Customer service: a grumpy bloke rant

[megah0]

Picture the scene: My fat 2007 playstation 3 has just packed up, the laser no longer works, discs are not being read and the display conks out now and again. Not ideal. I've just put down the deposit on my house and due to some overtime at work I have some spare dosh so I decide to treat myself to one of those new playstation 3 slim consoles. I moving in gift to myself.

I browse the internet, find some deals then I hear that asda are doing some deals instore that are not reflected on the website, as are gamestation.

Happily I wonder down the road to the shops and indeed, lots of signage in gamestation about their deals. I spend about 10 minutes talking to one of the assistants about the deals that they have before making a decision, £250 worth of decision when one of the other shop workers comes over and interrupts with "Dave, we haven't got any of those in stock" Dave replies "I know mate".

Wasting my time = I'm not going to spend any money with you ever again, nice one Dave.

Thinking this is a one off, I head to asda to see what deals they have.

I browse their wares, select an appropriate bundle again at around the £250 mark and head over to the service point for electricals and such like.

Where the girl on duty proceeds to look at me when I say "Hello I'd like this" then continues her conversation with her mate about her boyfriend's lack of consideration for her needs as a woman. Her mate leaves, I lean forward holding up the token thing that you take to the tills and another colleague of hers appears and again, instead of serving me, the customer, she answers his inane question about electric carving knives.

Thoroughly fed up, I toss the token on the desk and leave, satisfyingly as I walk away I hear her colleage pick up the token, look at the value of the items and say "oh duck" or at least thats what it sounded like.

I'd like to say that I will never shop at asda again but as they are the only supermarket within walking distance this is clearly not going to happen. However I will not ever buy anything from their electrical department.

My point is has something changed recently to make customer service so poor? Is this a one off or do you other hexites have your own stories to tell about poor service?

[kalniel]

Poor service abounds, but I can relate some nice customer service stories from PC World of all places - Mother-in-law-to-be wanted a digital camera. We established criteria/budget and found some suitable models. PC World were within a few % of the best price and as they were local we decided to go there. Camera is duly found, they allow us to open the box and check everything out and it's duly purchased. Okay, not much for them to do really.. but then the camera is used for a little while until it gets to the point where she wants to transfer pictures to a PC via the USB cable. Annoyingly it doesn't seem to work.

Being fairly local it's an easy trip back a few days later (I'm not around at this point, so there was no tech-babble/help with managing assistants from me). PC World assistant takes camera, agrees to try connecting it to laptop in store - finds the cable is dodgy and happily provides a new camera package on the spot. They also take the time to take everything out of the new package and test it all works, including the cable. Mother-in-law-to-be ends up with a fully working camera, good price, and happy with the customer service.

[finlay666]

I hear her colleage pick up the token, look at the value of the items and say "oh duck" or at least thats what it sounded like.

If you can hear someone reading something while walking away im incredibly impressed

[megah0]

If you can hear someone reading something while walking away im incredibly impressed

I heard them pick up the plastic DVD case from the counter top. Either that or they had VERY dry eyes.

[Behemoth]

My boss used to make me stand there and talk to people about the deals we'd have on whatever system they were intersted in, even when he knew and I knew we didn't have any in stcok and neither did any other branch in the region have any either.

I'd wait for him to go away and say "I'm sorry about this but my boss lead you into believing we have the PS3 in stock. Just so I don't waste any more of your time at the moment we haven't"

I'd get the usual "Why did he say you have?" line of questioning to which I'd reply "He's just come back from holiday and didn't know we'd sold out"

It was kind of true, he spent more time out of the store than in it.

The problem is though that some stores take on people that don't really care about giving good customer service which is why megah0 had problems in Asda. I went to my local Asda before to buy something and in the end left it there at the checkout as the girl on the counter was more interested in flirting with the guy that was filing the shelves than she was taking my money for a DVD which I then went and bought online for a quid less.

[RossyBoy]

Working for an electronic retailer myself I always pride myself on giving superb customer service (even when sometimes they dont derserve it!) so it baffles me why some people don't. I always think its harder to give bad service than good.

[razer121]

i think it depends on the people who are there...weekend staff for instance...dont really exspect customer service, its just abit of pocket money to them. in the week you may find there is people who are there who need there job so offer good customer service....but then there is other things in play aswell. if the person is having a bad day, they will just be plan "nasty" about it all its just retail i guess

[Saracen]

Some blatant generalisations follow.

First, service is often what we expect to get. I expect a different service level in Waitrose from ASDA or Tesco. So far, Waitrose have yet to let me down, and have been exemplary. To be fair, my local ASDA are pretty decent too. Tesco? After getting really annoyed with being jerked around by my local store, I took the matter, formally, to Customer Service at Head Office. Despite a promise to investigate, I never heard back from them. That was several years ago, and they have never heard back from me since, and my spending in Tesco has been £0.00p per year, for several years now, as a result. To be honest, it was that precise experience with Tesco that drove me into ASDA and, for some things, I go there despite having to drive past Tesco to get there. The rest comes from Waitrose.

