Yesterday I experienced the entire spectrum of customer service from FAIL right through to WIN and it got me thinking – how many companies really *get* customer service?
This story starts with a tweet. I was logged into Twitter yesterday when saw a tweet from @BestBlooms for free chocolates with a beautiful orchid bouquet with a unique New Zealand kete wrap. My husband is always buying me flowers and I had been wanting to buy him some in return, but had never seen any style that wasn’t too girly. When I saw the orchid wrap, I thought it was quite a masculine yet beautiful – perfect! So I placed the order with @BestBlooms and they promised to deliver it that afternoon.
A short time later, I received a call from them. It turned out that @BestBlooms are located in Auckland on the North Island of New Zealand, while I am in Christchurch on the South Island. So they would be arranging the bouquet and delivery via a Christchurch-based florist. Not a problem. The bouquet arrived late that afternoon via a florist who drove an hour each way just to get it here.
My husband was delighted and the bouquet was very nice and came with 2 liquor chocolates as promised. BUT it didn’t have the kete wrap that was in the photo and convinced me to buy it in the first place. Here’s a picture of the bouquet that arrived (click on it for a larger view):
Orchid wrap BEFORE
Slightly disappointed and because they had asked for feedback, I got in touch with @BestBlooms to let them know I received the bouquet but it wasn’t quite what I expected. Immediately, they asked how they could make it up to me. I responded that I didn’t know, perhaps a discount on my next order or something. They replied via DM:
“Hi – leave it with me – i will make it right. thank you for your order – we do really appreciate yr business and hate it when not right!“
and I forgot all about it.
Today, there was a knock at the door and the same florist who drove an hour to my house yesterday was back again today, only this time she was holding a much larger bunch of orchids, with a larger box of chocolates, in the elusive kete wrap! Here’s a picture (click on it for a larger view):
Orchid wrap AFTER
The card said:
“To Gerald and Kalena, This was how it was supposed to look! Our mistake. Sincere apologies, Best Blooms”
I was absolutely blown away. This was gold class customer service! They had managed to turn a customer’s disappointment into delight and if ever anyone in my family or circle of friends needs flowers, who do you think I’m going to recommend? Yep, @BestBlooms. This post will also likely give them positive exposure as well. When I got in touch to thank them, they replied:
“Thank you and you are more than welcome. Guaranteed service is what we promise and thats not what we delivered! Had to be fixed!”
Compare this with another customer service experience on the same day. Yesterday morning, a friend of mine @kiwidvr showed me an email exchange she was having with the manager of a local theatre following a performance of Slava’s Snow Show she had taken her family to on the weekend. They had been seated in the gallery area of the Isaac Theatre Royal and could only see half of the performance due to the location of their seats, much of the action taking place at the front of the stage (which they couldn’t see) and people standing up or lifting their kids up in front of them.
Apparently their tickets in the gallery were inferior to the regular tickets because they booked late, but nobody at Ticketek had told them this upon booking. Having paid $150 for the tickets, my friend was disappointed enough to contact the theatre and complain. What she didn’t expect was the rude and arrogant response she received from the General Manager of the Isaac Theatre. Let’s call him Mr Cox.
Here are some extracts from his email:
“…it was your choice to opt for the cheaper tickets which based on current ticket prices for international shows were extremely well priced and accessible for all ages.”
“We have had no other complaints of this nature… the joy that this show is bringing to is clear to see on the patrons’ faces as they leave the Theatre each night.”
“If there was case for refund we would have considered it. Most times if we believe there are real concerns we’d invite patrons back at our cost. In this case though there isn’t a case for either.”
“I have seated myself in every level, on all sides of the theatre and experienced every show I possibly can here at the ITR. I do know though that unfortunately, as much as we’d love to, we can’t please everyone all the time, its the nature of the business.”
I couldn’t believe that this representative of the company chose not only to completely ignore my friend’s concerns, but to dismiss them as unimportant and make an assumption that SHE was the one with the problem. He also assumed that she wanted a refund when all she wanted was an apology.
I was amazed at the arrogance of the guy. He had a chance to turn an unhappy customer into a grateful one and he chose instead to compound the situation with a condescending and rude response. It was customer service FAIL of the worst kind. Do you think that theatre will be losing business over this? You betcha. My friend and I will be telling everyone we know about it and avoiding any shows at the Isaac Theatre in the future.
Having just experienced a customer service WIN on the same day, the comparison was black and white. So the question is – if you’re in business, how good is YOUR customer service? Is it more likely to win customers or piss people off?
