Has Good Customer Service Died???
August 20, 2008 3:27 pm Random GripingsMore and more I’m wondering what happened to the day when good customer service actually existed. Now I don’t think that it’s completely dead, but it seems to be going down the tubes with a lot of companies.
Here’s an example. A few weeks ago my wife and I went to return an item to an unnamed department store. When we bought the item, the lady rang it up wrong. We called her on it, but she insisted it was right. We weren’t worried because the price was the same anyway.
So when we take it back, we decided to do it without a receipt and just get store credit so as not to be confusing. So when we get to customer service desk, we explain to the lady what happened. She then put her head in her hands, groaned, and said, “So you want to return this without a receipt and it was rung up wrong anyway?!” Not cool…
What happened to the days when it was more like, “Oh, well let me see what I can do with that.” or at least something nice?! In the end she was able to just give us store credit anyway, but first she had to talk down to us.
Granted, this isn’t always the case, but has any one else noticed that for the most part customer service seems to be lacking out there?
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tags: gripings, random
I think in general it’s more about money than customer experience now. I remember an interesting article talking by Joel Spoelsky in Inc where he talked Starbucks, and the same thing was happening - they were optimizing all these ways to get people to buy coffee, expedient the buying process etc - but rather than doing it in a way that was to make the customer have a better experience, it was to maximize profits. That has led to service quality going down, and baristas complaining on various Starbucks forums, venting their frustration about how they are just doing their job, but customers are not happy about it.
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it’s same condition like what i feel here, i never saw good customer service good except at Pizza Hut, although they were friendly but sometime they didn’t understand about their product knowledge
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sad observation, but true. i feel that there’s an opportunity here for establishments which offer great customer service. especially in this day and age where bloggers and youtube can very quickly highlight both poor and excellent customer interactions.
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Custom service varies from company to company and from location to location. When there is intense competition in a particular industry, customer service is essential for the survival of a particular business. Has Good Customer Service Died? The answer can’t be categorical.
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It’s such a complicated issue, it’s difficult to give a definite answer and proper solutions. As a tipped employee for almost 20 years, I can see both sides. But I’d say that overall, the concept of customer service is definitely on the decline.
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Love your story on customer service,and I agree with you that we now have the worst customer service I have ever experienced.
I have gone into many stores and the cashiers were rude to say the least,and I am always kind to everyone always have a smile on my face. I think workers forget that the customers are the ones paying their salary and it customers stop coming to their store they would have no job.
Don’t get me wrong not all are bad, but most at least what I have had contact with was, and I’m out shopping a lot. Very good post.
Thanks,
Martha
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i think people have become more demanding and have a need for instant gratification.
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