By Howard M. Wedgle
Is good customer service a thing of the past? What is actually meant by good customer service? Empathy? Helpfulness? I had an interesting visit this week at at a national home improvement company near my home. I went to make a payment, because the next day, of course was the due date. The check was made out to the exact amount on the statement. The “Customer Service” person said she couldn’t take the check, because the balance was actually less than the balance on the statement, due to a return after the statement date. She said their system couldn’t accept it.
I said I’m ok with having a credit. BTW, my beloved thinks I shop too much at (insert company name here), but I have my own parking space, so I have to go there. You probably are thinking I have a talent at being a handy man. Those who know me, know this isn’t the case. I digress.
Again the cashier claimed that she couldn’t take the check. I’m seldom at a loss for words, but I think I mumbled something to her like “You’re kidding?”. The cashier asked her supervisor to help her. She couldn’t. Whatever title du jour this person is called, she said she couldn’t override a “50 billion dollar company”. I’m not sure what that meant, but bottom line, I wasn’t getting anywhere.
I came back the next morning and fortunately, this customer service person knew what to do. He said he could take the check just by voiding it, but use the bank info to run it as a draft for the amount necessary. I asked him why the supposed supervisor didn’t know how to do this? He said he was more experienced at such matters. I found it amazing, that a “$50 billion company” would have a person in a managerial position not adequately trained. Every company claims that customers are #1. If you don’t have customers, you don’t have a business. The people on the other side of the desk or the other end of the phone need to remember this.