Good customer service is so hard to find.

[Dorado]

So a while back I was sold a leaky sump pump. It works it just leaks. The stored won't take it back as it's been used and the manufacturer says to go through the store. Anyways I'm not buying from them again.

Fast forward to this week. I ordered some things from Tandy leather but they got my order wrong. I ordered two different dyes and got two of the same one. I called up the store and they're sending me the correct dye and told me not to worry about sending back the other. Now I know that Tandy's doesn't necessarily sell the best equipment but with service like that I can deal with it. Polite, always willing to help, owns up to their mistakes and makes them more than right, that's hard to find anymore.

[Utah Bob #35998]

Customer service is such a basic business tenet that it amazes me so few companies give it the attention it deserves.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

So a while back I was sold a leaky sump pump. It works it just leaks. The stored won't take it back as it's been used and the manufacturer says to go through the store. Anyways I'm not buying from them again.

Fast forward to this week. I ordered some things from Tandy leather but they got my order wrong. I ordered two different dyes and got two of the same one. I called up the store and they're sending me the correct dye and told me not to worry about sending back the other. Now I know that Tandy's doesn't necessarily sell the best equipment but with service like that I can deal with it. Polite, always willing to help, owns up to their mistakes and makes them more than right, that's hard to find anymore.

They let you keep it because either is costs them tooo much to process the return or they just don't want it back because they would throw it out anyway.

[Utah Bob #35998]

Whenever I receive good service from a company, I write the managemeny and let them know I appreciate it and will be a continued customer.

[Dorado]

They let you keep it because either is costs them tooo much to process the return or they just don't want it back because they would throw it out anyway.

Stick in the mud. I know it was because it'd cost too much to return it. But that's beside the point.

 

Whenever I receive good service from a company, I write the managemeny and let them know I appreciate it and will be a continued customer.

Already done that.

[Blastmaster]

When you purchase something that could break or need repaired, you best evaluate the stores service dept. and put that into your decision making. Paying a little more because of local service later may be worth it vs internet purchase.

[Smoken D]

So a while back I was sold a leaky sump pump. It works it just leaks. The stored won't take it back as it's been used and the manufacturer says to go through the store. Anyways I'm not buying from them again.

Fast forward to this week. I ordered some things from Tandy leather but they got my order wrong. I ordered two different dyes and got two of the same one. I called up the store and they're sending me the correct dye and told me not to worry about sending back the other. Now I know that Tandy's doesn't necessarily sell the best equipment but with service like that I can deal with it. Polite, always willing to help, owns up to their mistakes and makes them more than right, that's hard to find anymore.

 

I guess that is the Springfield Leather store that took over Tandy. I go in there at times when in Springfield, Mo. What a store, every kind and size of leather you could want. Machines are really nice. Customer service at the store is right up there.

[Sedalia Dave]

Our semi-local Tandy leather store has good customer service as well.

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217]

I hope you won't mind me telling a sad customer service tale.

 

In the early '70s I worked in retail. At the first store (a clock sales and repair store where I worked for 5 years), a woman told me if I ever wanted to change jobs to come to her store. She mentioned her admiration for the way I treated customers and her two young boys. It was a small satellite store (clock shop) with only one clerk on duty at a time.

 

After a few years I quit the first job and applied at her store, which was less than 5 minutes from my house. She hired me even though she hadn't advertised. One day, a woman I'd sold something to brought it back saying she did not like a blemish in the wood. I said, I understood and would see if we had another without the knot. We did, I exchanged it and she went away happy.

 

The next day, I was reprimanded (blind sided) in front of all of the others working there for leading the woman to think we sold blemished merchandise. WT_! I quit right then. The problem was two guys in the repair shop who checked every product for function (lighting) before it went out the door. For some bizarre reason they were offended. I never said anything to the woman to demean the store or them.

 

What the h--- was I to do? Tell her she was wrong and it looked fine, it didn't, or exchange it with no hassle, which I did. I bet that woman continued to shop there without knowing I'd quit over the incident. I worked there less than a month.

