Maybe I am just biased because I have worked in customer service for so long, but I have a real problem with companies who claim that customer service is their first priority when it is clearly not. I have had two absolutely horrible experiences in the past few months that I just need to shout about and I figured I have this perfectly good blog that I have not ranted in for a while so....
The first one is "Courtesy Chrysler" in Calgary. They even have a friendly name to lull you into a false sense of ease with their obvious attention to courteous service. NOT. These people aren't even nice, never mind courteous. They were very friendly and helpful when we were buying our car, but even before the cheque cleared the relationship turned sour. Within an hour of driving off the lot we noticed that one of the features we had agreed to purchase was not installed and we reported it right away.
I was expecting a rational response in the form of some kind of assistance, but instead we were accused of lying, and told "too bad" there is nothing we can do. I was amazed at the refusal to even try to correct a mistake that they outright admitted to. This mistake amounted to billing us for a $1200 feature that was paid for and not included and they had no intention of giving us credit or putting the feature it. In my books, that is theft.
Enter the lawyers, and 2 months of fighting over who said what. We finally go a cheque to cover the missing component, but it is still not the vehicle we agreed to purchase, and they never apologized for lying, name calling, or the initial bait-and-switch.
My recommendation is to avoid Courtesy Chrysler in Calgary at all cost.
The second major service disappointment is Bubbles Car Wash (4715 Macleod Trail S). When I arrived, the "salesman" held out a laminated price card and said all the prices were on it, and then held onto the card - I actually had to ask for it and read the pricing myself. This is one sales person that could easily be replaced by a $5 brochure holder. I would highly recommend a solution-selling course like Sandler to help improve sales skills.
I explained to the rep that I specifically needed all the sand vacuumed out. The car is almost new (see the "Courtesy Chrysler" story above) but had been at the beach all summer and was covered in and out with beach sand. He assured me that the "Works" would be perfect because it is a complete wash with hand detailing and vacuuming the entire interior. It's a personal, hand detailing service by professionals that takes about 30 minutes and it is only $36.95 ($10 off) if I get to done while I wait. Sure, I said - do it.
Forty-five minutes later, I had to go hunting for my car because there was no one at the service counter (for at least 10 minutes) and no one had explained that it would be left at the far end of the building. I waited another 5 minutes for someone to take my money, and then they charged me $54.95 for a $36 service - figure that one out. When I finally located my car I noticed right away that the front bumper was still as dirty as when it came in. This amazed me as I know there were at least 4 people that *looked* like they were hand washing it. I did a walk around and noticed several places that were never touched at all. Even worse, the interior still had beach sand everywhere. In some placed it was obvious the vacuum had not even passed by. They even managed to scratch the paint on the hood.
I had to point out to the final detailers that they completely forgot to do the tire detail and that the bumpers needed to be rewashed. Even after all of that, I need to re-wash and re-vacuum it myself to get the job done properly. This is definitely not what I expected from a $50 hand detailing.
So what is the deal with companies that claim high end customer service and then fail miserably? I don't think I am being particularly picky by asking them to actually provide the service I have paid for, or to be polite, available, and respectful of my time. Is it too much to expect an honest deal with a smile, or is ignorance the standard now? Did I miss something?
I have worked with some of the largest companies in the world and some of the most demanding clients and I can tell you that providing good customer service is really not that hard to do. - It's just hard to find.
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