Customer service, is it dead?

[Chuck Wintle]

Just wondering if customer service is a dying concept after having bought several items on line, and after having some question/problems with the item discovered that getting some resolution is near to impossible.

[Matt Day]

It was laid off.

[Chuck Wintle]

It was laid off.
laid off and outsourced to india.

[Matt Meiser]

Amazon is great if you even need to deal with them. Many problems and most all returns can be handled with a few clicks.

Actually better than most B&M stores lately.

[Kevin Bourque]

Just wondering if customer service is a dying concept after having bought several items on line, and after having some question/problems with the item discovered that getting some resolution is near to impossible.

Dear Chuck Wintle,

Thank you for your valuable input here at Sawmill Creek.
We are always eager to hear from members when issues arise.
Your rant has been transferred to our Problem Resolution Department.
Your membership has been canceled and any posts you may have made at Sawmill Creek will be deleted within 24 hours.
Your personal information has been forwarded to the FBI.

Thank you,

Management

[Chuck Wintle]

Dear Chuck Wintle,

Thank you for your valuable input here at Sawmill Creek.
We are always eager to hear from members when issues arise.
Your rant has been transferred to our Problem Resolution Department.
Your membership has been canceled and any posts you may have made at Sawmill Creek will be deleted within 24 hours.
Your personal information has been forwarded to the FBI.

Thank you,

Management

thanks for the laugh....

[Rich Riddle]

I tired of poor customer service long ago and decided to obtain a credit card with notoriously good customer service where they will deal with vendors. Unfortunately, I found a direct correlation to good customer service and the amount you spend on something so I use American Express platinum to pay for most things. Given an initial instance of bad customer service, I call American Express and let them handle the vendor. When it's resolved American Express will call me. I pay a hefty annual fee for the card but American Express more than earn the fee dealing with bad customer service representatives from vendors.

Travel arrangements and changes have become a breeze because they can handle all airlines and hotels. Paypal no longer holds funds hostage when an eBay seller fails to deliver. For the most part, everything occurs on-line. As strange as that seems, it's simplified things.

[Rod Sheridan]

Just wondering if customer service is a dying concept after having bought several items on line, and after having some question/problems with the item discovered that getting some resolution is near to impossible.

No it's not dead, you just have to stop patronising businesses that don't have it.

I learned that saving a small amount of money wasn't worth the crappy customer experience.............Rod.

[Rich Riddle]

Have you read the story of the Benedictine monk and United Airlines? His customer service was so bad that the Benedictines posted an open letter on their website.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/your-money/between-heaven-and-earth-an-airline-ticket-gone-awry-.html?_r=0

[Kevin Bourque]

I noticed that customer service satisfaction was sky high after the economy fell in 2008. Then the economy got better and customer service went back into the toilet.

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

I was in a specialty store yesterday to order an item (out of stock, 4-6 week delivery time). As I'm ordering I get a text from my brother - "Ask them if the XYZ.com coupon still works"

so I did. and the answer was "yes, it works - but only for online orders"

so I'm standing in the store, with cash in hand (I would rather pay cash for this item anyway) - ready to buy - and you won't take give me the discount offered online? right.

So I left. went home - ordered online.

to close out the order - you have to select shipping method or in-store pickup. I figure I'll pick it up since it's not out of my way to go get it, and save the shipping cost.

minimum shipping cost was $15

in-store pickup...$15?! What?

so instead of getting a customer back in the store to pick up the item, and possibly make additional purchases - I'll take basic shipping and make my ancillary purchases elsewhere.

Once my item is delivered, I'm going to send them a strongly worded email expressing my displeasure.

[Tony Zona]

Don't waste your time. Nobody reads those.

If the business is too stupid to know of bad practices, your letter would not make them see the light.

Just take your business someplace else.

[Brian Elfert]

What store charges for store pickup? Isn't that the whole point of store pickup so one doesn't have to pay for shipping?

I recently did a store pickup order at Walmart a couple of weeks before Christmas. It was a total joke. One old guy running the register and everything is in a locked room so it take a couple of minutes to go find each order in the locked room. It took me probably 20 minutes to get my item and the line was 10 deep by the time I left. He finally got some more help, but not before customers in line were starting to yell and swear. I could have found the item in the store and checked out in half the time. I only did store pickup because of an online only coupon.

Target isn't much better for store pickup. Target in some stores has combined customer service and store pickup with a normal checkout. So to pick something up or deal with customer service you have to wait behind everyone in line who is buying stuff. At least Super Target stores still have dedicated customer service counters.