 

Now, I'm on a roll relating my 1970s jobs and must tell you about the next one. It was as a receptionist at a video wholesaler that sold big stuff to TV stations and the like. One day the CFO asked me if I felt overworked. I said no; but, I was busy. She asked me to sign something she wrote to the Employment Development Department saying that the job duties were reasonable. I did. It was intended to get my predecessor denied Unemployment Insurance Benefits. Then everyone started dumping their work on me. I quit, less than a month from when I started, when someone gave me a pile of work and belched in my face.

 

I had some great jobs and some lousy jobs. Finally, I decided to go to work for the State (Employment Development Department) for the benefits. That is when I realized how despicable that CFO was.

 

Sorry, I got OT; but, it felt good to vent.

 

 

[Blastmaster]

Over the Christmas holiday break, I stopped by my local propane satellite branch store run by a Mom & Pop couple to pay for my tank rental from them (parent company). Tammy (Mom) is the Branch Manager and has been for 20+ years. Anyway, after some small talk about each others families and community, I kiddingly protested the tank rental because I said I was locked into buying their propane. Nothing new, that is the way it was for the last dozen years (or longer) in the propane businesses. She said to hold up a minute and let her check. She came back and said she could wave my yearly tank rental, like forever. She also said that she would match prices for any other propane provider that did any sort of business in that area. There are at least two out of town propane providers that drive pretty significant distances to the area. WOW! what service. Something to be said about doing business with down home type small shops in your area.

 

I should add, my late wife (teacher) went the extra mile to assist Tammy's special needs foster child through school. That was numerous years back.

 

I have other tales of excellent service by small shops in a verrrry low population density area. There are things money just can not buy, nor can you find at big box stores.

[Sparky Nelson]

Fast forward to this week. I ordered some things from Tandy leather but they got my order wrong. I ordered two different dyes and got two of the same one. I called up the store and they're sending me the correct dye and told me not to worry about sending back the other. Now I know that Tandy's doesn't necessarily sell the best equipment but with service like that I can deal with it. Polite, always willing to help, owns up to their mistakes and makes them more than right, that's hard to find anymore.

 

My sorta-local Tandy store did something similar. I ordered a couple holster kits from the web site, and they had the store in Syracuse ship them out. Just as I'm reading the email that says they've been shipped my phone rings. It's the store, calling to tell me they'd shipped the wrong kit. I'd ordered two different kits, one for revolver and one for semi-auto. They shipped two revolver kits. They said they were packing the correct kit and would send it out later that day, but I could keep the extra revolver kit for the trouble. So the next weekend I drove an hour to the store and bought a couple hundred dollars's worth of stuff. I took the extra kit and offered to give it back unopened, but they insisted that I keep it.

 

I'm not used to getting that kind of treatment from a chain store. Maybe the fact that I needed two holsters made them afraid to cross me. (grin)

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

Customer service is such a basic business tenet that it amazes me so few companies give it the attention it deserves.

And a few of them are no longer in business, Bob. I agree, good CS is much better than a indifferent CEO.

[Ramblin Gambler]

I always assumed good customer service was a sign that the person liked working there. Happy employees create happy customers. But then, I've never run a business so maybe I'm off my rocker.

[Blastmaster]

Customer service is such a basic business tenet that it amazes me so few companies give it the attention it deserves.

A CS person needs to have extensive knowledge of the product to either answer the customers question or to direct the question to higher tech support. The CS person also need the authority to make on site decisions to remedy the customers concern. The CS person needs good public relation skills. You really need all three.

 

Examine Dillion Precision tech support for an excellent example.

 

edit: to be fair, Dillions CS people have somewhat limited monetary authority. When I was working, it could have been a $10k,$100k, $1mm, or much more fix to make angry customer happy, and most of the time, the dissatisfied person was bluffing or just asking for the moon.. A task that needed to be booted up the chain of command.

[Paladin Gun For Hire]

This subject hits close to home for me. I am a Tech Service Rep for a large Automotive Aftermarket company. We have approx. 15 people in my department that deal with customers experiencing problems with our products. It can be demanding at times, but it is my goal to treat every customer with respect and get the situation resolved quickly and to their satisfaction. Good customer service is the backbone of a successful business, in our case we have been around since the mid 40's. So we are doing something right.

