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What Good Are Stats if You Aren’t Honest With Them?
By JLP | March 23, 2007
Yesterday I went to Sears to pick up a pressure washer I had to order because they were out of stock when I originally purchased it. I walked into the pick-up area, scanned my receipt and started watching the monitor. The monitor shows a timer, the last name of the customer and the name of the employee getting the order. On the door next to the warehouse I noticed a white board with stats about the percentage of orders that were filled in under 5 minutes. They show yesterday’s number (100%) along with last month’s number (98%).
Meanwhile, I’m standing there watching the timer - 2 minutes, 3 minutes,… Finally it stops at 3:51 but still no order. Hmmm… Several minutes later someone came out to tell me that they were still “looking” for my order. So, my order wasn’t ready but the timer was stopped and the monitor showed that my order was complete (in under 5 minutes). I waited another 15 MINUTES before they finally came out with my pressure washer.
It wasn’t so much the fact that I had to wait that bothered me. I understand that things can get misplaced in a warehouse. I used to work in a grocery store and I remember looking for stuff that I knew we had but was misplaced in the backroom. What made me mad was the fact that they were sneaky in the way they handled my order. I mean, what good are these “customer satisfaction” stats if companies just make them up?
Something similar happened last year. I got a call from Buick. The lady told me that they were conducting a customer service survey and wanted to know if I would take part. I said, “Okay.” The lady then asked me if I was satisfied with my Rendezvous - a yes or no question. I said yes. Then she said, “Thanks a lot sir,” and hung up the phone! LOL! I wanted a chance to tell them about the stuff I didn’t like about my car so that they would have an opportunity to change things in the future. They weren’t interested in that. Instead, they just wanted a simple stat that they could use in a commercial. Is there any wonder why GM is suffering?
Okay, I’m done ranting for this morning.
Topics: Miscellaneous |