Customer Service

[peternap]

I wanted to but extra adapter rings for some old primes I just bought, and I had the other rings pretty well dedicated to other lenses. (T mount and Pentax)
I had just gotten a catalog from B&H and it had been a while since I used them so I called.

My email to B&H pretty well sums up the experience.


Your Message: My order that you didn't want. I just thought I'd drop a note and let you know about the fine service I just got. I wanted to buy new adapter rings (T mount and Pentax) for my Canon 40D and 7D. I hadn't bought from you for a long time but I just got a catalog, so I called in the order. Your sales rep told me they didn't make such a thing. I reminded him they did and he restated, they didn't. His exact words were "No such thing". I didn't want to waste either of our time so I hung up and ordered from Adorama where I've been buying equipment. They will be here in three days. Would you like your catalog back? I won't be needing it.

[NM_Shooter]

 

Good customer service is an endangered species.

However, I went to a box store the other day, and I was greeted with a big hello and a smile at the register, pleasant conversation, and I was thanked for my business and told to have a nice day.  By a kid no less.  I about fell over.  If I had my own business I would have stolen that employee. 

I bought a motorcycle a couple of years ago.  Went to the dealer, and asked a saleswoman the price of a bike on the floor, and she refused to give me a total price.  She told me that the prep charges were only added on during negotiations, but that I could count on it being an extra $1k or so.  I walked out, found a like-new bike in the paper and bought it.  I sent a letter to the dealership owner which resulted in changes to policy at the dealership.  But I'll still never buy a new bike from them. 

[peternap]

Good customer service is an endangered species.

However, I went to a box store the other day, and I was greeted with a big hello and a smile at the register, pleasant conversation, and I was thanked for my business and told to have a nice day.  By a kid no less.  I about fell over.  If I had my own business I would have stolen that employee. 

I bought a motorcycle a couple of years ago.  Went to the dealer, and asked a saleswoman the price of a bike on the floor, and she refused to give me a total price.  She told me that the prep charges were only added on during negotiations, but that I could count on it being an extra $1k or so.  I walked out, found a like-new bike in the paper and bought it.  I sent a letter to the dealership owner which resulted in changes to policy at the dealership.  But I'll still never buy a new bike from them. 

I remember that incident. Just amazing.

I have been getting more irritable lately over CS.
With the economy as bad as it is here, you'd think retailers would be doing everything possible to make sales.

I drove a hundred miles to Richmond last week, to buy a software package. I needed it that day.
I went to best Buy and walked to the back where the only two sales people were two girls and they were gossiping.

I walked up and waited until they noticed me. One looked at me and asked if she could help me in a "What do you want" way.

I asked for Pinnacle ultimate collection and she looked like I was speaking in tongues. Then she walked over to the software section, turned around and said, we don't carry it.
I asked if she could check her computer. She kind of huffed and looked it up on the computer, walked back to the same section, picked it up and handed it to me without a word.

That was my last trip to Best Buy too.

[peternap]

Well....at least they responded to the email.

We appreciate very much your letting us know about the very poor customer service you received from our salesman today .



My immediate impression from the words you quoted him saying  , " No such thing ",   -  was a taste of arrogance.



Both items you were looking for are on our web site and are easy to find.



1.   General Brand T-Mount SLR Camera Adapter for Pentax K

·         B&H # GBTMPK

·         Mfr # ATPK

    * Price : $ 14.95

2.   General Brand T-Mount SLR Camera Adapter for Canon EOS

·         B&H # GBTMCAF

·         Mfr # ATEOS

    * Price : $ 16.95





I would appreciate it if you would not mind letting me know the phone number you called from so as to see if we have a recording of this conversation.



This will enable us to see who it was that you spoke to , and correct this behavior.



Again, my sincere apologies,



Shalom Tabi  x-2258

Manager Pro Photo Phone Sales

Email: jayt@bhphotovideo.com



Sent: Monday, May 10, 2010 1:16 PM
Subject: Poor Service



Received this E-Mail











-----Original Message-----

From: dlitten@oldva.org

Sent: May 10, 2010 12:49:08 PM

Subject: Poor service



Customer's Name:xxxxxx



Customer's Phone Number: xxxxxxx



Order/Confirmation Number:

 

[OkieJohn2]

Your Best Buy (aka Mediocre Buy) story reminds me of my last experience there years ago.  I needed a scanner and drove to Wichita to buy the one I wanted.  Went to the East side BB, and finally found someone who could stop gabbing with his buddies about gaming scores long enough to tell me the one I wanted was out of stock,  He did agree to check the computer to see if the West side store had one, said they did. So off I go all the way across Wichita in rush hour traffic, only to find that they didn't have one, hadn't had one for months, didn't know when they would get more.  I even offered to buy the one on display but was told "No Way" they have to keep that one for people who want to buy one,  I said hey, I want to buy one.  Went to the customer service desk, no joy there, not their fault.  So I went back home and decided to email the head office, guess what, a company which sells computers doesn't have an email address, say they aren't yet set up to respond to emails.

[Redoverfarm]

Its sad in a way that a company will put so much effort to right a wrong rather than doing it right in the first place.  I guess they figure that they might get one complaint in a hundred contacts so why worry.  If I am that "one" in a hundred they will never see my buisness again.  It would be nice if someone had the time and energy to establish the good and bad companies publicly.  I know I would check their status before making purchases.

