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Question of the Day – Customer Service
By JLP | April 18, 2008
I’ve talked plenty about bad customer service. Today, I thought it would be nice to focus on the positive and talk about good customer service, which is the topic of today’s questions of the day:
Can you tell us a time when you experienced excellent customer service?
Was the experience due to one person or was it the culture of the business?
Did you report your positive experience to management?
Although I’ve had lots of good experiences, one of the places where I have ALWAYS received top-notch customer service is Discount Tire. They are ALWAYS polite on the phone and very helpful. While my family was down for Thanksgiving, my mom noticed that their Jeep had a flat tire. I called Discount Tire and they told me to bring the tire in and they would fix it for free. They did this without even knowing if I was a regular customer or not. They make me feel like they appreciate my business and that’s why I go back to them whenever I need tires.
Two other places where I always seem to get good service is Starbucks and a locally-owned Mexican restaurant called Elena’s.
Topics: Question of the Day | 18 Comments »
April 18th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
So far, I’ve had excellent customer service over the phone for Citibank. They’ve been courteous, brought up exactly what I needed, and did it quickly and efficiently.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I had a company we purchased trees from. I am the first one to complain if something bad happens so I felt I should compliment those who have done a nice job. I sent them a letter saying thanks and that they did a wonderful job. It really was the entire culture of the business that sold me.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I too think Discount tire is great. When I replaced the tires on my last car they recommended a cheaper tire that actually rode better than the ones I was on. And they were very knowledgable about getting the right size. It’s a pain that they don’t do anything else but tires and wheels, but their expertise shows.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Gateway. Young man talked me through taking apart my laptop and reinstalling my CD-ROM drive. Very helpful, everything went smoothly. Unfortunately, the reinstallation didn’t work, so then he talked me through reinstalling the Windows OS (and backing up my data beforehand…thank God for home computer networks, since I was able to put it all on my mom’s computer via our connection).
April 18th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I have at a restraunt called Bostons by my house. The waiter and the bartender didnt know how to make a certain drink. But our waiter made it happen. He went and looked it up and made them for us because we were such great customers i guess. But that waiter has always been a great one. Its gonna be a sad day when he leaves. And yes we did give his manager a great review of his work. He really appreciated it and we get great service all the time from him now.
April 18th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Yes – Southwest Airlines, on multiple occasions, has been extremely helpful and accommodating for me. Plus, they still give out free snacks on trips!
April 18th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Yes, I called Hewlett Packard about ipod troubles. A Canadian talked me through fixing it for over an hour. He was very patient and helpful. I had previously had an experience with HP where I was connected with someone who spoke VERY poor English and clearly read from a script and had no idea what the problem really was.
I wrote HP explaining how much the Canadian man helped me and how much I appreciated speaking to someone who understood the language and the technology.
A few days later I actually received a phone call from the VP of something at HP thanking me profusely for my letter. Apparently there was talk of moving the Canada office to India and my letter may have helped deter that.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
A little known company called Office Appliance. A friend of mine dealt with them a loved the service as well as the product. When I needed a new server for my small business he highly recommended them. I must say I have never had such a nice experience with a company. I actually looked forward to calling them for help with problems because I knew that every time they would not only know the answer right away, but they would be able to help me in plain English which is more valuable to me than anything else.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
As someone who took credit card applications over the phone for Citibank I’m glad (and surprised) you got good service. While almost everybody in my call center worked hard and knew their stuff, we were constantly getting calls transferred to us from Citi’s other call centers. All we could do was take applications, but we’d get calls transfered to us about everything from stolen cards to bank accounts.
People at our call center claimed the people answering the phones at Citi’s main number got paid based on how quickly they got somebody off the phone. Whether this was true or not I don’t know, but we sure got a lot of unnecessary transfers.
In my experience the best customer service comes from locally owned stores. While the prices and selection at these places is usually worse than at big box retailers, it’s nice to walk into a hardware store where the employees can tell you more about a product than where it’s located.
A surprising place I’ve gotten good service from is the pawn shop. One time while downtown I locked my keys in the car. My parents weren’t home with my family’s other car, so they couldn’t drive down to unlock the car for me. I went into the pawn shop and asked if they had anything that could help me open up my car. The owner went into the back and got a slim jim (not the beef snack) and told me I could borrow it. A few minutes later I had my door open and my keys back.
April 19th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Bed Bath & Beyond, I have always received good service at Bed Bath & Beyond. Every store that I have shopped the staff has been so friendly helpful and courteous. Kudos to such a large chain store company they can maintain such a great employees.
