QuoteReplyTopic: 20/20 Tonight - Angry Consumers Fight Bac Posted: October 13 2006 at 10:39pm
In light of the recent posts here I thought this was a relevant topic.. This has already aired in East Coast & Central markets, but for you West Coast viewers check out 20/20 tonight. If you have satellite, you may be able to view the West Coast broadcast.
Friday, Oct. 13, at 10 p.m.: Now more than ever, consumers are irate about not getting what they pay for, and they're using the Internet to sound off and put companies on high alert.
More and more consumers are video taping their encounters that document
funny or downright bad customer service and posting that video to the
web. Viral video can get millions of hits a week, causing some
companies to have a knee-jerk reaction and make necessary changes to
mend the consumer problem.So some complaining consumers have actually
helped make changes to company policies. Why? Because smart companies
realize consumer attitudes can live on the internet forever and ever,
wrecking havoc on their companies bottom line forever and ever.
it is thunder and lightening here and my power has gone on and off a few times.... so hopefully it will rmain on so i can watch it. looks interesting. thanks diva
ps... not that i am complaining about the weather here in the oc, becase my hometown and where my family lives is buffalo... and right now they are with out heat and power for 2 days. so i am very thankful mine is coming on and off and its just rain and not 24" of snow!
Edited by barbielocs - October 13 2006 at 10:47pm
malibu
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BUFFALO!! I lived there for five years!! Two feet of snow, crazy!
DivaV, This 20/20 show couldn't have come at a better time. It looks
like customer service has only gotten worse as time goes on. I'm losing
hope that it will ever be the way it was. Sorry, I'm being glass half
empty here. It's only when I see good c/s I'm so surprised. I'm
going to set my tivo up now.
Unfortunately this whole "customer care sucks" movement is impacting companies like mine that really tries so very hard to treat customers well.
Today we received an email and a voice message from a customer who received a PhytoRelaxer (which is sealed when it is manufactured in France) kit that had spilled on the inside of the box. We receive the products from France in double sealed boxes which we don't open unless we detect a spill - and we do look carefully.
Although we have literally 8 different steps in our warehouse from receiving check-in to picker, package checker and packer checks sometimes the kits don't make it intact during the outbound UPS shipping. We pack with special boxes that UPS recommends to protect products and we hand bubble. Still....shipping can be challenging at times.
With all that said, the customer came out the gate accusing us of being a terrible company because her kit was open (inside a sealed box with two sealed bottles inside). This was before we could even call her back and offer an immediate replacement or a full refund and an apology.
The email and voice mail was viscious and said we had an "abusive customer care department" and she would "never shop with us ever again because we were sloppy and careless in our inventory controls and packing process".
Even I was shocked at the level of anger directed towards us BEFORE we even could call her back (which we did within 15 minutes).
We also apologized (she was abusive on the phone and downright mean) and we said we would be happy to send an immediate replacement or give a full refund at that second. She was so abusive that we just went ahead and gave the full refund sending her an immediate email with the refund confirmation.
She sent a follow up email saying that our customer care had been horrible because she had not responded to her within 5 minutes. This is even after we gave her a refund within 5 minutes and called her back within 15.
Unfortunately this is happening more and more and I have to tell you that I personally spot read the emails and listen to the phone calls that my customer care team sends out. We try very hard but people come at us without even giving us a chance.
I think it is because consumers have been burnt by other companies with horrible customer care and just assume all companies are like that. It is very hard to deal with this growing assumption and as a result I have had a lot of turn over in customer care. They just don't want to take the abuse, especially when they are trying to be helpful.
Anyway...I wish I knew a good solution for all of this. We do actually receive thank you notes from customers that appreciate that we do try hard to be responsive, polite and helpful. So there are still some people that understand not all companies offer bad customer care.
That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger or drives you totally insane. :-)
I think the internet is a great forum for getting companies to give better c.s., or at least be a voice out there about companies that give bad cs. Just look at the amount of business hair extension companies get or don't get from opinions and experiences posted on this board alone. I'm from Buffalo too! I live in Hawaii now, but almost went back for a visit this past week, glad I missed the snow!
