Free Advice

How Not to do Customer Service

One would think that given current economic conditions, businesses would do all they can to treat their customers right.

Then why do we often walk away from a place of business wondering why we did business with them or if we’ll ever do business with them again? It’s usually not the employees, it’s their management. Management sets the tone for how the customer is treated. Here are some recent examples of how not to do it.

It’s the customer fault

Earlier this year we paid our annual health club dues via the company’s website (for the first time). They processed our payment and then about three months later our account showed unpaid.

I then received an overdue notice with a late fee. They told us that for some reason they reversed the payment. I protested that they reversed the payment without my knowledge and never sent me a written notice of it. The customer service rep spun it around and said, “If you didn’t receive a notice (in the mail) on your payment, why would you expect one for the reversal?”

 And, when I said that the right thing to do was to give me the opportunity to pay the dues again without the late fee she said, “Don’t you think the right thing to do is to pay the late fee since your payment is late?” No, I didn’t think it the right thing to do since I did pay it on time and their computer screwed it up. I requested a supervisor and was told I’d get a call within 24 hours. Do you think they ever bothered to call?

 You wanted a solution?

After some computer problems I had to reload some software. My accounting program had some glitches and wouldn’t open my file.

I called the service line and was told that it was $40 for 10 minutes. Okay, I needed it working and the tech told me the solution was simple and we didn’t even need to stay on the line.

I called back because it wasn’t the right solution. I was informed that it’s really $40 for up to 10 minutes and each call requires a new charge. After getting a supervisor and protesting that they didn’t fix my problem I was informed that it didn’t matter if they helped me, every call was $40 for up to (every) 10 minutes.

I asked, “Is your goal to bill time or provide value to the customers?” Believe me, it was clear that the value I received was not the issue. However, she did say something in passing that allowed me to fix the problem myself (ha ha).

Can we be too helpful?

A friend recently shared that they ate at a new chain restaurant. It was tough to get a mouthful chewed and swallowed because someone was constantly coming up to the table to ask, “Is everything all right?”

It’s a fine line in restaurants and it comes down to common sense and training. I always wonder why a service person will drop off the food, make a loop and come back to ask if we’re okay before we’ve even tried anything. Yet when the water glass is empty, you wonder where they are. And if the wine glass stays empty too long they may miss selling another glass of wine.

You probably have your own favorites of how not to be treated. You can share them with me at the e-mail address below. The bottom line is that management must realize that the customer must be ecstatic, not just happy. It starts with the person the customer contacts. Make them understand what to do and why and you’ll have more ecstatic customers.

© Copyright John Martinka 2002. All rights reserved.