offer to deliver the product. Call me old fashioned. I call it polite. TAPE IT TO THE DOOR. i DON'T THINK SO!!!

I worked in customer service for 12 years and I know how people want and need to be treated. It always annoys me to be a victim to poor customer service. There is just no excuse for it. I am patient to a degree, but sometimes people are just so blatantly rude and wrong! They quickly forget that Golden Rule. Do unto others as you'd have done to you!!!

That's it. I'm done. Thank you for coming. It was a pleasure to serve you today!! Have a nice day and call me if you need anything. I will not put you on hold. I will shake your hand, smile at you and call you by name. I will treat your money as if it as just as crucial to my life as it was to yours to give it up. I will call when I say I'm going to call and I will always put you first!!! And most importantly, when you leave, you will feel better than when you first talked to me.
THAT is good customer service!!!