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The Wax

June 17, 2004

Customer Service, Nina Speaking, Just a Moment.

Customer ServiceCustomer service is back in a big way. After being in the midwest for 4 years, I had been spoiled by the warmth and compassion of clerks and customer service reps. Much to my surprise, there has been a local renaissance in the overall attitudes of the retail working force, and the policies of their companies.

I remember a time when I would be apprehensive about calling for a repair to an immovable object like my couch or entertainment system. But as today will attest to, I have placed the call, and within 5 minutes I had a work order in place at no cost to me. Now that's service.

The only place I would avoid would be your typical electronics store. If you walk into Best Buy/Circuit City etc. and ask the clerk if s/he can tell you more about a product, they will invariably read the same display card that you just read back to you. If you need more information, they will read off the outside of the box for you, or go ask Tony.


Posted by davidissimo  ::  Permalink  ::  Comments [3]  ::  

Comments Section

In this same spirit, I just had the best experience at a car dealership. I know, I know, it's more expensive to get maintenance done through the dealer, but occasionally it pays off, as in today's example:

My brakes had been acting badly; whenever I pressed the brake, the car would shake violently, and the higher the speed the worse the vibrations. The car would slow down, certainly, but I was worried it'd shake itself apart in the process. I took it to the dealer, and they said that somehow the rotors had rusted unevenly, and that this had contributed to uneven wear on the brake pads. So they sanded the rotors to remove the rust and replaced the pads. I thought this was going to end up costing me around $200, but when I went up to pay for it, they simply said, "oh, don't worry about it."

So I just got brand-new brake pads for free! Customer service at its best, and the dealer has now made me a repeat customer for as long as I own this car.

By contrast, Jess had the opposite experience at one of those nationwide While-U-Wait eyeglasses places; they refused to replace her defective lenses free of charge, and now she's vowed never to return.

Posted by: alex at June 17, 2004 02:21 PM

I feel the same way about insurance companies. I used to be with Progressive, and the people there were nice enough on the phone. But now I go through a local branch of a national company. I've had a few glitches with my policies, so I've spent some time in their office. They all know me by name and the receptionist always offers me coffee or soda when I stop in. And, to top it all off, they compete quite well with Progressive and blow Geico out of the water.

Posted by: jb at June 18, 2004 09:57 AM

My customer service story revolves around (what else) food:

I was recently on vacation in Barcelona and had stopped off to get some churros for breakfast. Feeling indulgent, I ordered both hot chocolate and some freshly squeezed orange juice. The waitress set the churros on the counter, pivoted to pour a cup of hot chocolate, then pulled off her apron and dashed out of the store. She returned in a few minutes, slightly out of breath and carrying several bags of oranges, one of which she then ripped open. Several oranges tumbled out and she proceeded to quickly slice and squeeze them, setting a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice down in front of me moments later.

Posted by: Anar at June 20, 2004 10:58 PM

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