On your particular experience, mega, I would (assuming I had the time) have asked to speak to a manager, and explained to them what level of service I had received. Mostly, store management will deal with staff that ignore customers and are concerned about customer satisfaction .... unless they're the manager of my local Tesco.

Oh, and in case anyone wonders, I have no doubt Tesco haven't noticed the loss of my custom and certainly aren't impressed by my boycott, few grand a year though it would be, but I have no doubt at all that senior management also wouldn't be at all impressed at the notion of permanently losing a customer because their HQ Customer Service team simply can't be bothered to follow up on customer complaints .... especially if it's a habit, not a one-off.

Which brings me back to the generalisations. Some shop staff are good at their jobs and take CS seriously. So far, Waitrose have been the best I've come across and I know they train staff to be customer-centric, and managers do take that seriously. Even so, you get good staff and bad staff, though the latter seem not to last at Waitrose. But, as with your experience trying to buy your PS3, you also sometimes get the bored and stupid. Which is why I'd have asked for a manager, because if you got a manager like me, on hearing your story, the staff responsible would get un-bored in a right hurry.

[Mossy]

Had wrote something out then saw Saracens post which kind of hits the nail on the head with what I was going to say. Plus the point that some people are more tollerant than others in that situation I would of got angry but tbh if i wantd the PS3 I probably would of realised it is ASDA Im not going to get the red carpet treatment wait and pay for the goods and walk out.

I do disagree though about TESCO missing your custom for one who walks out another walks in IMO boycotting them probably hurts you more than them although ASDA does seem cheaper. £4k a year to them is neither here or there with the profits they are making each year, I would say a high percentage shop at their Local superstore for convenience. If there was a shortage of shoppers you might see these comapanys becoming more customer friendly until then all they think about is profit.

[Behemoth]

I think the worse customer service I have ever experienced was over the phone last year with overclockers. Never in my life have I dealt with such an individual who did not sound even remotely like he enjoys his job.

He refused to listen to me and kept saying that my powersupply was faulty. So I then said ok then that was bought from you too, can I have an RMA number for that please. At which point the said individual hung up.

Everytime I phoned up to try and speak to them again I'd just get cut off once I got through because the chap knew my voice.

[jim]

There does seem to be a gaping rift between some chains' attitudes towards customers. Thing is though, I reckon a lot of it depends on the store itself.

For instance, we've got a Tesco Metro down the road. I really like it in there - lovely woman at the checkout who's always smiling and has a quick chat, security guard who always says hello and helps out at the self-service machines if you're having a trouble, and a manager who was exceedingly polite when he refused to sell me alcohol

Now, two others for comparison. We've got Somerfield down that road, now Co-op, and they're absolutely awful, although I thought Co-op had a reputation for customer service. Routinely you'll go in and somebody on the checkout is having a conversation with someone stacking shelves 20 yards away "Darren! I can't believe you did that! You cheeky bugger!" So on, so forth. And they'll be so engrossed in these conversations that they don't actually serve anybody. They also have massive arguments with customers about whether they can do things or not, and the answer seems to vary on a daily basis.

Then the big Tesco down the road, not too bad but staff generally grumpy, service desk looks at you like you just dropped out of a rhino's backside, and once my mum went around the shop, did a week's shopping, and got to the till to find they had no bags. Apparently they didn't think it worthwhile to put a notice up at the door about it, and then had the temerity to offer her bags for life at £1 each or something daft. So she walked off and left her trolley in the aisle, much to the disgust of the checkout girl

So two branches of Tesco, completely different opinions. I agree with Saracen that Waitrose are very good, better than any of the other chains in my opinion, but I can't pay those kinds of prices except for one-off specials so I barely ever shop in there. Only problem is that they give me high standards - so when someone at the checkout in Waitrose doesn't say hello and goodbye, I get a bit irritated :/

[Saracen]

....

I do disagree though about TESCO missing your custom for one who walks out another walks in IMO boycotting them probably hurts you more than them although ASDA does seem cheaper. £4k a year to them is neither here or there with the profits they are making each year, I would say a high percentage shop at their Local superstore for convenience. If there was a shortage of shoppers you might see these comapanys becoming more customer friendly until then all they think about is profit.

Oh, I'm sure that missing one customer wouldn't bother Tesco that much .... or Scan, for that matter. If I was to spend, say, £3k on computer gear elsewhere, it's not the end of the world for Scan, though I'm sure you'd rather I spent it with you. I doubt Scan management would get over-excited at losing an account like me. I suspect they'd get rather more excited if they thought they'd lost an account like me unnecessarily because someone on staff wasn't doing their job, and they'd get distinctly excited if they thought that I wasn't a one-off, but emblematic of a problem that could be quite widespread.

There's a concept in accountancy called materiality. If an audit finds a mistake, does the mistake matter? Would it make any difference to the users of the accounts if they knew of the mistake? I was once told (though I have my doubts) that if the accounts for General Motors forgot to include Vauxhall's figures at all, it wouldn't be material because it's so small in the context of GM that the users of the accounts (shareholders, banks, etc) wouldn't be likely to make different decisions (invest or not, lend or not) if they knew.

