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Thursday, January 08, 2015

 

Customer Serve-less


Customer Serveless

 

Being a person who hates shopping-I’m a bit cynical and fed up when the few times I expect customer service I don’t actually receive any.

 

I’m definitely not just talking about retail establishments either.

 

Someone that my parents had taught the value of treating people right replied to a recent Face book comment I had made about being a touch angry with how a car (actually 3) dealership had behaved with, “Well, as you know I went to the school of Larry and Julia starting when I was in high school and I still live and work by those principles today.”  He was sorry about what I had experienced.

 

By the way, he’s older than I am-so you can see those lessons were learned over 40 years ago.

What really gets me is that the social media person for one of those agencies wrote on my review on a certain site that, “We strive to make people happy.  Maybe you could call _____ and discus this further?”

 

Why?  I did try to get someone to help me several times-no one called me back.  That’s why I took to a review site.  Just so you know-16 other people before me also wrote about their own less than stellar experiences at this place.

 

Then one of the agencies didn’t seem to care whether they made a sale or not, in fact they seemed to be trying harder NOT to sell anything! 

 

That same place was also putting in a replacement CD unit in my car.  It was a faulty unit and under warranty.  My service person said he’d call me in 3-5 days so I could get the new box.  Two weeks later I called him.  Took him 2 days to call me back telling me that “it just came in”.

 

When I brought the car in-I had our older grandsons with me and told the person who checked me in, “The faster you do this the better we’ll all be.”  I also asked that while it was back there would they please check the tire pressure.

 

It was supposed to take an hour.  One hour and 40 minutes later the boys and I decided to check on things (we were in the worst children’s playroom EVER), Aidan looked to the right and said, “Grandma, there’s your car right there.”

 

Not the service person or his assistant seemed to think that it was their job to either phone me on that new-fangled contraption called a cell phone OR come and get me.

 

When I asked why, the cashier snidely told me, “How would I know, ask your service person.”

 

Then I asked if they had checked the tires.  Again, I got the same snide response and a very sarcastic eye roll to accompany it.

 

I’m so not going back to this agency.  It will be worth the extra driving just so I don’t have to deal with their lack of respect.

 

The worst part is that they are smug in their belief that they are fine.  Yes, we fell through the cracks, but if you really “strive” to make your customer happy-you don’t ask them to call you, you ask if it would be okay to discuss this and where to call. 

 

It’s a really good thing I save buying things until I’m really desperate for something new.  I don’t know how anyone enjoys this “retail therapy” thing, I’d rather find out what a root canal would be like.

 

On the flip side, Steve did find a dealership that did treat him with respect.  Not only did they make a sale but they now have our service business.  It wound up being a “win-win” for both sides.  Just as any successful business will tell you it should be, if they want to be in the community for the long haul.

Comments:
I've yet to find a car dealership that I feel comfortable dealing with. There is a small auto shop down the road which I use for some repairs, but they're just a garage and a couple mechanics. I'm not sure I'd trust them with anything newer than ten years old.
 
we had a fantastic mechanic in OC-wish he were here. but one of the reasons we only buy a car when we have no choice (like a truck killing my PT and the electrical system and other things dying)is that we hate having to deal with dealerships
 
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