Please share your comments below:
[Added – it was noted in the comments that I didn’t give the South Island florist any link love. Fair point! The wonderful South Island florist who made all those trips out here was Hornby Florist. Hats off to you as well.]
As one of the protagonists in the tale a shame you have written about, I am heartened to see that some businesses do know what to do with the gift that is negative feedback. Congratulations to BestBloom, they will benefit greatly in business with an approach like this.
I just wish my experience had turned out as rosy as yours, rather than being one that stunk! (sorry, terrible puns!)
Do you deal with upset clients that often? I even have an expression for when a client drops the “D-bomb” (“disappointed”) – ruins my day, racks me with guilt. Gotta fix it.
But once when I had to call up a whole bunch of competitors to complete an urgent job? Man, they love sayin’ “No” “Can’t do it” “Not possible” “That’s extra”, I love to say “yes” (thats what gets me in trouble half the time)
A lot of the time when a client is freaking out I realised . . . it’s because they think I don’t care! They’re accustomed to businesses not caring and that’s why they’re angry.
As soon as they see you’re taking the issue seriously, their reaction changes and they’re really grateful. They even come back!
Saw your wine vault comment also. I found Facebook ads are blegh unless you’re hypertargeting twentysomethings. Even then . . .
Hi Kalena,
Oh dear – I’m going to be a downer.
Because I have done a bit of work with the florist industry I have a little knowledge on how the industry works.
Here’s what I think may have happened.
North Island florist gets order, finds it is for South Island.
Calls florist in South Island, pays them 90% (approx) of the amount customer paid, with description of item.
Customer is disappointed.
North Island Florist called South Island florist and told them they got the order wrong.
South Island Florist replaces order (’cause thats what florists do) and adds chocolate, taking a loss on the order (in all probability). It is unlikely that North island florist paid for the order twice.
North Island Florist gets internet praise.
They drove hours to get it to you, took a loss on the order and don’t even get mentioned by name.
Poor South Island florist
The florist industry is a lot harder than most people realise.
But that theatre story really does suck!
Lea
[…] How to Win Customers and Piss People Off… Ask Kalena […]
@Lea – you’re absolutely right. The South Island florist was Hornby Florist and deserve praise as well. I will edit my post to give them kudos. Thanks!
I have been in customer service for nearly 15 years and I am constantly amazed by people who complain (or even worse who don’t) but then continue to spend money with that organisation.
My rule is very simple – I only spend my hard earned money with businesses that deserve it and treat me like I want to be treated – IMPORTANT! If they don’t then I simply refuse to go back.
The failing in all this are a couple of points 1) A lot of people don’t complain to the business directly but all their friends so the business never has a chance to put it right 2) A lot of people in business are brilliant at what they do hence they are in business BUT have never been trained in business such as sales or CS techniques.
One formula I use is LVC – Lifetime Value of the Customer….
Ok as a follow on to the comment above – I am the north island florist.
First off we DID pay for the order twice as it was OUR mistake – not theirs. One of our team members forgot to add the kete wrap.
We did send the order through the Teleflora network – we had contacted kalena and told her that was what we had to do as we are in Auckland. Sent the order through at full value just as customer paid.
I had just personally logged on here as I am about to email Hornby florist with the link with a big thank you from us personally and saw these comments so wanted to follow up.
Great article kalena. Nothing gets me mad faster than a company that arrogantly places blame on the customer without so much as a “We’re sorry we didn’t meet your expectations.” That’s the great thing about the internet and the age we live in though. People are connecting again, in ways never before imagined and in numbers that dwarf the small town customer base that some of these businesses are used to dealing with. Nowadays you have to be a fool to think a poor CS experience won’t hurt your reputation.
@Matt @Craig @CopperBot yes and even if you personally think the customer’s wrong, I think in business you need to act in the spirit of “the customer is always right”. What might not seem a big deal to you may seem a huge deal to your customer.
I agree Kal. In this day of social networking it is so easy to spread the word about bad service – the old saying about an unhappy customer telling 10 others is nothing!. You really have to look at the big picture and weigh up the risk to your business in pissing off a customer, even if you don’t agree with them – but never ever tell them that!
[…] I did! Professional blogger Ask Kal wrote a post about it, How to Win Customers and Piss People Off (a Tale of Customer Service) comparing her recent good experience with @BestBlooms when making a complaint, and mine. She and I […]
Good to see they followed up the issue quickly and rectified it. Too many small businesses ignore little complaints nowadays
This is a really great site to share experiences and also educational for companies. There are small businesses that do not understand the importance of customer service but still think they do a better job than big companies such as O2 who will try to do everything in their power to piss you off.
Great site