April 19th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Costco for me. There is a costco that opened up in North Dallas Area about 3 months back. We visit this Costco a lot because of our new baby during the time. This is a very busy during weekends. I have never seen any body yet that were upset with service. Staff is very courteous and always have a smile always.
Keep it up Costco! This is definitely your differentiator with Sam’s Club.
April 19th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
About a year ago, I planned to fly from Greenville, SC to Lexington, KY (with a stop in Charlotte) on US Air to attend a wedding. When I arrived in Charlotte, I learned the flight to Lexington was cancelled. US Air couldn’t get me on a flight to any city near Lexington before the wedding would end, so I hopped on a flight back to Greenville. I asked the US Air person at Charlote for a number to call to get a refund. She told me that I wouldn’t get a full refund because US Air was kind enough to fly me back to Greenville; out of the goodness of their corporate heart, they might give me a credit for the CLT –> LEX leg. I persisted in getting a number for customer service, so she printed a number for me from her computer… the wrong number! A few weeks later I called reservations to apply the unflown value of my ticket to another flight. The (English speaking!) reservation guy pulled up the ticket, chuckled, and basically said it was stupid for US Air not to refund the full ticket price for my futile flight. Then he gave me a full refund. I was really happy with that guy. I was so happy that I asked for his supervisor’s e-mail address, and sent her a message saying what a great customer serivice rep he was. I never got a response. So, I encountered a unique, helpful individual within a corporation that really doesn’t seem to care about customers.
My favorite company that seems to have created a culture of good customer service… Saturn. I have bought two Saturns, and the experience both times was great. There was no pressure and no stupid tricks to try to get me to buy a car. I use the local dealership to service my Saturn, too. They always wash it and leave mints on the dashboard… it’s a nice touch.
April 19th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Best Customer Service: This might seem a little weird, but it seems relevant to me since I get what I go for, pretty much every time I go there; my church.
Worst Customer Service: Well, maybe not the worst ever, but recently a local steakhouse served my wife a terrible steak for $18.95, only to “comp” her $4 off the bill !
Worst (and Most Dependable) Customer Service: Any fast food drive thru. I realize they don’t make much, but accuracy should be a given. And, it seems like you can count on something being messed up at least 60% of the time.
April 19th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
I’ve actually only gotten awful customer service from Citi. I have a feeling it’s just the branch I visited; I’ve never had problems with the call center. But the branch was full of some of the worst employees in any business I’ve ever seen – utterly unhelpful, unmotivated, and unimpressive.
But that’s not the question. I get great customer service at Whole Foods. The crowds are pretty irritating, but the meat and fish departments are staffed with great people that always help me get exactly what I need, cut exactly the right way.
April 20th, 2008 at 1:18 am
In the SW United States we have a chain of convenience stores known as QuikTrip. They mostly do fuel and snacks, but they do it 1000 times better than anyone else. Their training program must be very extensive as even the newest person is knowledgeable, helpful, friendly and efficient. Usually before I even reach the counter my items have been visually “scanned” by the cashier and totaled. It seems that everyone in the store is moving like the CEO is waiting in line. The stores are well lit, organized, clean and efficient. I actually look forward to filling up with gas because I’ll get to go in the store and receive such fine service.
April 20th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Terry,
I LOVE QUIKTRIP! Unfortunately, we don’t have them in our area.
You’re right. The stores are amazing. No matter which one you go in, they are ALL clean and neat.
April 21st, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Geico all the way.
Called to get a quote, sitting in my 2nd floor apartment with no shoes on. CSR asks for my two VIN numbers. Have to tell him to hold on while I put on my shoes and run downstairs. He’s calm and says “that’s fine”, as if we’re not in any hurry. So I run downstairs, tell him the VIN numbers.
Then he asks for my driver’s license number. “Let me run back upstairs.” Again, calm, no huff over the phone, just cool as the other side of the pillow.
Finally got upstairs and got him everything. He was articulate and patient through the whole conversation. Afterwards I spoke to his manager and complimented him, and the manager said they always appreciate feedback and a note will go into his file for his next performance review.
A few weeks later I got a letter (where they autoinsert your name) from the VP of Customer Service thanking me for complimenting the agent, they were always striving for quality, etc etc.
High class. Love it.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:09 am
Lands’ End! The other day, I got an email notice about that being the last day for free shipping. I had just placed an order the previous evening, but didn’t know about the free shipping. I called customer service, and they honored the deal–even though it turned out that the offer had expired a couple of days before it showed up in my in box! Their products and customer service are always top notch.