9th
Customer Service Rewards
I received a $50 gift card to Best Buy in the mail this afternoon, 3 days after making a complaint to the Bank of America about a delay in sending me my upgraded credit card.
Last week I received 2 free pieces of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory after speaking with the restaurant manager because no one was available to sell me gift cards (I waited for more than 5 minutes).
In addition to last week, in the last 12 months I have received more than $400 in clothing free, refunds totalling more than $500 (not returning any product), and much more.
Why? Because I won’t accept poor customer service. I’ve been on both sides of the phone (and counter) when it comes to customer services and believe a few core things:
1) When you receive great customer service (pleasant to deal with, helpful, focused on assisting you without disruptions, ensures you are happy and follows up) you acknowledge it immediately and with escalate your praise to the employee’s manager.
2) When you receive good customer service (friendly, helpful, pleasant to deal with, tries to help you) you acknowledge it immediately.
3) When you receive poor customer service (not immediately acknowledged, bungled transaction, poor quality product) acknowledge it immediately and escalate your issue to a manager.
4) When you receive terrible customer service (not acknowledged, long wait, bungled transaction, bad product, bad attitude) bypass the employee and demand to be escalated to management immediately.
The main point being: Don’t settle. As a customer (with reasonable expectations) you should be able to get what you want, when you want it. Period. No exceptions. When things go wrong (and they will, because we’re all human) it is the customer’s responsibility to make sure that management is aware of the issue and that their specific issue is addressed and corrected.
I hope to use this tumblelog to share my “secrets” of receiving the customer service that each of us deserves. Check back for ancedotes, tips and pointers. I’m not just focusing on the negative though. In life you have to have balance and if you’re not recognizing the good as much as the bad you’re asking for it in the end.
My hope is that by spreading the message that people who provide good and great customer service will be acknowledged often for their efforts and rewarded over time, and that those who don’t understand how to provide good customer service are forced to move to other industries because customers finally don’t take it anymore.
Until next time,
~Jimmy
