Your Customer Service Stories - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

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The Good, The Bad and the Ugly!

This is the place to read about and share your experiences of Customer Service - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly here. Click on the following contributors to read about their Good, Bad and Ugly Customer Service Experiences.

Have you got an outstanding customer service story? Or, a good, bad and an ugly story? Read our SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE new dedicated page and we may publish your story!

Your Customer Service Stories Jo Ellen Grzyb

Jo Ellen Grzyb I bet there isnt a single person reading this who hasnt had the good, the bad and the downright ugly in terms of Customer Care.

The good (which starts out bad): quite a few years back I stayed at the Hilton Hotel next to the Business Design Centre in Islington, which my husband I had had nick-named the penitentiary because of its bleak architecture. It was rubbish and the food was awful. I avoided it after that, except for one time when my husband and I had no choice and it hadnt got any better. At one point my husband complained about the lack of hot water and the person at the front desk laughed at him. We were not best pleased. True to the person I am I wrote a letter which only prompted a form letter that paid lip service to wanting to give us the best possible blah blah blah.

About two or three years ago I had to stay overnight in London again, couldnt get into my usual hotel and dreading it, booked into the Hilton. Transformation! Oh the rooms were pretty much the same, not always in the best shape but scrupulously clean, but in every other way the hotel was a pleasure to stay in. Friendly, warm greetings at the front desk, inventive and tasty food, pleasant staff across the board.

So what if the plaster isnt perfect around the tub? So what if the water taps dont work brilliantly? So what? The high level of customer service makes small things negligible because I always feel taken care of; I always feel looked after and I always feel that if I ask for something, the staff will go out of their way to ensure its taken care of.

Just as I am quick to write letters of complaint, I am quick to write letters of praise, but now when I write to the Hilton I get an immediate response, so I feel listened to.

Whatever they did works and now Hilton Hotels become my preferred choice rather than a last resort.

The bad: Im a keen and passionate gardener so I am a keen and passionate visitor to garden centres. I know pretty much all of them in my neck of the woods. Heres a description of one I visited a few times but wont ever be going back to: aside from rather sad looking stock, the staff werent knowledgeable, but that was nothing compared to being completely uninterested in any question I asked.

A mumbled I dont know or even the staff member walking away with a shrug seemed the order of the day. And the queues! Typically on a Sunday afternoon, one till would be in operation and when Id finally reach the nirvana of being served (sic), something inevitably seemed to go wrong. If I dared asked for help lugging the big bags of compost to my car, a deep sigh would issue forth and there would be a slow motion, practically resentful groping for the walkie-talkie to try to find someone.

After an age of getting no response, the server (sic) would shrug (they were really good at this body language stuff) and mumble no ones available, and Id be left standing there with my cart piled high with sacks of stuff as he got on with the next person.

A response to my letter of complaint took at least three months, but by then I knew I and my cash were going elsewhere.

The downright ugly: Oh dear, I get depressed just thinking about this saga, let alone writing about it. Twas to do with a phone company that shall remain nameless out of the goodness of my heart and so I wont get sued, who must have the worst customer service I have ever encountered and thats saying a lot. Im over 60, Ive had lots of good, bad and ugly customer care, so to top the bill as the worst has to be pretty bad indeed.

Moving house, want my phone switched. Am assured I can have my old number. Am given a date when the switch will be made and the order completed. I take his name...just in case. I move. I wait. The big day passes. I phone, I have to press two for moving house; I press two; I have to press three for already placed order, I press three. I am on a queue but my call is important. Im kind of OK at this point because I dont know whats to come.

Eventually I get a person, who tells me I got it wrong. No I didnt get it wrong, this is what I was told by your colleague. She now spends her time taking details about that original call so she can get authorisation to listen to the tapes to see who was telling the truth. The issue of my new phone is off the agenda till I bring it back. She has to listen to the call first to see what was said.

