Friday, 1 August 2008
Customer Service - How not to do it!
Before I went on Holiday, I ordered 2 new tyres for my car and arrived at 0820, 10 minutes before opening, to try and beat the queue at a well known tyre specialist. lets call them Fit Fast.
A middle age guy came in to the Fit Fast after me explaining he had some work completed yesterday, which took hours, and had order another tyre to be fitted today. He advised to Fit Fast he was told to arrive at 0830 and he would be given immediate service. Guess what? There were already 10 people in front of him. In an open reception he blew a gasket (excuse the pun) and after much shouting asked for his money back on the tyre he had ordered and duly drove away, presumably with his bald tyre.
I could understand his anger but actually felt very sorry for the receptionist. They obviously were not trained in how to deal with this guy, there was no private area to discuss the issue so it was very public, very embarrassing and the receptionist obviously did not have the power to change anything. To me, as I am sure to everyone in a service industry, it is very simple - communication.
From a customer point of view a timed booking system would be ideal but I can understand in this environment why that may not viable. How about clear information on how the walk in system works, some visuals to show the peaks each week/month so customers can make informed decisions on the best time to avoid large queue (this would actually help with Fit Fast's own time management), a private room to escort clients in case there is a problem, training and empowerment to staff to solve these type of simple problems. Like I said as well as feeling sorry for the angry customer I did really feel sorry for the staff member as he obviously had no chance of solving this and I am sure the same could happen tomorrow. How long is he going to stay at that job?
A middle age guy came in to the Fit Fast after me explaining he had some work completed yesterday, which took hours, and had order another tyre to be fitted today. He advised to Fit Fast he was told to arrive at 0830 and he would be given immediate service. Guess what? There were already 10 people in front of him. In an open reception he blew a gasket (excuse the pun) and after much shouting asked for his money back on the tyre he had ordered and duly drove away, presumably with his bald tyre.
I could understand his anger but actually felt very sorry for the receptionist. They obviously were not trained in how to deal with this guy, there was no private area to discuss the issue so it was very public, very embarrassing and the receptionist obviously did not have the power to change anything. To me, as I am sure to everyone in a service industry, it is very simple - communication.
From a customer point of view a timed booking system would be ideal but I can understand in this environment why that may not viable. How about clear information on how the walk in system works, some visuals to show the peaks each week/month so customers can make informed decisions on the best time to avoid large queue (this would actually help with Fit Fast's own time management), a private room to escort clients in case there is a problem, training and empowerment to staff to solve these type of simple problems. Like I said as well as feeling sorry for the angry customer I did really feel sorry for the staff member as he obviously had no chance of solving this and I am sure the same could happen tomorrow. How long is he going to stay at that job?
Labels: Communication, Service, Staff
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