[Henry T Harrison]

Several years ago I moved into a new community and bought a late model used car from the local dealer. The salesmen was my immediate neighbor. Several months later I needed a new battery and went back to the dealer and bought the best one he had. I expected to pay full price for the battery but was shocked when he charged me $50 for diagnosis and instillation. When i protested and told him the local auto parts store would do that for free the sales manager essentially told me I should have taken it there. The owner backed him up and my neighbor the salesman stood there with his hands in his pocket. I haven't spoken to the neighbor since and I sure as hell haven't been back. For $50 he lost not only my business but the business of anybody else that I can influence or that asks me about local auto service. The independent garage that handles the service on my 3 vehicles has gotten over $5000 in the last three years. By the time it's all said and done that $50 instillation charge will cost him several sales from me alone and untold thousands in repair costs for my cars.

All because of his miserable customer service

[Cat Brules]

I don't know if this is a good or bad experience....probably bad, but it ended well....maybe; that's debateable. It certainly was bizarre, anyway:

 

Several years ago I bought some heavy duty shopping bags at Costco. I used them all the time at costco because they're large, very sturdy and costco doesn't furnish bags.

 

Early last November I went into the San Luis Obispo store, bought some stuff and they packed it all in one bag. I figured they just put the other bags in with the groceries, but they kept my other two bags. So, I called back asking for them. A supervisor, Jason, said they couldn't find them, but they still sell those bags (surprise to me) and he'd put a pack in the office with my name on it for no charge. I told him no, since they still sell them, I'll just buy a pack on my next visit, especially since I only get in there once every two to three weeks or so. Jason said no, he'd hold them for up to a month, if necessary, and tag the pack with my name and info. Well, that was nice!

 

But, maybe three days later, I received a call from an angry woman (name forgotten) from costco telling me to come get my bags at once, or she'd put them back out for sale, etc. I pulled my car over to a safe spot and stopped, to continue this unbelievable conversation. After I politely explained the situation, she became even nastier, and finally told me she was a manager and Jason was no more than a supervisor, etc., etc. Well, at that point, the readout meter on my moron detector had pegged out past max and its little clear plastic cover had cracked. I wuz see'n red! After politely asking her to stop talking for a moment so I could reply and, still thinking how ridiculously petty this all was, I unloaded a reprimand that likely set her hair on fire, explaining to her exactly what she was and was not going to do, then I rang off. I dropped off my buddy at his office. He had begun to laugh uncontrollably, having listened to the conversation over my car's wi-fi connex.

 

I changed my schedule, got back on the 101, headed north to SLO, making my Thanksgiving trip to costco a couple days early. Apparently, this "manager" woman had left early and was gone. I was still seeing red, meaning it's a bad time to discuss anything, but I was able to round up the general manager and nicely explained that I was there to see him because I wanted to see for myself what someone looks like up close, who would put a certified fool with delusions of grandeur in a management position. He knew without asking who I was talking about. He wanted the whole ugly tale. He found the bag pack with my name and found the guy Jason, whose good PR/customer service sparked the issue. I told the general manager to keep the pack of shopping bags; I didn't want anything from costco that I didn't pay for. But, I did want to know what he was going to do about this behavior. Not muc satisfaction there. When I went through the checkout line, they rang everything up, put it all in my bags that I brought in and then, refused to run my Amex card in payment. One of the lowly "supervisors" came over and signed off on the purchase and dropped the pack of costsco bags in my cart and apologized again for the manager's behavior.

 

I always shop at costco and realize that this incident was an abberation. I truly do not want to get paid for complaining, and in this case I realize costco wasn't going to budge regarding not accepting payment.. Upon reflection I came to believe that someone who so outrageously misbehaves MUST be a substance abuser. I then instantly asked myself, "Well, given your own reaction to her, what does that make you?" So, who knows? Oh well......... ;-) :-)

 

Costco has great customer service and this crazy incident is a blip on the screen.

 

So, regarding the leaky sump pump, perhaps you should call the pump company again an move your complaint up the food chain. (?)

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

When I bought my Jeep at a local "Buy here-pay here lot that I know slightly, After a few days, the "Check Engine" light came on. They sent me to their mechanic for a diagnosis.

The first time didn't fix it, nor did the second. Or the third. Eventually, they found that the gas tank had a crack in it, and so replaced it. None of this cost me a dime.