Meanwhile, she cheerfully informs me my order was only going to go in on the date I was given for completing the work, so it will be at least another two weeks before I get a phone. And by the way I wasnt going to get my old phone number though Id only moved a few streets away and that never would have been promised because it wasnt on the list of things they are supposed to say to customers. Not happy, really not happy, especially as I am receiving zero empathy on the other end of the line.

All right, when will someone phone me to tell me the results of this investigation?. If she gets the authorisation, it will be by the end of the week. Oh oh. I take her name.

The end of the week comes and goes, no phone call. The following Monday I phone, go through the pressing numbers two and three rigmarole once again and wait on the queue. Now Im getting a bit more cheesed off as Im using a mobile and the costs are mounting up. When I finally get to someone who has to hear the story all over again and has trouble finding my file, I tell her I dont appreciate paying for lengthy phone calls on my mobile and she takes my number and rings me right back.

Im lulled into a very false sense of security because I think Oh goodie! Someones taking me seriously. Ha ha. Stating the obvious, she says, Someone should have phoned you last week. Yes, I know, thats why Im phoning now. Full of apologies, she assures me she is taking full responsibility for my situation and it will be sorted by Friday or at least she will ring to let me know why not.

Ahhhh. I feel so much better. Till Friday of course.

No phone call, no reasons why not. So I phone again, go through what I feel I could do in my sleep, tell the story all over again and am then told I shouldnt be phoning this number and he hangs up without giving me the number I should phone.

Im not going to go into the sordid details of how many more phone calls I made (at least a dozen), the promises, broken with every conversation, and the complete lack of any sense of ownership of my problem. Needless to say, it took over a month to get a phone and much much aggravation.

Now in the great scheme of things, not having a phone for six weeks is no big deal, especially with mobile phones and email. BUT, Im paying for service. Thats the point here. All that was needed to keep me from wanting to fling my phone across the room in frustration, raging at whoever was unfortunate to be on the receiving end of my umpteenth call, and stomping around my new house railing at their customer service (sic) department, was accurate information given in a timely way. Im so sorry Mrs Grzyb, we wont be able to sort this problem out until next week, but I will phone you on Thursday to keep you up to date with progress. And then do that.

Not a lot, but even writing about it I am back in the blood boiling feelings I had then, thats how powerful bad customer service can be!

Your Customer Service Stories Graham Bennett

The Good: Getting my French francs note chewed up by a machine at an ELF petrol station on the motorway in France. I sent the shredded evidence together with a humorous letter to ELF in France, and got a lovely understanding letter back from one of their English representatives, together with remuneration in Stirling.

The Bad: I often dine out alone (sad but true) - and even sadder, I have occasionally been forgotten by the waiting staff. The difference in customer service for me is represented by two separate occasions at two separate restaurants - one where I had to force the waiter to acknowledge that I had been forgotten - they tried to pretend it hadn't happened, and left me feeling worse, like a nuisance, and offered nothing more than a grudging apology. I will and have been back there again, because it is very conveniently situated for me when making certain journeys. But I go in grudgingly now though.

The Ugly: On the other occasion, they acknowledged immediately that I had been forgotten, and in good humour explained why it might have happened, and explanation that I found totally acceptable and plausible in the circumstances by the way, immediately offered me a free meal, and asked for my order. I felt good, cared for, my inconvenience understood - I had been hoping to eat fairly quickly before meeting someone - thoroughly enjoyed my meal, and will go back there again. I haven't yet gone back because it was a one-off visit to that location, however if and when I do return, it will be with pleasure.

Your Customer Service Stories Julie Wales

The Good: In terms of customer service, Im with John Betjeman.

If the end of the world came he wanted to be in the haberdashery department of Peter Jones 'because nothing unpleasant could ever happen there'.

Its true for me too. Along with Marks and Spencer, Prtand I quite like Virginꅒs service ethic too - treat me like a real human being and Im a customer for life.

