A while back, Mammy went into a discount store with a list of items to purchase. As she perused the aisles, pickin’ up this item here and that one there, she came to the one that was the main reason for her trip. This item was on sale for a really good price and since Mammy epitomizes (word of the day) bargain shoppin’ (as a matter of fact, I believe she is used as a case study in the bargain shoppin’ 101 classes taught nationwide), this was to be the high point.
To her dismay, the store was completely out of that item. Not to worry readers, she knew just what to do. She would get a raincheck from the cashier and just pick it up another day when she was in the store.
However, upon requestin’ one, she was dutifully told that the computer was a’showin’ they still had one and that the cashier was required to go get it for the customer, thus savin’ the customer the hassle of havin' to return to the store with the raincheck. After all, they wanted their customers to know they cared.
Mammy said it was ok, she would just take the raincheck since she frequents that there store often enough. “No,” came the reply. “It is company policy.” The checker was soon a’scurryin’ down the aisle in search of the missin’ item.
After waitin’ several long minutes (You know, readin’ those stupid tabloid headlines , “Alien Babies Born To Woman Who Has Been in a Coma for Sixteen Years”, since there’s nothin’ else to do while you are trapped in the checkout line a’waitin’ for the missin’ checker to return.) for this excellent bit of customer service, the cashier returned empty-handed. Duh! Go figur, there really weren’t none there. Hmmmm, now what to do?
Mammy repeated she would gladly accept a raincheck for the item. The reply? “Sorry, but since the computer says we have one, I can’t run a raincheck through the system, it just won’t let me. I can take your name and number down and call you when I find it.” She never did hear from anyone at the store. I’ll remind you that the main reason for the trip was to get the great price on that item. Now, regardless that there twern’t one in the store, the “system” wouldn’t allow a raincheck, even though the company also has a policy that if they run out of any advertised item, they will give you a raincheck.
Moral of the story: If you’re a gonna implement a policy, ‘specially a customer service policy, make sure there is the ability to override the system in case some kind of unexpected glitch comes up. Customer service policies should be meant to improve a customer’s experience and entice ‘em to return to buy again, not alienate them and give them a desire to return with picket signs. I voted fer the picket signs.
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6 comments:
You don't bite the hand that feeds you?
Aren't managers supposed to have "override the system" privleges?
Manager? The store hasn't had a manager for over 8 months! Actually, to top things off, I sent and e-mail to corporate headquarters. I soon received a very generic letter back saying "we're so sorry, we always try to help our customers, blah blah blah..." Then they had someone from the store call me and ask how they could help. Mammy ended up going back down only to spend way too much time showing this employee where things were. I wrote another e-mail and received the exact same letter with one sentence changed - I could just see it - "If customer is still upset, change sentence 3 with alternative sentence 8." How does that kind of canned response show me they care?
Canned comments guarantee that every customer gets the same lousy service. Live and die by the letter of the law!
We tried to buy a paper shredder at an office supply store last Saturday night at 8:30.
The sale price posted was $29.99 plus it had a mail in rebate of $10.00 bringing this (originally $45.00) item down to $19.99.
We got up to the registar, and the item rang up for $45.00. The reason? The sale didn't actually start until the next day, and they had put the sale prices up early.
After a long discussion with the manager, he said he could try to override the system and give us the sale price, but we wouldn't be able to get the $10.00 rebate unless we came back the next day.
We went somewhere else.
I might add that this was the same store that messed up my business cards by spelling my name wrong. When I complained, the girl asked me "Well, can't you just use them the way they are?"
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Jill
Once I found that my daughter (who was only 16 months at the time) had grabbed a pair of shorts at Target without me realizing it, and I didn't find them until we got in the car.
I took them back in and the customer service person said, "You know, we don't have any way of entering these back into our system. You'll just have to keep them."
Well, they never left your system. Just put them back on the shelf! Duh.
Jill - Thanks for stopping and reading. I love that story about the business cards. Some people.
Heidi - Thanks for stopping also. I knew I should have shopped more at Target when I had young children! That is just too funny!
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