[MountainDon]

The other side of that particular coin is that we don't know if that particular service rep is representative of their general level of customer service. There always seem to be some who are at or close to the bottom end, just as there are, hopefully, some who are stellar representatives for the company. Some companies do record a huge volume of their service rep calls. The bank I used to work at recorded a phenomenal quantity. Not every call is reviewed under ordinary circumstances. However, at times like this it was a valuable tool to listen to what happened. If something like this happened with us it would cause steps to be taken to have that customer service rep monitored very carefully for a period of time, maybe be given some additional training, maybe threatened with dismissal. I almost always write like Peter did on the bad service occasions. Depending on how much free time I have at the time, how much I might have liked the company in the past, and other things I might ask for a supervisor right then.  I also take time to hand out kudos when I receive service that I thought was exemplary. The companies and the service reps also appreciate that a great deal.  Having been there maybe I see these things with a wider angle view than the average customer service caller.

[peternap]

It really doesn't make sense to put someone on the phones that isn't familiar with the equipment Don. B&H and Adorama are the two big suppliers on the East Coast and both spend a ton of money advertising.

Adorama is more pro customer though. They have a full time customer service person, who is also a very good photographer, who surfs the net all day looking for complaints. When she finds one on a photography site, it gets corrected if possible and if not, explained.

This order wasn't large but I think the last one I dod with Adorama was over two thousand dollars and I think the last one with B&H was just shy of a thousand.

If I hadn't known better, I'd have accepted B&H's comment that such a thing didn't exist and that would be end of it.

[OkieJohn2]

There is always resellerratings.com, I did a quick check and Adorama has a 9.37 score and B&H has a 9.74.

[MushCreek]

The flip side of poor customer service is the fake friendliness some stores use. At the big box lumber stores, they seem to go on a campaign every few months, and then EVERYBODY has to stop you and try to be friendly and help you find things. Fine. But when I go out of my way to ignore you, head down, and go hustling past, that's a not-so-subtle hint that i don't have time fore idle chit-chat, and I know where everything in the store is- I go there several times a week. I had one guy question me 3 times, and I finally asked if it was OK to just look around. I've actually walked out of HD with buying anything after being accosted in literally every aisle by over-zealous help. The ironic thing is, when you NEED someone, say to cut a length of wire or something, they're nowhere to be found. Sorry for the rant- guess I'm not a 'people person'.

[peternap]

The flip side of poor customer service is the fake friendliness some stores use. At the big box lumber stores, they seem to go on a campaign every few months, and then EVERYBODY has to stop you and try to be friendly and help you find things. Fine. But when I go out of my way to ignore you, head down, and go hustling past, that's a not-so-subtle hint that i don't have time fore idle chit-chat, and I know where everything in the store is- I go there several times a week. I had one guy question me 3 times, and I finally asked if it was OK to just look around. I've actually walked out of HD with buying anything after being accosted in literally every aisle by over-zealous help. The ironic thing is, when you NEED someone, say to cut a length of wire or something, they're nowhere to be found. Sorry for the rant- guess I'm not a 'people person'.

I always figured that was because I looked like I would steal 2x4's.

[glenn kangiser]

I got good service in the Fresh and Easy store yesterday.

I told the manager I just came over to buy some lunch and harass the Union picketers (three men) protesting and harassing their customers in front of their doorway because they are non-union.  

I was taking their pictures and video and told them I was just taking them for friends who wanted to come over and talk to them later.

The nice lady manager gave me a big unexpected hug.   Now that is what I call real customer service.  

Note that this store has lower prices in many cases and invested in the poor part of downtown where there are no other stores nearby.

Where was the union when a store was needed there?...

[peternap]

I got good service in the Fresh and Easy store yesterday.


The nice lady manager gave me a big unexpected hug.   Now that is what I call real customer service.  

She gota sista

[NM_Shooter]

I always figured that was because I looked like I would steal 2x4's.

15 years ago, I lived in Houston in a new subdivision, and a neighbor was selling a radial arm saw on a rolling cabinet at a garage sale.  I bought the thing but had to push it home, about 5 blocks. 

My neighbor across the street saw me and started laughing so hard he had to shut off his lawn mower.  He yelled at me "hey.... most of us just steal lumber".

I like shopping at smaller hardware stores.  Ace, Best Value, etc.  the service is way better, and the folks that work there usually know what they are doing. 

Another time I was at HD, and the line to check out was a mile long (a pet peeve of mine.  If I had a store with customers lined up to hand me $100 bills, you can bet I'd open up an extra register or two)... anyway, there was a HD employee in front of me leaning on a cart full of lumber and flirting with the woman waiting to check out.  I asked him.. "hey.. can you open up another register?".  He glared at me and told me that he was on work release and was not able to handle money (you should have seen the look on the woman's face).  I then asked him.... "how about your radio.. can you work that and call for help?"  He walked off.  Sigh...

[Redoverfarm]

Not surprising that the worse companies for customer service is banking institutions & communications companies.

Top 10 best  http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/10-companies-that-treat-you-right-2010.aspx

Top 10 worst http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/customer-service-hall-of-shame-companies-2010.aspx

[LeoinSA]

http://gethuman.com/

Got a complaint with poor CS?  Here's the place to get to a human as fast as possible.  I use it several times a year to bypass all those damned automated phone systems.