Isn't it great though that finally the customer is indeed right? Companies should pamper us and be real nice etc...because bad publicity will hurt and a happy customer is a returning one that brings in more...thanks for showing us, Divavocals!
I learn to love and try to understand everyone I meet. I see the rainbow hiding in their eyes.
i refer to wal mart a lot because i still bear the scars from being a 19 year old working there one summer on college break, they put me in the customer service box (in old small wal marts customer service was literally a 'box' right in front of the front door...so youre there for all the world to see).....lets see, that was 1989....and at that time the customer was ALWAYS right, we took back old shoes, clothes with labels that wal mart never ever carried, yes to used various hygiene products/food products..if they could string together a coherent sentence about what was wrong with what they purchased they got some sort of exchange/refund because our manager said it was better to lose that little bit from a shoe that didnt fit (but obviously took the wearer a good three months to decide) or a bag of chips that had one green one in it or the bra with a broken clasp (which was obviously worn a good long time)....it made our job easy, we got to smile and be liked and there was never any arguments
but things have changed....even with my receipt in hand sometimes you get that one lady now that eyes you up and down and has to think about what she is going to decide to do for you first (my deceased old manager would be appalled, he wanted everyone to like coming to his store :(
ohh, i got off track......yes i think consumers need to fight back to get proper customer service.....i think how on a daily basis i encounter examples of people lacking in people skills: when i wheel my shopping cart overloaded with food into the grocery cashiers lane and she rolls her eyes because she suddenly has to DO something other than just stand there......when ten people are waiting in line in the ONE checkout that is open but five cashiers are yakking around in a corner......and even at my own job when some people put their own plans above providing quality care .........ok, that's enough steam from my teakettle
Unfortunately this whole "customer care sucks" movement is impacting companies like mine that really tries so very hard to treat customers well.
I agree Karen.. There needs to be balance..
On the one hand while I think that companies should (and many do) offer great customer service, there are some companies who do not and treat their customers like something you wipe off of your shoe. The internet is a great way to let others know of your customer service experience. For me at least, I can forgive the occasional defective product as long as the company treats me well and remedies my issue when I bring it to their attention.
The other side of this comes down to consumer responsibility.. I think the internet is a great way to talk about your consumer experience, report on defective products and poor customer service.. However, IMO sometimes we as consumers do not always fully qualify what we say when doing a product review.. To say something is bad, when what they really mean is "It just didn't suit me" for example. To put it in perspective of this forum's topic it would be the person who says they hate their hair and that the hair is TERRIBLE when in reality there's nothing "really" wrong with the hair. It's just that they discovered the French Body Wave they purchased requires A LOT of work to maintain, and they didn't anticipate having high maintenance hair. This doesn't make the hair bad.. It makes the hair HIGH maintenance. So I think we as consumers need to be careful how we word our reviews. Pictures and other information help to put things in perspective..
Karen Shelton wrote:
With all that said, the customer came out the gate accusing us of
being a terrible company because her kit was open (inside a sealed box
with two sealed bottles inside). This was before we could even call
her back and offer an immediate replacement or a full refund and an
apology.
The email and voice mail was viscious and said we had an "abusive
customer care department" and she would "never shop with us ever again
because we were sloppy and careless in our inventory controls and
packing process".
Even I was shocked at the level of anger directed towards us
BEFORE we even could call her back (which we did within 15 minutes).
We also apologized (she was abusive on the phone and downright
mean) and we said we would be happy to send an immediate replacement or
give a full refund at that second. She was so abusive that we just
went ahead and gave the full refund sending her an immediate email with
the refund confirmation.
She sent a follow up email saying that our customer care had been
horrible because she had not responded to her within 5 minutes. This
is even after we gave her a refund within 5 minutes and called her back
within 15.
Unfortunately this is happening more and more and I have to tell
you that I personally spot read the emails and listen to the phone
calls that my customer care team sends out. We try very hard but
people come at us without even giving us a chance.
I think it is because consumers have been burnt by other companies
with horrible customer care and just assume all companies are like
that. It is very hard to deal with this growing assumption and as a
result I have had a lot of turn over in customer care. They just don't
want to take the abuse, especially when they are trying to be helpful.
Anyway...I wish I knew a good solution for all of this. We do
actually receive thank you notes from customers that appreciate that we
do try hard to be responsive, polite and helpful. So there are still
some people that understand not all companies offer bad customer care.
Here's the difference Karen.. There will ALWAYS be the occasional "crazy customer" out there, but CLEARLY you guys still go above and beyond to provide POLITE customer service even when the customer is "irrate". Clearly you guys would have NEVER publicly persecuted a customer for asking to return product THEY deemed as unacceptable.. Your companies FIRST instinct in this case was to BE NICE.. At the end of the day it really comes down to just BEING NICE, and recongnizing that even if this person nevers buys from you again, and even if they tell others not to shop with you again, that ONE CUSTOMER can't hurt your business if you CONSISTENTLY provide a quality product and top notch polite, friendly customer service.
Edited by Divavocals - October 14 2006 at 11:57am
Check out the 5th So Cal offline luncheon?? For more info: divahairtalk.overthehillweb.com/lunch.html
Links to my fav vendors & hair albums + Weave 101 information: divahairtalk.overthehillweb.com
malibu
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Karen, that customer you had sounds miserable! That's a shame that you
had to deal with it. There's no justice in past bad experiences for
this type of behavior. If that customer treated you like that,
he/she doesn't deserve to shop with you any longer.
No one is going to get what they want by harassing you and being nasty. That's just moronic.
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I agree that customer service is the key to having a great business. Even if product is top notch the customer service is what will hold that company together. There will always be "something" that can happen with any product that is unforeseen and how this is dealt with is what is important. Yes there are some people that are never happy and with them you must just smile and give it your best, and hope they move on to torture another company. But I know I pay good money for the things I buy (I will admit it, I like "the best") and I expect in return "The best" I have done many little business and I have always gone way above and beyond what would be expected but then I have always had very happy customers.
I used to breed German Shepard's a while back and I actually had a couple return a puppy because he "whined at night when they put him in the bathroom" seriously this is why this couple returned this puppy... but I smiled and said I will be happy to refund your money!!!!! gotta do what you gotta do
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they must have never had a puppy before.They cry if you dont let them on the bed with you.I dont think some people realize how much work a puppy is.Its sad they gave up on the poor boy so quick.
Unfortunately this whole "customer care sucks" movement is impacting companies like mine that really tries so very hard to treat customers well.
I agree Karen.. There needs to be balance..
On the one hand while I think that companies should (and many do) offer great customer service, there are some companies who do not and treat their customers like something you wipe off of your shoe. The internet is a great way to let others know of your customer service experience. For me at least, I can forgive the occasional defective product as long as the company treats me well and remedies my issue when I bring it to their attention.
The other side of this comes down to consumer responsibility.. I think the internet is a great way to talk about your consumer experience, report on defective products and poor customer service.. However, IMO sometimes we as consumers do not always fully qualify what we say when doing a product review.. To say something is bad, when what they really mean is "It just didn't suit me" for example. To put it in perspective of this forum's topic it would be the person who says they hate their hair and that the hair is TERRIBLE when in reality there's nothing "really" wrong with the hair. It's just that they discovered the French Body Wave they purchased requires A LOT of work to maintain, and they didn't anticipate having high maintenance hair. This doesn't make the hair bad.. It makes the hair HIGH maintenance. So I think we as consumers need to be careful how we word our reviews. Pictures and other information help to put things in perspective..
Karen Shelton wrote:
With all that said, the customer came out the gate accusing us of being a terrible company because her kit was open (inside a sealed box with two sealed bottles inside). This was before we could even call her back and offer an immediate replacement or a full refund and an apology.
The email and voice mail was viscious and said we had an "abusive customer care department" and she would "never shop with us ever again because we were sloppy and careless in our inventory controls and packing process".
Even I was shocked at the level of anger directed towards us BEFORE we even could call her back (which we did within 15 minutes).
We also apologized (she was abusive on the phone and downright mean) and we said we would be happy to send an immediate replacement or give a full refund at that second. She was so abusive that we just went ahead and gave the full refund sending her an immediate email with the refund confirmation.
She sent a follow up email saying that our customer care had been horrible because she had not responded to her within 5 minutes. This is even after we gave her a refund within 5 minutes and called her back within 15.
Unfortunately this is happening more and more and I have to tell you that I personally spot read the emails and listen to the phone calls that my customer care team sends out. We try very hard but people come at us without even giving us a chance.
I think it is because consumers have been burnt by other companies with horrible customer care and just assume all companies are like that. It is very hard to deal with this growing assumption and as a result I have had a lot of turn over in customer care. They just don't want to take the abuse, especially when they are trying to be helpful.
Anyway...I wish I knew a good solution for all of this. We do actually receive thank you notes from customers that appreciate that we do try hard to be responsive, polite and helpful. So there are still some people that understand not all companies offer bad customer care.
Here's the difference Karen.. There will ALWAYS be the occasional "crazy customer" out there, but CLEARLY you guys still go above and beyond to provide POLITE customer service even when the customer is "irrate". Clearly you guys would have NEVER publicly persecuted a customer for asking to return product THEY deemed as unacceptable.. Your companies FIRST instinct in this case was to BE NICE.. At the end of the day it really comes down to just BEING NICE, and recongnizing that even if this person nevers buys from you again, and even if they tell others not to shop with you again, that ONE CUSTOMER can't hurt your business if you CONSISTENTLY provide a quality product and top notch polite, friendly customer service.
Hi Diva,
Yes yes yes.
I think one thing that people who shop on the Internet forget is that they are responsible for reading the return policies BEFORE they buy. We encourage people to call and ask questions before they buy which is why we have a toll free line.
Unfortunately people don't read and then they are shocked when they can't buy shampoo...use it and then return it for a full refund. Just like you can't go to a grocery store and buy food...eat half of it and return it because you "don't like it". The ironic thing is that we do accept returns if people decide "they don't like it" if they haven't used it. We do that all the time. Someone buys...especially hair accessories...and even though we have a professional photo lab in our warehouse to take photos of everything so that it is as clear as possible what people are getting...they still see it and decide they don't want it. As long as they don't wear it out to a party and then try and return it with hair wrapped around it...we will be happy to accept returns under our policies...which we had the Better Business Review before we finalized them.
I think the other problem with customer service is that there are those customers out there who ruin for everyone else. A company that is constantly getting burned by customers trying to pull a "fast one" makes companies become jaded.
We have had SO many people swear up and down that they haven't worn hair accessories but we find hair or even dandruff on returned pieces and trust me....I will never sell anything that has touched anyone's head as "new". But the customers will swear that it's not their hair or whatever they say and act outraged that we would not accept a "used" item.
It is just bizarre but even with all the craziness we always work so hard to be polite, responsive and helpful. And we follow our policies consistently.
I guess it's true...you can't please all the people all of the time. :-)
But I do know there are companies out there that have let their customer care totally go to hell and you get surly reps. I had one recently when I called a company.
Thanks Diva for all your great points. I appreciate your insight.
That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger or drives you totally insane. :-)
Karen, that customer you had sounds miserable! That's a shame that you had to deal with it. There's no justice in past bad experiences for this type of behavior. If that customer treated you like that, he/she doesn't deserve to shop with you any longer.
No one is going to get what they want by harassing you and being nasty. That's just moronic.
Hi Malibu,
Yes that is the bizarre thing. If a customer emails or calls and they start out polite....my people bend over backwards to help them. But if they start out calling us names and being abusive, even thought we always remain 100% professional the team will only follow our policies.
A recent example...a woman bought something and it got delayed due to the manufacturer. She emailed that she was needed it for a special party and just wanted to make sure she would get it in time. Even though she paid for regular UPS my customer care rep thought she was so nice on the phone (and she is a regular customer) so she bumped her out to expedited shipping w/HB.com paying the difference.
If she would come out of the gate being nasty you can bet that my rep would have been polite and professional but would not have offered for HB.com to expediate at our expense.
What's that old saying...you catch more flies with honey? :-) People just don't get that part for some odd reason.
Plus it goes back to just human decency and kindness.
That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger or drives you totally insane. :-)
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I am a customer and also a seller, so I can see both points here. As a customer I always try to be nice, give the seller the benefit of the doubt when if a problem arises and most times the seller wants to make it right. Sometimes there are things that happen that are beyond the sellers control...and face it, they are human to and mistakes can happen. But Ive also dealt with that occassional seller who takes NO responsibility and customer service is lousy. And when that happens, I dont deal with them again.
As a seller, I try to always make sure that my customers are happy if a problem arises. If its my mistake I CERTAINLY want to try to make them happy. I will try to make up for it in whatever way I can, within reason of course, and most times the customers are easy to deal with and appreciate your efforts to make things right.
I frequently upgrade to priority shipping just because...no reason. And even throw in freebies on occassion. But sometimes (and very rarely) I get that occassional customer that makes a mistake like providing an incorrect address and their package is lost in the system for 3/4 weeks, and I have NO gaurantee it will make it back to me, and expects ME to ship them another package on me at MY expense. And are angry at me becuase they havent recieved it. Or want to return a used hair attachment product (like pro-tac) cause they say its junk and dont work. So you will always those that you cannot please and will be unhappy. But I would NEVER EVER resort to treating anyone badly.
Karen, you are right, this "consumer internet complaints" hurt good companies like yours. But that is because "no questions asked" customer service got out of hand. Too many consumers are just taking advantage of companies. They buy things, use it, abuse it and they don't care, they have this "customer service" thing in their mind - they can return it any time they want!. People are buying $4000.00 dress at Neiman Marcus, wear it to the party and coming back next day to return it. Companies are adjusting to that abuse, therefore limit their "customer service". Hurts good customers? Yes. But that's the only way for companies to protect themselves from freebie wanting shysters.
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Karen, you are right, this "consumer internet complaints" hurt good companies like yours. But that is because "no questions asked" customer service got out of hand. Too many consumers are just taking advantage of companies. They buy things, use it, abuse it and they don't care, they have this "customer service" thing in their mind - they can return it any time they want!. People are buying $4000.00 dress at Neiman Marcus, wear it to the party and coming back next day to return it. Companies are adjusting to that abuse, therefore limit their "customer service". Hurts good customers? Yes. But that's the only way for companies to protect themselves from freebie wanting shysters.
But I think there is a difference between the customer that brings back the dress the next day with nothing wrong with it and the customer that bought that $4000.00 dress and it fell apart. I think companies need to make sure if they are selling there products for a very expensive amout that the quality should warrent that price. I think most of the time if a customer has purchased a product they want it! and don't want to have to return it, what would that point be? If product is good people will keep it! just my 2 cents
Edited by Rocket22 - October 14 2006 at 3:28pm
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Karen, you are right, this "consumer internet complaints" hurt good companies like yours. But that is because "no questions asked" customer service got out of hand. Too many consumers are just taking advantage of companies. They buy things, use it, abuse it and they don't care, they have this "customer service" thing in their mind - they can return it any time they want!. People are buying $4000.00 dress at Neiman Marcus, wear it to the party and coming back next day to return it. Companies are adjusting to that abuse, therefore limit their "customer service". Hurts good customers? Yes. But that's the only way for companies to protect themselves from freebie wanting shysters.
But I think there is a difference between the customer that brings back the dress the next day with nothing wrong with it and the customer that bought that $4000.00 dress and it fell apart. I think companies need to make sure if they are selling there products for a very expensive amout that the quality should warrent that price. I think most of the time if a customer has purchased a product they want it! and don't want to have to return it, what would that point be? If product is good people will keep it! just my 2 cents
Anything can fall apart in more than two months! Bentley is not an exception. If you abuse it, it will not hold!
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Friday, Oct. 13, at 10 p.m.: Now more than ever, consumers are irate about not getting what they pay for, and they're using the Internet to sound off and put companies on high alert. 