Since then, my wife and daughter have bought cars there with pleasant results.

[Matthew Duncan]

Retired County Sheriff bought a computer from us as a surprise Christmas present for his wife. His children wrote him checks for their share. He counter signed their checks and presented them to our CSR.

 

CSR informed him that it's against policy to accept 3rd party checks. (plus she has a problem respecting authority figures). She told the Sherriff to take the checks up to the bank, cash them and come back. Sheriff's wife is a Teller at the bank and that would ruin the surprise!

 

CSR kept raising her voice and repeating, while the Sheriff stood there getting redder. CSR was injoying herself.

 

I stepped in, accepted the checks and asked a second CSR to show me how to complete the paperwork. Carried the computer out to his car. Wished him a Merry Christmas. I haven't seen him in our office since.

 

The first CSR wouldn't talk to me for several days. Blessed peace.

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217]

What is a CSR?

[Cat Brules]

CSR = Customer Swevice Representative (?)

[Sedalia Dave]

Once upon a time they were called Cashiers.

[Matthew Duncan]

CSR = Customer Swevice Representative (?)

Correct

[Blastmaster]

Customers should be somewhat aware and sympathetic that the CSR they are whining too may have no authority other than to smile and be apologetic. We all know of retail workers that would give the store away rather than work through the issue, as well as customers that would bully, deceive and do other dishonest deeds to gain a freebie.

 

The above describes both ends of the retail spectrum and many shades of gray between the two.

 

Finally, sometimes all CSR has to do is take a few minutes and give free technical advice to customer to make them happy and satisfied again.

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

When I moved to SW Colorado 16 years ago after I retired, I had a problem with my new truck. There was a factory recall to fix a rear brake line, which I had done in California. The line cracked & I went to the local dealer to have it fixed...again. After the repair, I was presented a bill. which I protested. I finally went to the general manager (who is still there) and he said that because the original fix was done wrong & the recall was cleared by the first dealer, I was responsible for the repair. We talked for quite awhile, all the time I was getting madder & more frustrated. Finally he said he would call the other dealer and get it taken care of. I left satisfied.

 

A few years later, we bought my wife a new suv from them. We also use them for all our service needs.

 

Last year my older truck needed replacing, bought another from them and also traded in my wife's suv for a new one.

 

The moral of this story is... a satisfied customer who was treated well, stays a customer.

[Cat Brules]

I brought my car to the local Ford service shop (I purchased the car there) for a routine service, oil change, etc., and check. My battery was not holding up well in our winter weather, so I wound up replacing the battery, too. In looking over the invoice I noticed they were charging me $62.00 for the battery/system diagnostic. Upon discussion with the service representative, he voided the invoice and had it reissued with the diagnostic noted but at no charge. I take all my vehicles there for service and have bought my vehicles from them.

[Blastmaster]

I recently took my PU to local tire store to see if they would check the batteries (put load tester on it) because it seemed to take longer than normal to recharge to full (watching volt gauge in cab). They did, and found the two batteries were below standards. They replace the batteries (two) and prorated the life left for credit, it had a six year warrantee. They installed the batteries for free. Testing was free. The conversation was free, disposal of old batteries was free. Paid the balance and was off. During the conversation, I asked owner if he had a portable welder, needed about five minutes of welding on shooting range gate. He said he did. I asked what his hourly rate was and the answer was,,,,, free. I have been buying tires and batteries from this shop for 20years.

 

I have an appointment with this tire shop next week for a complete four tire balance and rotation....free. I work around his schedule.

 

Some time in the future, the score will be evened out and I can do something nice for him. His tire purchase price is close enough to the big box discount tire stores that it isn't worth the time nor drive to go there.

 

One of the small benefits for living in a very low population density area.

[Ramblin Gambler]

What is a CSR?

Sometimes it means crack smoking reprobate.

[Blastmaster]

Speaking of Customer Service and the other thread about Wal Mart. Wal Mart 'associates' do a pretty good job with CS.

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217]

Speaking of Customer Service and the other thread about Wal Mart. Wal Mart 'associates' do a pretty good job with CS.

True; but, so is the following (just some exaggeration).