Comments on: Does taking it to the top do any good?

By: r

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 06:11:24 +0000

I have had terrible, terrible experiences at best buy with items that were under their extended warrenty policy – getting to the point where when they had me call the corporate customer service number they told me that “the person you are speaking to at the store cannot carry out your request because he’s not actually the manager, he just told you that he was; when he tells you that the store cannot do __ that’s just wrong’ and the actual store managed (who this eventually went to) telling me that no, the two different people at corporate that I talked to were just lying, it wasn’t his fault. And – this is the best part – that the fact that they had twice sent my item back for repairs and then returned it to me in a nonworking condition because both times they replaced the battery despite the fact that the work order clearly stated that the hard drive was bad, well, that’s not against the contract – the contract just says that they’ll fix the item when it’s broken… not that they’ll fix what YOU want them to fix about it.

Anyways… point being: there’s no way that this is how this is supposed to work. I don’t think it’s that there’s an optimal solution to customer service systems that says don’t-bother-to-please-the-little guy, I think Best Buy just has dysfunctional customer service system (try googling “geek squad” and you’ll find both tirades from customers, and laments from former employees who think it used to be a good service until best buy disemboweled it), and that this is gradually pulling the company down, just… with a time lag.

By: Angie Hartford

Angie Hartford — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:48:41 +0000

I think that overall customer service is at a low across the board right now. Naturally, there are exceptions. But eventually the pendulum will swing back to taking care of people who spend money at one’s business.

But until then, small business people (check my link for an excellent example ) can easily stand out from the Best Buys of this world by putting customer satisfaction at the top of their list of company goals.

By: Greg

Greg — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 12:21:45 +0000

If there is an issue that the site manager does not solve, you have to escalate it. Somewhere in the flow chart is someone whose time is worth more than the item in question. They can give the order to fix it. All public companies have the names of the officers and principles listed in the annual reports. Find some names, call, and ask to speak to their assistant (not direct, those calls get screened). Be polite; executive assistants can be your best friend. If they think you have a valid cause, they can present to their boss in such a way that things will get done. They may even contact the site manager directly to find out if they can just take care of it before the issue comes to their bosses’ attention.

Or, you can pay more to shop at a hi-fi store that makes customer service a priority.

By: PaulD

PaulD — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 11:23:58 +0000

The real leverage that a dissatisfied customer has, and what concerns stores the most, is that the customer wil tell his experience to others. I’ve read that one dissatisfied customer typically tells about 20 people of his bad experience. The internet may be magnifying this .
The opposite may also be true. When stores handle problems appropriately, a customer may be inclined to recommend the store to others.
I don’t know how the economics of this work out, but it seems likely to me that the most successful retailers will be the one’s who provide superior customer service.