Thursday, July 13, 2006

WHAT DOES YOUR MONEY REALLY BUY?

For a few years now, I've been on a one-woman crusade for better customer service. And I'm big on personal boycotts. If I walk into a nearly-empty store and three clerks are too busy chatting to greet me, I take my wallet and walk right out. If I have a bad experience with a service or product and the store doesn't try to fix it, I shop elsewhere. I've written letters, confronted managers and even gone out of my way to shop at a (slightly) more expensive store, just to make the point: customer service matters!

Here's my theory: when I spend $20 for an item that cost the store just $5 to produce and ship, I've paid not only for my blouse, but for a smile and a reasonably intelligent person to help me. Anything less and I feel I've been ripped off.

Poll after poll show that consumers are dissatisfied with the level of service they receive. Nearly every one has a story, and nearly every industry is affected. Just this week, Moneyfacts.co.uk released a poll that shows a third of consumers have moved their bank accounts -- not to get better rates -- but because they were dissatisfied with customer service.

http://www.mortgageintroducer.com/story.asp?storycode=13209&sectioncode=4

So merchants, listen up: I've already paid for excellent customer service, in those huge markups. So GIVE IT TO ME!!!

But more often than not, I find substandard products and employees who couldn't care less about helping a customer. I used to be a bargain shopper, but now I find myself becoming "brand-loyal" -- because once I find a brand I like or a store that cares, it's worth my time and the extra pennies I may spend to avoid the hassle.

Speaking of hassle, these days I find myself as much of a troubleshooter as an advocate. Just this week:

  • I wrote a merchant who shared my personal information with a third party that resulted in me being signed up for a $60/month service I didn't ask for.
  • I'm soliciting help from my son's asthma specialist to fight my HOA, which wants us to remove the window air unit that cools his room.
  • I'm finally going to pay a doctor bill that was whittled down from $250 to $6 after months of back and forth with the insurance company that didn't pay it properly in the first place.

It seems I'm spending more and more time dealing with matters that could have been solved up front if companies were more efficient and employees were more focused on doing their jobs well. Is it because they're not paid well enough, so they don't care? Are workers no longer loyal to their companies because the companies are no longer loyal to them?

I've often thought that once I leave the news business, I'd love to become a "professional troubleshooter," helping people who don't have the know-how or resources to take care of such annoying problems. What do you think, ladies?

News Mom "T"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm with you ALL THE WAY!!! I've really tried to be understanding. However, finances have become so-o-tight that I've come to the conclusion that I refuse to "beg" and "pay" too. Now, I'm the salesperson's/stockperson's/and
manager's worse nightmare--"obnoxious" describes it best. When what I want is not on the shelf, I will insist on a stock check (usually get my request).
I have found that MOST workers today HAVE NO LOYALTY to job or customer. However, whenever I run across ONE that is courteous, helpful (by knowing the store's products), and willing to assist; I ALWAYS compliment them first and then compliment the Store Manager for having the foresight to hire such a person.
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Anonymous said...

Boy can I relate to all of this.

A couple of years ago, I went to a Pizza Hut for lunch, but never got a chance to eat and had to drive back to work because those that were supposed to take my order were outside taking a break, listening to a "boom box and dancing". I've never seen anything like it. Needless to say I never went back there again. Now I will drive as far out as I have to just to get good service, somewhere where my money is appreciated and they call you "Sir or Ma'am".

In the past I worked in a Customer Service Department and in the newspaper business you get to speak with all sorts of people over the phone. Most times they are furious and just down right disgusted and I can understand. Inside people won't take that extra minute to transfer calls correctly, and the advertiser gets passed on to 6 or 7 people before he/she gets to the right one, or sometimes NEVER get to speak to who they want. It's ridiculous.

I've basically become the switchboard operator here on my job today. Even the switchboard operator calls me and asks me questions because they know I'm going to go the "extra mile" by doing a little research to make sure our customers are happy.

I guess it's all in how you've ben trained. Thanks mom and dad for taking out the time to teach me the right way. If we could always keep in mind how we want to be treated, maybe things will work a little better.


YW