Can real customer service be revived?

Some experiences recently have convinced me the world of bricks and mortar stores that truly service customers may well be reaching the same type of population collapse that we see in endangered species.

The pressures are immense.  The price of goods have dropped rapidly.  The complexity of many items has gone up astronomically.  Being an expert in even a few areas is nearly impossible, and if you could find one, you could not afford to pay the person what they are worth.

More and more we are going to depend on reusable assets such as web pages and FAQs or "Frequently Asked Questions" for any expertise we might find.   Even  the supposedly good information on the web is often worthless. The "experts" there are often jaded and actually just professional test people whose evaluations of a product have little to do with the needs of normal people.

More and more in high tech items, I expect to move my purchases to the web.  It's only there where large customer bases can support real expertise.  Even in companies which have hundred of stores and should be able to support expertise, it seems to be impossible for that expertise to be widely distributed.

I recently went to Ritz Camera to ask about a wide angle lens for my Nikon D50.  I had actually purchased the camera there in December 2005.  I did so because the people were much more knowledgeable than the sales people at Best Buy.  The sales person at Ritz had a wide angle lens for my Nikon and actually let me take a couple of pictures with my camera body.  He quoted me $99 for the lens.  I told him I would view the pictures on my computer and decide if the lens did what I needed it to do.  He mentioned nothing there being any need to rush my decision.

That night we had a few inches of snow which quickly became ice on our hill.  I did check out the pictures and decide the lens was right for the house pictures that I need to take.   It was a little less than forty eight hours when I finally made it back to Ritz Camera.  The sales person I had talked to was on the phone, but a younger fellow offered to help me.  I told him which lens I wanted, and he took it to the counter and said that it would $179.  I was a little shocked and told him that I had been quoted $99 by the gentleman on the phone.  He said I would have to wait to talk to him.  Well I waited while he finished that call and did another one.  Finally he came over said that , yes, the younger sales person was right, the lens, which was the same one that I had looked at, was now $179.

There was no apology and no remorse at all.  I merely got a shrug of the shoulders. I told him I couldn't see paying that much extra for a lens that was only $99 a matter of hours ago.  He offered no real explanation other than the price went up.  I asked some questions about some other cameras.  He obviously knew less than I did and was uninterested in providing any real answers.  I left the store, and I probably won't go back.

I went over to Best Buy, thinking that perhaps they might have the lens that I needed.  The sales person hardly knew where to find a lens must less anything about them.

I eventually did some extensive research on my own and ordered from Amazon.com a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2K camera to take pictures for my websites to market homes here on the Carolina Coast.  The camera has turned out to exactly what I wanted.  It also does a great job on sunsets and landscapes.

Amazon did deliver exactly what I ordered exactly when they said they would at exactly the price I ordered it at.  I guess that is all I can expect these days.

A few days later I needed a small jewelers screw driver and rushed over to a local hardware store.  It was exactly 5:20 pm when I walked into the store which had a posted closing time of 5:30 pm.  The staff was already walking out of the store.  The lights had been turned off.  I looked at the cashier and said are you closed and she nodded yes.  I didn't even bother to ask why.

The final event has to be the best and goes to the heart of customer service.  I was instant messaging a friend from State College, Pa. who had gone on vacation in Florida.  The morning after he got there, he reported that they had been awakened by the front desk at 4 am with a request that they pack up and move from their room since apparently they had been placed in the wrong room and the people who had reserved the room were now there.  My friend told me his wife had some choice words for the staff, and they went back to sleep.  I haven't heard whether they moved or not.

Of course there are some places that still value customer service, but they are getting few and far between.  No longer is the customer always right.  The customer sometimes isn't even relevant to the employees.

That's a sad commentary on the state of business in America.  It is the customer who pays the bills, and that customer will find a better place to spend their money.

I don't think there is chance to revive customer service unless we become more discriminating shoppers.

______________

Update

The NY Times editorial on March 11, 2007 had this to say.

American consumers are so angry that companies are assessing the new level of customer rage. A study by Arizona State University found that 70 per cent of customers who had problems were either extremely or very teed-off as a result of their complaints. Scott Broetzmann, president of Customer Care Measurement and Consulting, which helped with the university analysis, said, “You have to go back more than 40 years (i.e., Ralph Nader’s heyday) to find the acrimony you now have between consumers and businesses.”

....But he also says that many consumers say they would be satisfied with respect or an apology rather than, for example, a replacement iPod.

My guess is that customers are expendable for many giant multinationals.

Comments

[Jason Whong]

In addition to becoming discriminating shoppers, we should also consider leaving positive and negative feedback, especially when customer service is involved.

One or two letters don't amount to much. Fifty letters may get someone's attention.

[Other Dave]

I NEVER shop at Best Buy. I don't like their return policy. If you want customer service do your hardware store shopping (in Roanoke - that is) at any of the locations of Northwest Hardware. I think there are four; Williamson Rd.; Brambleton Ave; Salem; and I'm not sure where the fourth is.

[ocracokewaves]

Small hardware stores are probably the last holdout for customer service. This is why I was so shocked at the crew walking out just before closing. That hardware is Cape Carteret, NC fortunately for Roanoke people. Fortunately for the Cape Carteret people there are three other ones in the area.

I've always had great customer service at Ace Hardware at Oak Grove Plaza.

There have been some articles about Best Buy firing customers. My problem is that I've found Circuit City even worse.

http://viewfromthemountain.typepad.com/david_sobotta_weblog/2006/11/why_circuit_cit.html

[Other Dave]

I've not had much trouble with CC so far. At least last time I checked their return policy was more reasonable. Still, there's always the next time...

[Sean Pecor]

I gave up on small hardware stores when I bought a horse farm. There just isn't enough inventory. I prefer Lowes in general, and out here, I've got two to choose from and both provide great customer service. Any particular problem I've had at Lowes has been addresses very well by their service folks.

I and my wife have had good experiences at the Ritz Camera near Towers in Roanoke. Was that the Ritz you went to?

Sean

[ocracokewaves]

Unfortunately yes. I had previously had good luck with them also which is why I bought my Nikon D50 from them.

I think that is one of the reasons I was so disappointed. I felt like I lost a store that I could trust.

The good news is that my Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 is turning out some great pictures both for real estate and pleasure

http://coastalnc.org/126whiteheronlane/

http://coastalnc.org/clydesbirds
http://coastalnc.org/beachlight
http://coastalnc.org/sundrenchedpelican

This is the camera

http://coastalnc.org/lumixwithphone

Ritz had not mentioned it to me since they didn't carry that particular model.

Hey I never see you online, I miss our chats. Hope all is well and the pastures are at least thinking about getting green. The daffodils are blooming here and the Robins are all over the place.

[Zasu]

True Story: My SO bought a radar detector from Best Buys. This item was carried to the register by a BB employee and my SO paid $200 for this item. When he got to his truck, he open the box to find it was empty. When he walked back to the store, they would not let him in because it was 10 minutes to closing time. He explained what happened but it made no difference.

He came home with a $200 empty box.

My SO returned the next day and had a difficult time getting anyone to believe him. What helped was that there were several empty boxes because employee theft was rampant. He got his radar detector.

Neither my SO or I have ever shopped at Best Buys since.

[Geraldo]

Unfortunately, the situation you describe is not unique to the United States. Small stores are disappearing everywhere in favor of shopping malls and large chains, where cost is all that counts. It's not just good customer service that is almost impossible to find: products are also being massified, and if you want something out the mainstream, a better quality product or one with specific features, the Internet is your last hope... Made in China is the curse of the new millenium...