Are you a complainer or a go with the flow-er? How do you feel about the saying, “squeaky wheel gets the grease”? Is it more important for you to make your point/get your way, or to move on and enjoy your experience without losing another precious moment? Do you feel that as the customer you are always right, or do you look beyond yourself and want what’s best for everyone? We received a letter today from Tom who sold us the new Dodge truck and now I have customer service on my mind.
Myself, I despise the “squeaky wheel” mentality and in my many years of customer service, found that the only people who practiced it were the ones concerned only with themselves, wanted something for nothing, and were prepared to get what they wanted whether it was fair and deserved or not. Pretty laid back, I would say I am a go with the flow-er. Or at least I used to be.
I am still easy going except when it comes to special time with my family, such as summer vacation. No, I don’t suddenly become an unpleasant consumer, but I do seem to desire better quality service and products. I guess the reason is that these times together as a family, away from work, and bills, and responsibilities are so rare and cherished that I cannot tolerate wastefulness.
Even so, I find “complaining” to be useless. In my customer service experience I was always the one with “the power.” If you were unhappy it was my job to make you happy. You wanted free merchandise, cash back or even a hug, I had the power to hand it out on the spot. Do you know who NEVER got what they wanted? Squeaky wheels and rude complainers. I could count on one hand the number of people who did not walk away from me smiling and I rarely had to give away the farm to do it. As a consumer I walk the same walk.
That said, ain’t no glory in being a door mat either. If someone delivers bad service, let them know how they could serve you better. Delivery is the key here. If you’re a jerk, your “suggestions” will not be well received. But if you can truly accept the fact that no one MEANT to deliver your entree late or give you the wrong product, your delivery will be sincere and well received. Everybody’s happy!
We were in Cedar Point a couple of years ago and our room was really shabby. Clearly, someone did not take much pride in their work. In addition, our key cards didn’t work. It took some 15 swipes for the strip to take each time. When I went to the front desk to discuss it with someone there was somebody else there throwing a hissy fit because her key didn’t work. The agent was trying to calm her, making her a new card, and apologizing. The customer continued ranting that she wanted her money back and she wanted to talk to the manager. She was told that the agent was the manager and they don’t give refunds.
I was at the other end of the counter with another agent. I laughed with her, told her about my room and the key frustrations and asked if there was anything she could think of to turn things around for us. She said, “You bet!” She excused herself for a minute and returned with a new key to a different room and a voucher for dinner at the restaurant onsite which was delicious. I was thrilled. I didn’t want more than what I deserved, I just wanted to enjoy my time with my family. Two weeks after we returned home, we received an apology from the hotel and a voucher for a free hotel night next time we’re in town. We were so surprised. It was completely over and above what was expected and also what was received by the complainer from the same night.
Now that is an extreme example of the kind wheel getting the grease and it won’t always work out your way. There are bad customer service agents out there just like there are bad customers. But trust me, my favorable results have far surpassed the negative. And doesn’t it just feel better to walk around nice than squeaky?
What are your best/worst customer service experiences? I’d love to hear tales from both sides!
My worst experience was once I was complaining to the optometrist about seeing out my new glasses. He claimed everthing was correct but rechecke my eyes anyway. After reading all of the letters on the eye chart he turned on the lights and dropped his pants. I was shocked to say the least! He diagnosed me as “cock eyed”
In my “world” the “squeaky wheel” is the nice complainer, and the “yowling cat” is the obnoxious complainer. And I’ve often heard “the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but the yowling cat gets shot.” LOL!
Great story and yes it is a case of the squeaky wheel gets the grease but I bet you explained the situation/compained in a nice respectful way and that they were happy to fix the problem for you. I used to work in customer service for years and there is nothing worse than the complaining rude customer that does not listen to reason even if you are trying to help them out.
Well that is some funny stuff guys, thanks!
You can save money with printable grocery coupons and special offers, check http://www.clickmycoupon.com/grocery-coupon.htm before you shop to find free discounts.
Good customer service should always be at the forefront. In all businesses, this is the main lifeline. No matter how good a product is if the service is awful, its very useless to continue the business. Word of mouth is faster than TV and other paid media advertisement. Small things count and yes, I hate complaining. This is also useless just like worrying.
Great site this her-family-blog.com and I am really pleased to see you have what I am actually looking for here and this this post is exactly what I am interested in. I shall be pleased to become a regular visitor
Too funny, thanks for sharing with us all. Great story.
You give a very good example that diplomacy works better than aggression. Thanks.
Hey how can you burn a lasagne? I love it.-)
Nice customer relations story. Now that definitely is something I need to work on. I bought a leather jacket recently and it clearly had a mark on it. Instead of asking for a discount, I took it anyways because the sales lady had said, that just like humans, leather has imperfections on the skin and it wasn’t a structural problem or if it was, it was still under warranty. I went back to the store a day later to ask for the price of some sleeve alterations and to see if by having it altered it would affect the warranty. I told another sales lady my situation and she said, well did you ask for a discount? Doh! I had thought of asking but I chickened out and the previous sales lady didn’t know how to “grease the wheel”. My fault I guess. The bottom line is, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
That is a great customer service story. Being respectful and courteous even when you have a problem can often get you the same kind of respect and courtesy in return. On that subject, I recently moved and had a great customer service experience with Arnoff New York Movers.
we face service and customer support in every day life, and I always struggle for my rights . I worked in customer support myself and this experience helps me in the life,
excellent site this her-family-blog.com nice to see you have what I am actually looking for here and this this post is exactly what I am interested in. I shall be pleased to become a regular visitor
I would usually complain most of the time.But it’s more to the person next to me or to myself and I will forget about it the next day.Unless, I feel that his or her action are dangerous or I have encountered a few times, then I will submit my complain letter to seek for some attention to that matter.