The loss of my business would not, however I look at it, be material to Scan, let alone Tesco. But .... the materiality of a cash amount is not the only factor. A critical aspect of an audit is not so much about the cash value of a "mistake" (or fraud) you find, but what it may tell you about systems.

Suppose I buy a PC worth £1000 and a system bug means I get £100 discount I should not have got? Is that £100 material to Scan? No. Oh, it may mean that PC was sold at a reduced profit or even at a loss, but £100 in your annual accounts is trivial. If, however, that £100 represents the impact on a single transaction of a system error that's commonplace, then it could be enough to drive you out of business, if it were happening on every invoice. Suppose it only happens on some invoices, though? The question then is .... how many, and why?

It's not the £100 in cash terms that matters, but what it's existence tells you about your business and it's systems.

That's what I meant about Tesco senior management not being happy. Losing me as a result of Tesco bad CS is not material .... but how many more customers have they lost for the same reason. One? A hundred? HAlf a million? My £4k (actually, more like £10k, but even that is immaterial) doesn't matter, but how many more, if any, like me are there? That is what management have to worry about.

And, bear in mind, losing me meant that CS failed not once, but three times. It failed at shop floor level. It failed when I took it up with store management, and it failed with HQ CS. And I know it's easy to think that they can't be in the wrong three times, and that customers aren't always right. In this case, I certainly was right, because they were refusing to issue a VAT invoice that they are legally required to issue to a VAT-registered business (me) that was asking for it.

CS failing once is one thing. But three successive levels of it failing is something else.

As for it hurting me more than them, it's not really hurting either of us. I have two Tesco, two Sainsbury, ASDA, LIDL, Aldi, Morrisons, Waitrose, Co-op and a few others all within easy striking range, and several of them within walking distance. Waitrose is actually closer, and more convenient, than Tesco. I have plenty of choice, and don't actually miss them at all. What would hurt is going in there and giving them more money after being treated the way I was. That would grate, would irk me, every single time I went in there. Nah, it's not hurting me at all, Paul.

[Mossy]

Saracen

I by no means have been refering to Scan as we would see this in a different light as customer service is HIGH priority for us this is a tottally differnent situation and would of preferered you not to compare the two.

Your business to Scan would been seen as a loss no matter how insignificant it may seem to you. As you have stated its not about loosing your custom but more your faith in what we do.

I understand about the senior management but tbh I would imagine they concentrate more on how to bring more customers to their store than how not to loose them. The big picture being convenient and easy access.

It may not be hurting you Saracen but why did you shop there before you had problems was it because it was more convenient?

[g8ina]

I am rather lucky here in Northampton - my local Tesco's are great, always happy and smiling and very willing to help, all except for one teensy weeny problemette - there are NEVER any wheelchair trolleys available. My record for sitting like a lemon and waiting for one is currently 23 minutes.

Numerous talks with managers, bribery, threats - nothing makes any difference. Four letters to central management. Why ? Cuz they pay the trolley boys peanuts and they just dont care.

One guy, when asked to get me a trolley, simply went to the checkouts and collected a batch of baskets. Walked past me. I said "any chance of my trolley please". "Yeah, I just get one"....... another batch of baskets passed me by.

I dont have that much choice for shopping here, so Im a captive market. Good job I have the patience of a saint

Other local "techie" shops are pretty good though, PC World, Staples, even Comet and Currys ! My favourite though is Skears Camera shop on the Wellingborough Road Always got time for a chat, helpful, very knowledgable.

[Saracen]

There does seem to be a gaping rift between some chains' attitudes towards customers. Thing is though, I reckon a lot of it depends on the store itself.
....

Indeed, and I'm inclined to think in large part, to the store manager. He/she sets the tone, and if he selects and maintains a good team, the rest follows like a tail after a dog.

[superscaper]

Your business to Scan would been seen as a loss no matter how insignificant it may seem to you. As you have stated its not about loosing your custom but more your faith in what we do.

That's the impression I get. Scan in my experience have always gone out of their way to help no matter what, even when it's merely over some info that wouldn't even end in a sale to them. It's why Scan is my 1st port of call for a lot of stuff whereas some others I'd never use again no matter what because their CS was so poor.

Sometimes when "comparing notes" people will say they never had an issue with company x but that's when it's purely buy "product a", get "product a", use "product a" and never actually truly find out a company's CS. Of course in a lot of cases CS tends to come in when something goes wrong, but for me you can't measure a company in terms of how good it is unless you experience their CS. Things go wrong in any company but when a company fails to rectify it and fail at every stage then you know it's one to avoid in future no matter what.

As far as face to face CS goes as in magah0's post, that's a similar thing. You want them to be helpful and honest. Worst thing for me is when they're incapable of saying "I don't know, I can try and find out" instead of just filling the air with terminology that they hope they can bluff with.

There's definitely a few companies on my "list" to never deal with again and to be honest it's not really that much about them losing my business but that I don't WANT to deal with them again.

Conversely there are others that are my "favoured" companies where in some cases I'll go with them even if they're not necessarily the cheapest with a particular product simply because of the confidence behind it. Scan is a good example for that and in fact not just computer component related, they've got the best CS of ANY company I've dealt with so far in anything.