I have received some of the worst customer care ever - and then, to reinforce my faith in human nature (even corporate nature), I had some first class customer care.
The first involved a matter which had been going on for almost a year. OK I have to admit I was responsible for some of the initial delay but after that the company messed it up all by themselves.
This was a case involving some really important issues so the detail on all the paperwork had to be right. It was quite a complex case but on every single piece of paperwork, something was wrong - a name here, an address there. Each time it was pointed out to them, we were promised it would be rectified and each time it was but with the addition of another error.
At one point it seemed almost impossible to believe the catalogue of cock-ups the company was making. It beggared belief in this day and age of the spell check, let alone competence and intelligence.
Where one or two meetings were needed, five or six had to take place. As a consultant, I should have been charging them for my time!
There was a final fundamental straw which broke this camel's back and I lodged an official complaint. Nearly three months on, I think, and you'd imagine we'd have a written reply to my request for confirmation that the paperwork throughout had been done correctly and we had a full copy of each document.
But no, what I did receive today was a call from a gentleman who had been delightful at the beginning but was now patronising, rude and downright argumentative on the phone. When I pointed out that - ahem - I was the actual client who had paid their fees and (a) I was not happy, (b) I didn't like being spoken to in that manner and (c) as he hadn't been involved after the initial stage and admitted he knew nothing of what had gone on after, he was unqualified to make any comment. He said he was merely ringing up to find out how I was - most strange after nearly a year - and that I had jumped down his throat. As he didn't let me finish any of my sentences, the boot was definitely on the other foot.
I tried to let him know that as a senior person within the company, he mus surely want to know that the service itself didn't work (thus believing I was putting some other poor soul out of similar misery in the future) but he just wouldn't hear what I was saying. A typical example of a man shouting over a woman, thinking her to be a fool. When I asked who was the principal of the company, he fobbed me off with the name of an administrator, thinking I wouldn't notice.
A shortsighted move, for sure. Will I refer business to them? No. Will I recommend them? No. Will I ever use them again? No.
The man's answer to me was that the business had increased some six-fold in size. Actually, companies should ensure their base service and capabilities are in place and working perfectly before expanding because if they can't get it right when they're small, what chance do they have when they're bigger?
By comparison, and coming close on the first call's coat sleeves came a call from a large company. This young man had taken our query first thing this morning and needed to pass some information on to another department to get us an answer. He called around midday to say he hadn't been able to get through but he didn't want us to think he wasn't on the ball.
The second call was to tell us he'd been trying all afternoon but as today is an extremely busy day (Cyber Monday - quite understandable), he still had no news for us. He gave us a Plan B and said he'd check on our case first thing in the morning. He was at pains to say how much he wanted to give us great customer care - and it was appreciated.
So, companies of all sizes out there - please note the difference in PR profile, company reputation and downright good sense that can be garnered through your approach to customer service and dare I say it - customer care. Everything will be affected from your shares, your bottom line, your staff to your raison d'etre - your customers.
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