Best and worst customer service

[formerlurker]

Good, the Bad & the Ugly
You've likely had at least one memorable customer service experience. That moment when you either wanted to shriek in anger or shout for joy over the type of service you received. Well, we asked our readers to share their stories -- the good and the bad -- about the best and worst retail experiences they have encountered.

Click through our gallery to see which stores got it right, and which got it very, very wrong. (Please keep in mind these are accounts of individual experiences and may or may not be reflective of any retailer's overall customer service or policies.)

Worst: Victoria's Secret
Reader prprincessO8 says:
"A few years ago, a friend [and I] were shopping at the mall. We decided to go into Victoria's Secret [to] browse. I was overweight at the time. I had seen a really nice bra and panty set, and I said to my friend, 'They shouldn't be so discriminatory. They should make this in our size.' I then heard the manager tell us, 'Maybe if you lose some weight we would have things that fit you.' That was the last time I was in a Victoria's Secret, and I have no intention of going back in one."

Best: B. Dalton
Reader DDMoffitt says:
"My son had requested a book for Christmas ... The young lady looked in the computer inventory to see if they had the requested book. It showed there were some in stock, still packed. She went to look through the packed books and could find none. The next shipment was arriving in the next few days, however, arrival time uncertain. This young lady then called the competition, Borders, and requested they check their inventory. She gave me the contact name at Borders and told me to just go up to the counter and my book would be waiting."

Worst: Books-A-Million
Reader JSM1295 says:
"Last year I went to Books-A-Million to buy a children's book for a grandchild. I went to the customer service podium in the center of the store and gave the title to a clerk and asked where to find it. She waved her arm in the direction of the children's book section and said, 'Over there.' As I walked away, I heard her turn to her co-worker and say in an [aggravated] tone, 'She didn't even TRY to find it on her own.'"

Best: Office Depot
Reader Red5781 says:
"My mother was creating a book for all four of her children that was a combination autobiography and memory book. It was just a jumble of typed pages and loose photos. She took this material in a plastic bag to an Office Depot in Sanford, Florida, and in about a week had a beautiful gift for all of us. We were so impressed with the book's quality and creativity."

Worst: Dillard's
Reader KRSRSS3 says:
"When I was 18 years old, my mother died of lung cancer. She had clothes that she had purchased during her illness that she had never even taken the tags off to wear. My father asked me to return the clothes to Dillard's ... I did not have the receipts ... [The cashier] was very rude in the way that she was asking me, 'Why can't you just get the receipts from your mom to get the credit?' I then told her that she had just died and she proceeded to look into my face and say, 'Well, you don't look too sad about it.'"

http://www.walletpop.com/specials/best-and-worst-customer-service?icid=200100397x1216937407x1201063817


I am convinced that the customer service that I grew up with is long dead.   They don't even try anymore. 

[NHSparky]

Of course not--because of the "entitlement" mentality.  But FL, keep in mind it goes both ways.  Imagine what some CUSTOMERS put stores through.

[Zeus]

while I agree that overall good customer service is becoming a rarity I believe peoples attitudes towards others has brought it about. You gets what you gives ya know what I mean vern.

[MrsSmith]

In many places, customer service is non-existant.  This is why I truly appreciate places like Ace Hardware.  I have never gone into an Ace without a polite person being very happy to help me find the  pieces I need to fix my  plumbing.   I absolutely hate plumbing, so love the place that can help me figure out what I need on the FIRST trip. 

[Gratiot]

Those are some good stories 

Of course not--because of the "entitlement" mentality.  But FL, keep in mind it goes both ways.  Imagine what some CUSTOMERS put stores through.

You mean, "customer service" and bargain internet liquidation pricing don't go hand in hand?  Drats!

Except for basic commodity items, as long as it's reasonable, I'm generally willing to pay more for a company with excellent customer service versus the cheaper alternative, especially if they're local.  It's when they don't offer exceedingly great customer service, that I spend two hours scouring the net to save $5 

[Chris_]

Of course not--because of the "entitlement" mentality.  But FL, keep in mind it goes both ways.  Imagine what some CUSTOMERS put stores through.

We had Sears here last night installing some new appliances.  One of the installers was a bit late.  His reason?  He had to call the cops on the previous call.  Something upset the person and she threw him out and didn't let him retrieve his tools -- which is theft.  The installers were very nice so I can't imagine what could have caused the problem unless the installer found some condition that was going to cost them money.

[morningAngel]

I went to a well known clothing store to purchase a dress for my mother's burial.  My mother was a tiny woman.  I am not.  I was looking around and the clerk came over and asked me if she could assist.  I told her I needed a dress in a size 4.  She looked at me and said "4X? that section is over there" and pointed....
 

