Today we are going to view customer service from both sides. The complaints we have as consumers and then we will share stories of bad customer behavior. Sometimes customer service comes down to a company giving the customer what they want. In the following article is Pixar Cars doing just that?
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/28/yes-this-is-real-carlashes/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-sb-n%7Cdl4%7Csec4_lnk1%7C167189
I am sure you will be happy to know that I will not be buying that car, nor will I be driving it if a friend asks me to, and I will choose to walk if someone asks me if I need a ride and are drive this car. How about you? Is this car going to be in your garage soon?
Next up are our top ten customer service complaints. The main ones I have are down on the list at number nine and ten. Uninvited people that I don't know (if I know the person knocking on my door and am dressed I am fine with it) knocking on my door and trying to sell me something I absolutely hate. I was once told by one of those idiots that I was the rudest person he have ever ran into. I thought he was rude not only to knock on my door but to say that. Dealing with health insurance and health providers also rank high on my list.
http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/07/27/financial-woes-overshadow-list-of-top-10-consumer-complaints/
Do you agree with the list? What are some of the things that bother you but are not on the list? For me one would be the response "no problem", it bugs me when a clerk or food server says that in response to a request that I make. I want to say "I'm glad I'm not making your life miserable and causing you a problem." I'm also not real fond of having to wait for a bill for what seems like an ordinate amount of time after completing a meal or standing at the cash register waiting forever to pay that bill while the workers at the restaurants are standing there talking about dates, schedules, etc.
I always try to be fair here on the blog. So in fairness here is the other side:
http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/08/24/customers-from-hell/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-sb-n%7Cdl3%7Csec1_lnk3%7C166953
I thought the two with the women complaining about not enough oxygen in the water and the mother complaining that it was the server's fault because she should have noticed the little boy was in trouble were the best. Which ones did you like? When you worked on the other side of the fence and served customers what were some of the complaints that you had with them?
When I had my own practice I really tried hard to provide good customer service. If the client got an IRS notice and received a penalty I always paid the penalty even though in ninety-eight percent of the cases it was the taxpayers fault for not providing me the correct information. I followed the mantra, when in doubt make the customer feel like they are right. Fortunately it didn't happen that often. My biggest complaints with clients were: 1: Calling at all hours of the night and on weekends when each year I sent them a letter stating what my hours were. I received calls on Saturday night in the middle of a date, in emergency rooms when I was taking care of something that happened to Mom or dad, and when I was asleep. 2: Blaming me when they owed taxes.
Hope you go through the day getting good customer service and that your clients and customers treat you with the respect you deserve.
WHO AM I?
Yesterday's answer was Nancy Spero
My name may have been mentioned on the blog in the last few days but you have to look close to find it. If you were watching TV recently you could have seen me several times. I was born in 1947 and am a Doctor of Animal Science, a professor at Colorado State, a best selling author and a consultant to the livestock industry in animal behavior. I am also widely noted for my work in autism advocacy. At three years old I was diagnosed with autism after being labeled and diagnosed with brain damage. After some time with my nanny I began talking at age four. I kept improving but middle school and high school were the worst parts of my life. I was the "nerdy kid" that everyone teased. I would be walking down the street and people would say "tape recorder", because I would repeat things over and over again. After graduating from a boarding school for gifted children I went on to earn my bachelor's degree in psychology, my master's degree in animal science, and my doctoral degree in animal science. I first spoke in public about autism when I was thirty-three at the request of Ruth C. Sullivan, one of the founders of the Autism Society of America. I've been featured on major television programs, such as ABC's Primetime Live, the Today Show, and Larry King Live. Based on personal experience I advocate early intervention to address autism, and supportive teachers who can direct fixations of the child with autism in fruitful directions. I have described myself hypersensitivity to noise and other sensory stimuli. I am a primarily visual thinker and language is my second language. I compare my memory to full-length movies in my head that can be replayed at will, allowing me to notice small details. I am also able to view my memories using slightly different contexts by changing the positions of the lighting and shadows. My insight into the minds of cattle has taught me to value the changes in details to which animals are particularly sensitive, and to use my visualization skills to design thoughtful and humane animal-handling equipment. If you don't know who I am by now just know I am THE WOMAN WHO THINKS LIKE A COW and the inventor of the hug machine designed to calm hypersensitive persons. I have been quoted as saying, "If I could snap my fingers and become non-autistic I would not do so. Autism is part of who I am." Who Am I?
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8 comments:
I think the carlashes are adorable! Not so much the crystal eyeliner... I'd call that overkill. {g}
Good article about consumer complaints. And how many are because of scammers purporting to fix your credit or foreclosure or IRS problems. I hear endless commercials for all of these on radio, so there must be quite a market for such help, and that's downright depressing.
I know that #3, home improvement/construction problems, are biggies. I hope I never have to engage in any of that again.
#4, problems with cable, are high on my list. Like almost everyone else in the world, I hate my cable company.
I'm with you about door-to-door sales. I usually just say, "Sorry, not interested," and shut the door before they can continue their spiel. With telemarketers, who are a close second in annoyance, I usually interrupt them with "Please take me off your calling list" and hang up. Once in a while, I announce that I never donate to anyone who bothers me on the phone. Often they are charities that I have donated to in the past, but they really MUST cut out this phone stuff.
