Customer Service is dead

[lovestotravel]

Off to return more Chinese junk to Bunnings today!

3 faulty lights, well not faulty, just the fact that my electrician can't determine which is the live and which is the neutral lead..

They are semi sealed lights so can't pull them apart to check

I am sure the discussion will be interesting, tempted to push to a "credit" for the cost of my sparky coming out and not actually being able to use the lights because all the cables are WHITE

FAIL

 

[Hvr]

Off to return more Chinese junk to Bunnings today!

3 faulty lights, well not faulty, just the fact that my electrician can't determine which is the live and which is the neutral lead..

They are semi sealed lights so can't pull them apart to check

I am sure the discussion will be interesting, tempted to push to a "credit" for the cost of my sparky coming out and not actually being able to use the lights because all the cables are WHITE

FAIL

In the old days your sparky would've brought the various parts with them. Maybe the customer service failure lies a bit further along the chain.

Having said that I doubt you'll have problems getting a refund from Bunnings, they're generally fairly good in that regard.

 

[harvyk]

Off to return more Chinese junk to Bunnings today!

3 faulty lights, well not faulty, just the fact that my electrician can't determine which is the live and which is the neutral lead..

They are semi sealed lights so can't pull them apart to check

I am sure the discussion will be interesting, tempted to push to a "credit" for the cost of my sparky coming out and not actually being able to use the lights because all the cables are WHITE

FAIL

Look for the little 'N' on one of the inputs. I've used many of the lights I'm thinking you're talking about.

 

[openseat]

I was at Officeworks last night buying a microSD card. I found the card on the rack and took it to the counter. The callow youth "serving" poked around in the cupboard for 10 seconds, then said "not in stock" and "next please". I asked if he could check the stock levels on their system. Well, you would have thought I asked him to walk over broken glass. Eventually after much eye rolling and groaning he went and checked. Lo and behold they had 10 in stock, however he said he didn't know where they were. So I asked for the manager who found them after looking for all of 3 minutes. It turned a very simple exercise into a frustrating experience, thanks to the attitude.

 

[Mattg]

Having worked as a barista for five years I would like to share my two cents on this topic. While working in customer service I had to deal with the public on a daily basis. Most of the time I tried my best to be as polite, patient and obliging to reasonable requests as possible. If a customer was nice to me, I would always make an effort to be nice back and to provide good service.

Sometimes, however you would come accross customers that were extremely rude, expected the earth and spoke to you as though they were so much better than you (I found the latter to be the case particularly when I did a short stint at McDonald's). So many examples come to mind, but one that sticks in my mind was a lady who told me as if I was a baby "How dare you put the caramel syrup in my coffee before the water (it was a long black). You will start again, and this time you will do it exactly how I say..." Another example is people who complain that it took five minutes to get their coffee when they can see there are ten orders ahead of them (aka. DYKWIAs).

I'm not saying that the customer was to blame in all of the examples in this thread, but as a general rule, if you are polite and patient you are much more likely to get good service. The people providing you with customer service are human beings too.

 

[serfty]

...So I asked for the manager who found them after looking for all of 3 minutes. It turned a very simple exercise into a frustrating experience, thanks to the attitude.

Ahh, but you assisted in the education of the young Mr. Callow ...:idea:

 

[harvyk]

I was at Officeworks last night buying a microSD card. I found the card on the rack and took it to the counter. The callow youth "serving" poked around in the cupboard for 10 seconds, then said "not in stock" and "next please". I asked if he could check the stock levels on their system. Well, you would have thought I asked him to walk over broken glass. Eventually after much eye rolling and groaning he went and checked. Lo and behold they had 10 in stock, however he said he didn't know where they were. So I asked for the manager who found them after looking for all of 3 minutes. It turned a very simple exercise into a frustrating experience, thanks to the attitude.

Well you know what they say about paying peanuts... Retail is exceptionally bad for it, and as such is it any real wonder why it's one of the first sectors to be up against the wall thanks to the internet...

In years to come, that "couldn't care less" employee will be replaced by an actual salesperson giving the proper human touch. That is what you'll be paying for when you go to shops or more correctly "showcase" since you won't actually be purchasing the item from the store, you will be simply trying before you buy online perhaps even purchasing the item via the stores customer access terminal (aka a computer running the stores website). If you live in a larger city you might even find that by the time you get home from the store the item you'd just purchased has already been delivered thanks to an autonomous delivery system (think amazon and it's delivery by quad copter heli's it's already using as a marketing gimmick) distributing from a central warehouse.

All this ain't stuff of science fiction, and it's probably closer than you (or the shop "assistant") would think... [/future predictions]

 

[Archphoto]

I worked retail for 13 years, and took pride in my job - mini lab manager. But there were staff who didn't care, or had become bored (been there since they were 16!) - complacency had taken over.

I left when I basically started to not care about the job; I still served customers politely, but when you start to clock watch and don't want to go that extra mile, it really is time to pull the pin.

Best thing I ever did - 15 years later I've moved on with my life and am self employed. I lived and worked for a few years in London and now reside in Thailand, travelling all over the world for my clients.

If you'd asked me when I'd left school what I'd be doing at 45, none of this would have crossed my mind in the least. :mrgreen: