Church of the Customer Blog
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September 07, 2005
This is the way it's done here
Mark Sicignano of SoftwareTime told us a story of customer service so remarkable that he was compelled to share:
My friend was in a wedding recently and he went with the groom and the other groomsmen to pick up their tuxedos. Turns out he's missing the vest for his tuxedo. He approaches the counter and points the absense of the vest to the woman. She tells him that they'll call and have another one shipped out and he could pick it up the following day.
He explains that he's really busy, and has to work, and would prefer if they could ship it directly to him. It would save him a lot of time and the inconvenience. She snaps at him that this is the way that it's done and he'll just have to come tomorrow to pick it up. So he points out that it was their mistake and it shouldn't be his inconvenience. She basically says, "Tough." So he's annoyed and loudly asks, "Where is the customer service in this place?"
So he retreats to talk it over with the groom and he returns to the counter to explain that he will in fact be willing to pick up the vest the following day. She hands him a receipt and says, don't worry about it. I've refunded your money on your credit card and you can go find a tux someplace else. We don't want your business here.
I understand that at that point, the groom and the other groomsmen all requested refunds and found another local place that was willing to work with them on a rush. There goes thousands of dollars in current and future business all because they couldn't deliver a vest to a paying customer and make his day.
Why do businesses which specialize in rentals often have the most disorganized, even foul, customer service?
Other blogs that reference This is the way it's done here:
» Customer Care Starts From The Inside from The Big Act
I was reading a post on the Church of the Customer and it struck a sensitive cord with me. It reminded me of this story. [Read More]
isn't a part of the point of this story be to name the store that provided such terrible service?
Could it be the low margins?
Or maybe it's having to deal with customers' abuse of their products (think bowling shoes, writ large).
Not that they should get away with it, though. The U-Haul place in my neighborhood is certainly in the same category as the tux place above. There should be some kind of award for crap service, I swear.
also, re: eric's comment above, had the name of the place been divulged, it would have made a very good case study of why even small businesses need to pay attention to blogs...
I third the request for the name of the rental place!!!
After Hours Formal Wear, which is a national chain, and I believe it was in their Trumbull, CT location.
It was on a Thursday and the wedding was on a Saturday. They wanted him to drive down, 45 minutes from where he lived, on the morning of the wedding, to pick up the vest.
I don't have a name of the place that they ended up at, but it was a smaller, privately owned place, and the customer service was excellent. The guy took care of the entire party, making alterations on the spot and sent them all off as satisfied customers.
After reading this I had to chuckle because my nephew recently had the same experience. Only he begged Mom to go get everything and being a good Mom, she did. With that said, customer service has always been and will be key to any offline or online business. While I teach business people how to market their businesses online, we lways have a class on customer service. People often forget that it is perhaps even more important online!
Jan Peterson
Internet Coach
http://www.goldstarreview.com
It never fails to amaze me at how companies seem to go out of their way to lose customers. I am a vocal consumer -- when something isn't right, I complain. But I think most people don't complain. They just vote with their feet and don't patronize that company again. Consumers need to make the effort to let management know when they receive poor service and companies need to actively solicit input from their customers. If we never tell a company that they have a problem, then they never have a chance to fix it.
Good job with the tux place, though. I applaud the entire wedding party for following through and taking their business elsewhere.