[glenn bradley]

Sears was the first store I ran into who offered online ordering with in-store pick up. I thought this was to be the beginning of Sears getting their mojo back in the retail world. Not so. Many others have followed with free in store pickup but, certainly not all. Many rookies still run their online presence as a completely and non-integrated portion of their overall business. Home Depot used to. You couldn't even get the online price in the store!?! They've fixed that. Hard to imagine in 2015.

I do write emails and let folks know my opinion. I do feel it does give the retailer the opportunity to correct their problems. I do not continue to support those who do not earn my money. Speak with your wallets America! I want Lee Valley service at Sears and Macy's. I don't expect it at Target and Wal-Mart but, I do expect it almost anywhere else. Even the local Harbor freight's service rivals many of the better stores around today :o.

[Brian Elfert]

Some places do take customer comments very seriously. I helped out and worked on weekend staff at a Cub Scout camp about 15 years ago. It was a parent/son camp and every parent was given a comment card/survey at end of weekend. The staff had a meeting late on Sunday after the campers left. The camp director would go over every almost every comment card with the staff and make sure any deficiencies were taken care of. I can't tell you if it really helped or not as the staff was more concerned about heading home after a long weekend than paying attention to the comments.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Have you read the story of the Benedictine monk and United Airlines? His customer service was so bad that the Benedictines posted an open letter on their website.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/your-money/between-heaven-and-earth-an-airline-ticket-gone-awry-.html?_r=0


The big game-changer, of course was United Breaks Guitars by Dave Carroll in 2009. Like 5 million hits in 4 weeks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo.


At the same time, the old adage was always: Price. Quality. Service. The customer can have 2 out of 3.

While that is not necessarily true, it still, today, has some merit. The best quality and the best service usually come at a higher price - in terms of dollars out-of-pocket.

So - people today have options to get the lowest price at acceptable quality with a sacrifice in service. I personally do this all the time - for commodity items, I'll go to the BORG. I knwo the store layout, I know exactly what I am looking for, it will not be a potential return - grab-and-go. I don't need any pre- or post-buy service.

At the same time, there are items where I go for superior quality and superior customer service, and willingly pay the price. Many people here do that: Lee Valley. Lie-Nielsen. Blue Spruce. Etc.

Where the equation is not in balance, I'm with Rod. I don't do business with jerks - it just encourages 'em.

[Stan Calow]

People want cheap stuff. Customer service goes out of business.

[Frederick Skelly]

No, its not dead. But as others have pointed out, you get what you pay for. Ive noticed that when I buy an item at the very lowest price possible, they often have little/poor customer service. That seems to occur in both retail and with service businesses as well. My guess is that lowest price means theres little margin on a given transaction, so they dont pay their people well enough to get "the good ones". Or, they just cant afford more than one half-hearted attempt to satisfy the concern. (Im generalizing - I know there are exceptions.)

On the other hand, look at Lee Valley. Not the cheapest, but theyve made customer service a cornerstone of their business. So Ill buy an item from them even if someone else is selling the same thing a little cheaper. Because I KNOW they will take care of me if I have a problem.

And, I too, boycott any company that gives me crappy service.

[Lee Reep]

I have had absolutely great service from Lee Valley. Wish they had a store in Colorado. That said, my local Woodcraft in Loveland is excellent. The new owner stocks a phenomenal selection of wood, much more than the previous owner. All the employees are great. Pretty much the same can be said of Rockler in Denver. I used to visit in infrequently since it is 60+ miles away, but my daughter lives next door to the store now, so I shop there a little more often.

When it comes to big box stores, I tend to prefer Lowe's to Home Depot, since service is better, and staff is friendlier. Fortunately, I usually know what I want at both places and don't depend on the help. I like that Lowe's gives 5% discount when using their credit card. I haven't used my Home Depot card in years. I suppose HD might give a discount if pressed by why not just offer it like Lowe's does?

[John Huds0n]

Not Dead - and I recently had an outstanding experience with FAST CAP

I purchased their "3rd Hand" Contractor Pack - over 10 years ago from Amazon and recently two of the plastic handles snapped while I was using them to try to force some base boards to conform to a semi-circular wall. (Another great thing about Amazon is it is very easily to search your order history, and when I pulled up this purchase I noted a lifetime guarantee)

I emailed Fast Cap and within a couple of days I was in possession of two brand new replacement poles (complete) and they even gave me their 'magnetic dust door' for the inconvenience...