My best experience of customer service though was actually buying something which was very expensive, promised a great deal - and then didnt deliver!

Expectations full on, meant that I was far more frustrated and irritated than I would normally have been at feeling conned. I was so looking forward to how much cleaner and completely dust-free our home would be, after paying way over the odds for one of the first wave of Dyson vacuum cleaners.

So, I was then completely furious at the crappy thing that clunked its way around our hall carpet. It seemed to clog up after the first five minutes and then spewed all sorts of stuff everywhere when I tried to clumsily investigate.

Answered on the second or third ring, I was met by a sympathetic being on the other end of the phone. The soothing had begun. I was listened to. I was talked through what may be going on. I think the woman I spoke with even offered to call me back as I tried to wrestle the wretched thing to the ground. Temporarily placated, I followed her instructions, put the phone down. All was well for a while. It then clogged up again!

One more call (but far more irritated this time) later to Dysons Customer Service. Mrs Angry of East Dulwich feeling listened to and calming down. Five minutes on purring contentedly after being told that a brand new vacuum cleaner would be couriered over - tomorrow!

Explained to me that there had been some hiccups with the first models, as this was state of the art technology, I somehow put the phone down feeling flattered as a vacuum adventurer.

As heroine supporter of those doing their best to transform domestic drudgery, suddenly I was defending how perfectly reasonable it was that it didnt actually work properly. And so, I became a Dyson champion. In fact, its all because of me that theyve done so well since then.

Amazing, isnt it?

The fact is that most of us arent perfect. And depending on the circumstances, most of us can be sympathetic to less than perfect - if were handled well. Sometimes even the downright shoddy is forgiven.

When we feel that weve been authentically listened to, believe that our experience matters to somebody and that the quality of their service ultimately matters to them too, all is right in the world - and haberdashery.
It can even be a blessing if our first experience of their service was bad. Not that Im advocating poor service or empty promises (as clearly they catch up with everyone) but most of us are most impressed by how were handled when things go wrong. Funny that.

Somebody said something along the lines of if you receive good customer service you might tell a couple of people. Bad service means you might tell twice as many. In my case, bad stuff being handled very well probably meant I told 4 times as many.

Is this just a measure though of how rubbish customer service is generally in this country? Is it because we are so surprised at being treated as human beings by real human beings, that it makes such a massive impact?

As the mother of three teenage girls, Ive spent many a weary Saturday afternoon - as keeper of the purse - being manoeuvred into certain sports shops. I have to confess to having form.

While my self-conscious daughters would rather I didnt make any kind of fuss, ie, by asking those (to whom we appear to be invisible) if they have it in a size 5. For my part, it does my head in.

Sullen assistants, who dont make any pretence at masking their irritation that their mobile telephone conversations have just been interrupted have prompted my incandescent rage. How very dare they make me feel rude? Ill have to get back to you muttered into their phones, before they reluctantly offer any eye contact. Oooh, dont get me started!

There are so many times that if I had not caught that pleading Oh please mum, dont start look, I would have relished the challenge of telling these customer service apologists exactly what I assumed they were paid to do. (Nicely though -as Im supposed to know better, even when my buttons have been sorely pressed.)

Actually, that last bit is not strictly true. Theres been a number of times when I have been sheepishly escorted off the premises (okay sometimes begged) by the same trendy-trainer-fetishists - who would rather usher me out of the shop without buying anything - to find a safe haven, rather than allow me to blow their cover and shame our family name.

Theres another thing most of us dont like to complain about it at the time which doesnt mean were not seething inside.

Is it just me? I dont think so. It often happens in our customer service workshops, we ask people about their best and worst customer service stories. Having lit the blue touch paper, we tend then to stand back!

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly!

This is the place to read about and share your experiences of Customer Service - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Have you got an outstanding customer service story? Or, a good, bad and an ugly story? Read our SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE new dedicated page and we may publish your story!

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