It bothers me when checkers at a market (Von's is a prime offender) keep calling me by name. They don't know me, they only know what's on my card. It also annoys me that every worker in that store has to ask me how I am. They don't care and I get tired of snapping "Fine!" I should make them stop and listen to every problem I can think of.
As to the complaints about customers, all I can say is you can't seem to fix stupid. Or mean. I've never had a serve-customers job, except my current volunteer one at the Library Bookstore. I've been doing that for several years now, and have only had two problem customers. The first annoys everyone, and I suspect he's mildly mentally ill. The second was a stranger, and he got furious with me because I didn't total up the prices of the books he'd piled on my desk while he browsed some more. I tried to explain nicely that I don't do that unless asked to because many people change their minds at the last minute. He was not mollified, but I guess I did okay because two other customers admired my patience after he stomped out muttering to himself. At least he bought some books.
And now I'm annoyed with Blogger. I posted the above comment and got a notice that it was too long (which it probably is). So I laboriously rewrote it offline, editing a bit, and now when I go to post the edited version, I find the long version posted just fine. What's up with that?
Hi Pat
Second comment first. Sometimes if it takes to long to post you will get an error message even though the message has posted. That is why sometimes you will see double posts. I usually try to delete the double post as soon as I see you really don't see it as often as it happens. I always compose both the daily entry and the comments offline and the cute and paste them to the blog. I've just been burned to many times not to do that.
And speaking of customer service, Goggle has none. They don't even show a phone number or email address if you have complaints.
Bill
Hi Pat
I thought the carlashes were over doing it!
I completely agree with you about the IRS problems. While some of it may be true about settling your IRS debt for less thay don't tell you several things. That it takes several years to do it and the success rate of offers in compromise (which is what they are promoting) is only about twenty percent. Nor do they tell you how much it is going to cost you.
I'm OK with my cable company, I just have one complaint. They won't allow Portland Trailblazer cames to be shown on other carriers like DirectTV so if you want to watch them you are stuck with Comcast.
I just hang up on telemarketers and firms asking about donations. One of my major complaints with charities is you donate a hundred dollars to them and then they spend a thousand dollars they to get you to donate more.
I've sort of gotten use to the clerks calling me by name. I shop at Safeway enough that they really know me enough that it is ok. They ask about Mom, etc. When they ask how I am I usually either ignore them or say I don't really know but will get back to them later.
I would have been so made at that guy at the library. What would have happened if another customer came to the desk while he was diddling around looking for more books? Which brings me to another annoying thing. People that get in the checkout line when they aren't done shopping. You obviously handled your situation well and so well that other partons complimented you on it.
Bill
Afraid the car lashes don't do a thing for me, although they might improve the "angry" appearance of the RV. Still, I think I'll give it a pass.
The complaints list was interesting, in that so many included computer scams. After our experience with a contractor this summer, I'm big on the side of home improvement complaints, which is probably why I'm dragging my feet on the bathroom renovation, which really needs to be done. And I do have some major issues with insurance and health care providers, none of which provide any customer service, in most cases.
We don't get many door to door sales people - we're too far off the beaten path, thank goodness. Telemarketers are cut short by the statement, "We're on the 'do not call list' and this call will be reported."
I'm like Bill - I shop at the same grocery regularly and they know me and I don't mind being called by name, since they don't look at my check or card before talking to me. And they really do mean it, when they ask "How are you?" and reciprocate when I return the question.
As to customers from the nether regions... I know I had them when I was waitressing and bartending, but I tend to have blocked those out. To date , I've had few, if any, complaints from my editorial customers, so I consider myself very fortunate.
Pat, I've had the same thing happen with messages. Often, if I click back to the blog, the message is right there. On one or two occasions, I've had to break it into two messages, but rarely. If I think a message may be too long, I block and copy it, before hitting "publish." Then I can repost as two messages, if "it" really means it.
Bill, I love your response of "Don't know, I'll get back to you later", and I'm going to try that.
There's a radio guy here who answers legal questions on Saturdays. Sometimes he'll say he's going to hang up on the next person who asks how he is. It's such an ingrained part of greetings these days that even then people can't seem to help themselves. Sometimes he'll respond with, "I'm fine, how are you?" Then, "How's the family?" "Do you have a dog? How's he?" and take up even more time than the idiot caller did.
As to the checkers, if I'd ever laid eyes upon them in my life before, I wouldn't mind the naming so much, but it just seems sort of intrusive.
Hi DR
I with you on the car lashes but if Pat promises a U-turn or two I might right with her in one.
I wonder where customer service went these days probably by the way of civility and manners. Can't help but think they are related.
You are more patient with the how are you question than I am. And when I was in the hospital I tired forever of "How are we?"
Bill
Hi Pat
When "Have a Nice Day" was the rage I always responded, "I have other plans."
I would love the radio guy. It reminds me another thing that annoys me, when someone says "Thank you for taking my call." Drives me nuts.
Bill
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