Well done Fast Cap

[Rich Engelhardt]

Sears was the first store I ran into who offered online ordering with in-store pick up. I thought this was to be the beginning of Sears getting their mojo back in the retail world. Not soReally?
Our recent experience with Sears was great!
We ordered online and within a half hour (closr to 10 min) got a notification via email our order was ready for pickup.
We printed the order & bar code, drove to Seare, parked (extremely close to the pick up), went into the pickup, scanned the order bar code and less than 3 min later a guy came out with a dolly with our order on it. He even loaded the three good sized boxes in the back of the van for us.

Contrast that to Wal-Horror.
Ordered online. Four days later an email comes that our order is in. Drive to Wal-Horror, park about 200 yards away from the store, get in line at the pickup, give the girl the ticket - and wait -and wait -and wait -and wait. We waited an hour. The girl my wife gave the ticket to never came back. Eventually someone appeared with the item.
That's the way the last three online orders were.

I've complained to Wal-Mart about thelocal Wal-Horror so many times about our local store they don't even bother to respond to me. I just quit going there. I drive a half hour to get to a Wal_mart.



Now for the flip side - - Carbide Processors.
Outstanding customer service. No. Better than outstanding.
They really do care about their customers & it really shows.

[Brian Elfert]

Personally, I don't go to any big box store for service. The most I expect is help in finding where an item is in the store. A big box store carries tens of thousands of items. There is no way that the staff can know something about all of those products.

If you need detailed help with a painting project I would go to a paint store. If you need detailed help with fixing a toilet or a faucet then a hardware store is generally a better answer.

[Art Mann]

At the same time, the old adage was always: Price. Quality. Service. The customer can have 2 out of 3.



If we are talking Walmart, the old adage doesn't work. The new adage is Price. Quality. Service. The customer can only have price.

[Mike Null]

My experience has been pretty good all things considered.

A few people that have met the challenge recently:

Carbonite
Stamps.com
my doctor
my health insurance co. (Essence)
local WoodCraft store
Dobbs Tire and Auto

[Brian Elfert]

If we are talking Walmart, the old adage doesn't work. The new adage is Price. Quality. Service. The customer can only have price.

I buy a fair amount of groceries at Walmart. Quality is exactly the same as the grocery store because it is the exact same item. Hormel Pepperoni is generally $3.50 to $4.00 at a grocery store and is $2.99 at Walmart. Lay's potato chips are generally $3.79 or more at the grocery store when not on sale. Walmart's price has been $2.68 or $2.50 for a long time. I don't buy enough produce to know if their produce is worse than the grocery store.

I'll admit Walmart sells a lot of junk too, but they also sell a lot of the same items as any other store. Their name brand motor oils are usually some of the best prices around. A big reason I like Walmart is because they are everywhere and many are open 24 hours. I've shopped at many a Walmart at 3 am when on a road trip.

[John Sanford]

Most of my customer service interactions recently have been good.

Ordered pizza and wings for carry out Pizza Hut on NY Eve. Upon arriving home, I discovered that my wings were essentially raw. It being 13 degrees out, and them being very busy, I didn't deal with it on NY Eve, but went in yesterday. Absolutely no problem with the manager, she made things right, etc.

Just before NY, I toodled on down to Home Depot to use a gift card. It turned out to be a complex transaction because of a rebate, the fact that I wanted part of the purchase picked up elsewhere, etc. The young lady helping me at the customer service desk, as well as the supervisor who had to help out, were great.

A lot, not all, of how customer service treats any customer depends on how the customer is treating the whoever is delivering the customer service. Or, as the hoary old nugget of wisdom puts it, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. (Let us assume for the moment that one needs the flies for fishing or some such...)

So, all things considered, I'd say that customer service is about where it's always been. Some folks are lousy at it. Some businesses are lousy at it. Some days are just lousy for it. Some customers have wildly inane expectations. Sometimes, all of those come together in an epic fail. More often, most employees, managers, businesses days and customers are reasonable.

Before concluding that customer service is a dead zombie walking, just spend a week and track EVERY customer service transaction you have. Every cup of coffee you buy, every trip to the grocery store, every stop at the gas station, etc. You'll likely find that well over half of them are perfectly forgettable. They went so smoothly that if you weren't busy tracking it, you'd never, ever even think about that transaction again.

That's the norm.