[Miss Mia]

When I was in high school I worked customer service at Six Flags (my senior year I was the supervisor of the customer service dept, the youngest sup in the park and ever for customer service). 

The most important lesson learned:  If you ask nicely, you'll get more.  If you scream at them, they won't budge. 

Customers want everything in the world.  Lots of people are scammers to get as much free crap as they can, and sorry customer isn't always right.


BUT if you had a genuine problem, I was more than willing to give everything I could to make someone happy.  I empathized with them, and said "hey, would you like tickets to come back another time?"

[Carl]

I have to say that after 12 years at a NAPA store and now almost 9 at the equipment dealership selling parts I am always leery of "customer service" horror stories.

Every day I have folks that call or walk in and ask for a part for their tractor and when I ask them what they have for a specific model machine they say "I don`t know what model it is".
Sorry to any of them that may be offended but I tell them point blank that at that point we are done and that I can`t help them if they can`t tell me what they have.

Some understand and try to work with you,others get bent out of shape and for all I know post about poor customer service on a website.

[jinxmchue]

Had a best and worst in the same day involving the same situation a couple months ago.  My wife's front driver's side tire developed a flat, so I used one of those fix-a-flat canisters and drove it to a nearby convenience store.  Unfortunately not only did the fix-a-flat stuff not work, but the store's air hose was out of order.  I wasn't going to try the fix-a-flat stuff again, so I walked home and called our insurance company, which provides free roadside assistance.  They got a hold of someone locally to come put on the spare.  (Hey, it's free, so why should I break my back doing it?    )  We got an automated message saying the person would be there within 5 minutes, so we bundled up the kids and drove my truck to the gas station.  We waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Someone from the store eventually came out and said the guy had already been there, saw no one around the vehicle and had immediately left.  I called the guy (who runs a rip-off used car business) and he was very rude to me, saying he doesn't get paid twice for coming out (but apparently it's okay for him to get paid for doing nothing other than coming out) and that he was with other customers (yeah, right).  So I went home and called the insurance company back.  I reported the guy's behavior and requested that they find someone new to change the flat.  They did, but it would take longer, which was fine by me.  We even called the second guy and told him to give us a call when he was headed out to our van.  He did and when we got there, he was there trying to figure out how to jack it up (the van has runners on the side, so he couldn't get under it very well).  The first guy could've done that instead of taking off.

Oh, and to cap off the fun, the first guy called us back when we were waiting for the second guy.  He said that he was back at the vehicle and couldn't get it in (even though we had left it unlocked).  I told him that we had called the insurance company to get someone else to do it and that they said they were going to call him to cancel the assistance request.  He didn't say anything and just hung up his cellphone.  That made me laugh.

[guest]

The most important lesson learned:  If you ask nicely, you'll get more.  If you scream at them, they won't budge. 

Customers want everything in the world.  Lots of people are scammers to get as much free crap as they can, and sorry customer isn't always right.

Well said, MM.   I work for a particular southeastern grocery store chain, typically one of the best companies when it comes to customer service. However,   I have far too many horror stories involving both customers AND co-workers in my year of working for my store, it's really sad.

A lot of people who come to our store are honest and nice.  If something goes out in their cart that they didn't pay for, most of the time, the item is brought back, either to be paid for or returned altogether.   Unfortunately, there are some (not a lot) who attempt to get away with hiding little items in their carts, but either the cashier or bagger (usually the latter) sees the item and removes it from the cart and simply asks the customer if it is something they planned to purchase.  We had this one lady get all huffy with the person bagging for me who had simply reached in and picked up the pack of gum lying under the child's seat and asked her if it was hers.   It was an innocent question, nothing accusatory in the words or tone my co-worker used, yet the customer blew up.  It may have been just a pack of gum, but when you add up all the stores and other items that vanish without being paid for, the loss for the company (and almost all other retailers) becomes astronomical in the form of shrink, and thus, higher grocery prices.  Profit margin is extremely slim, so everything ought to be accounted for.

I've also watched co-workers (a particular customer service staff member comes to mind ) really show how incompetent they are when it comes to treating customers properly.   They just have this generally bitchy attitude that grates on my nerves when I see them speaking to a customer, and its gotten worse since my boss took leave to take care of her health.   

I've learned a lot more about CS working for the current employer than I did for a previous employer.  Even though I intend to go into the medical field, I think it does help knowing how to treat your customers (or patients) the way they would like to be...with respect and dignity, but at the same time, remain aware of those who might not reciprocate such feelings.