You Started It! "NO YOU DID!"

Its not always whether you are in the right either. It may be something that's totally out of your control. But it has to be fixed with efficiency.

Gabrielle, great post.  So many businesses are loosing business because of customer service issues.  Realtos are in this group also.

Customer service is key I remember 32 years agao a banker in London holding an office open late for me because the branch had mishandled a check I was supposed to cash. 32 years later and i still remember. Good post

Hi Gabrielle - whether it's companies or individuals those who actually provide solutions rather than pass the buck will always win out.  It's nice of you to recognize the "good guys" out there.  I am so happy when I stumble upon somebody who will actually *help* me with my question or problem rather than explaining that its not their job.

Liz

Gab, After years of corporate training, it dawn on me one day that instead of playing the blame game for hours, I would just do my part to fix or solve the problem. Our complaints went down by at least 50% and my office staff loved me. What's not to love?

Brian Buffini has an anecdote about after his house burned down in the San Diego fire last year (?), he lost two Mercedes.  He called the dealership to find out the VIN numbers so he could be complete on his insurance claims report.  They wouldn't help him.  They said they couldn't give him any information without his VIN number.  He explained his two cars were in a molten heap in his crispy-fried driveway, and he couldn't get the VIN number... that's why he was caling the dealership that sold them to him..  They wouldn't help him.

Here he was a man with no cars, but with $200K+ burning a hole in his pocket.  He now drives another brand of cars, for which he paid cash, and I'm blogging to 150K people about how bad their service was.

Good customer service goes a long way, but bad service goes even further.

I want to use this chance to share how I had a very positive experience with KitchenAid. I bought a brand new stand mixer on a closeout sale, and when setting it up at home, I dropped a set screw into the post, and couldn't retreive it. I called their customer service, who explained that the unit I bought had been replaced with a new, more powerful model. They mailed me a pre-paid shipping label for me to send the unit I had bought back to them, and sent me the newer unit, postage paid. How's that for service?

There is no excuse for a company to have poor service. We all have to appreciate every one of our clients and make them feel like they are the most important person in the world. Too many company's lack in the service department and it drives me crazy because it really says they just don't care. Thanks for the post and hope all is well.

dan

Gabrielle - I learned long ago that it doesn't pay to spend time blaming and making excuses.  I often had clients come to me with their problems and the last thing they wanted to hear were excuses.  I would simply apologize and then get right into providing solutions that would work.  It's what kept them clients vs. someone that would tell others to not do business with our company.  So happy it all worked out and you finally had a great customer service experience. ~Anne Marie

A solution provided is worth much more than the bag of hot air filled with excuses & blame.  Great post, Gabrielle!