[Jerome Stanek]

I has really god customer service from Microcenter in Columbus OH bought an open box laser printer that was supposed to be new and found out it had been used and the toner was used up and I couldn't print called the store and they shipped out a set of new toners no charge and gave us a $30 dollar credit.

[Myk Rian]

I has really god customer service from Microcenter
So have I. I won't go anywhere else, even though the closest store is a 45 minute drive.

[Jerome Stanek]

So have I. I won't go anywhere else, even though the closest store is a 45 minute drive.

Your close I have to drive at least an hour but most of the time 1and 3/4 hrs to get to Columbus.

[Val Kosmider]

Customer service takes many shapes and forms.

On Christmas afternoon I was using a router bit from a major manufacturer. Suddenly the shaft shattered in three pieces. Pulled out the original packing and the warranty info: this item is warranted against defects, etc.


So on the day after Christmas I call the manufacturer and ask them for a replacement. After giving them the part numbers they proceed to tell me, after the obligatory hold, that the warranty terms are for 90 days only. I point out that my warranty says nothing about 90 days.

Sorry , we can't help you. We don't have bits at this location (800 #/ corporate?) in any event. Even if it was under warranty you need to go to Big Box Store. They are the only place which sells our bits.

Hmmm.....

The following day I take my bit to Big Box Store and show it to customer service. Small explanation. "Go back to tools and have them pull the bit and they will exchange it. Or bring it up here, and I will do the exchange".

Hmmm.....really?

Yes. Really.

So I go back to tools. They no longer carry said manufacturers bits, but they will exchange it for another manufacturers bit of the same size. Could I exchange it for a spiral cut bit, and I will pay the difference?

Hmmmmm.......

Take it up front and they will sort it out.

So, I go up front and tell the guy that they don't carry big Manufacturer A any longer, but here is a similar bit from Manufacturer B, but it costs two bucks more. I will pay you the difference.

The customer service repo scans the new bit, hands it to me, and says thank you.

I was STUNNED. I was in the store for max 10 minutes. Left there with a GREAT feeling. And will definitely direct my Big Box purchases to their store.

Customer Service...I think they went way beyond what was necessary, but it really does have an impact.

[Curt Harms]

Don't waste your time. Nobody reads those.

If the business is too stupid to know of bad practices, your letter would not make them see the light.

Just take your business someplace else.

If I have a significant beef, I don't use email or the phone. Instead I use an archaic letter in an envelope addressed to the CEO or equivalent. My experience is that those don't get ignored, perhaps because they're so uncommon.

[Prashun Patel]

Really? Customer Service is not dead. While there are exceptions, it's in fact far greater than it ever was. There are exceptions to that rule, but I'd wager that anyone who has run a consumer-facing business will agree with me.

The advances in customer service are exceeded only by the demands of the average consumer. I'm not lamenting this fact, but I will say that I've seen consumer patience decline and their benefit of the doubt diminish in the past 20 years. There are exceptions to that rule too.

[Brian Elfert]

I has really god customer service from Microcenter in Columbus OH bought an open box laser printer that was supposed to be new and found out it had been used and the toner was used up and I couldn't print called the store and they shipped out a set of new toners no charge and gave us a $30 dollar credit.

I didn't have a good experience with Microcenter recently. I placed several store pickup orders online recently. I used a legitimate promo code I got from Microcenter via their website, but the store manager refused to let me pick up the orders because the discounts were too steep. I think Microcenter is great because they sell more computer stuff than anyone, but their prices tend to be quite high. I only shop there when I need it now, or the item is on special.

Microcenter has been running a really good price on a 60" LG Plasma TV. They had it at $499 for a long time and dropped it to $399 just before Christmas. They may finally be gone now as the TV is no longer on the website. They would have sold in a heartbeat if Microcenter would ship them, but they were store pickup only. The reason I didn't bite is it would have been too big for my room.

[Brian Elfert]

Online shopping, especially Amazon, has really changed perceptions for shoppers on how fast transactions should happen. Most online shoppers now expect every order to ship the same day and that a tracking number will be instantly available for every shipment. There are still plenty of companies that take several days to ship and some that don't provide tracking numbers. I see people complaining every day about trying a new online vendor and not getting tracking information, or the order took several days to ship. Most companies that don't ship same day will have that on their website if the buyers cares to look. One company that has been in the mail order business for many years and is very reputable has terrible reviews online simply because they don't ship the same day and don't provide tracking information.

I love the one star reviews on Amazon because the item arrived a day later than anticipated. A late arrival has nothing to do with the quality or usability of the product!