Customer Service - It's Not Rocket Science

Providing good customer service isn’t rocket science is it? Yet so often we are all frustrated and disappointed when we have to deal with companies and organisations when we have a query or a complaint.  When customers are vulnerable, or angry, or simply confused, companies should be on top of their game; sadly many are not. Since Christmas, Val and I have seen the Good, the Bad and the Indifferent sides of customer service because unfortunately three of the presents that we bought for our daughter, Sarah, had faults and had to go back to the shops.

The Good

Take a bow, Jack Wills! The iPad cover that we bought had a security tag stuck to a leather part of the case and when trying to remove it, the leather began to peel away. The assistant at Jack Wills’ Bluewater store replaced it immediately and without any quibble and because the item was now in their sale, refunded the difference between the original price and the sale price. We were in and out of the shop in five minutes, walked away happy and would recommend Jack Wills as a good place to shop.

Jack Wills - Top of the class for customer service this Christmas.

The Indifferent

We bought some Benefit cosmetics in Boots. There were supposed to be three separate items in the box but when Sarah opened it on Christmas morning, one was missing; so on Boxing Day Val went back to Boots. Now bear in mind that the shop had only been open for an hour or so when she went there, but the assistant from the Benefit concession was apparently on a tea-break. Could Val come back in forty five minutes? As it turns out, the Benefit assistant appeared and Val got her refund (the particular product was out of stock, so no replacement was available). What was striking about this was the all too common feeling that one gets as a customer (especially when wanting after sales service rather than making a purchase) that you are an inconvenience. “We’re short staffed,” they say, or “Can you come back later?” as though their time is valuable but yours as the consumer is not and that their problems are actually your problems.

The Bad

Oh boy! Where to begin? We purchased some earrings from Pandora at Lakeside. One had a bent post, so rather than try and wear it Sarah decided that she would prefer to have a straight one. Off we went to Pandora to change the earrings. The assistant that we saw offered us a replacement pair of earrings; the posts on both of these were bent. She then said that because the earrings were hand-made, the bent post was a feature rather than a fault. On that basis a handmade chair with three straight legs and one bent would be acceptable, would it? No, thought not. We decided that, on reflection we would like a refund but apparently this was not possible; a credit note was offered, which we declined and an impasse was reached. Backwards and forwards we went for over an hour; eventually we left the store with a gift card for the value of the earrings, not what we wanted but by now it was getting late and we were losing the will to live. Now I know that many jewellers have a no refund policy on earrings, as Pandora do, and for hygiene reasons that is understandable, but they also say that this does not affect the customer’s statutory rights, one of which is a refund if goods are faulty.

The somewhat contradictory stance that Pandora took was that they were happy to accept the earrings back – they said that they would have them cleaned and resell them as the fault that we perceived was actually a feature (hmmm). They would give us an alternative product; they would give us a credit note but they would not give us a refund. Why not? Because it was “not their policy” to offer refunds for earrings; exchanges for refunds, credit notes for earrings, refunds for everything else because that was their policy. And that is really the nub of the matter; policy. For policy, read rules (and you know how I feel about rules). The staff in Pandora were inflexible, immovable; it wasn’t policy to give a refund so they were not going to, not because they could not but simply because they would not. As the store manager had gone home, we asked if the assistant could phone her for a second opinion. She didn’t want to “inconvenience” her manager she said, but relented when we pointed out that it was apparently alright to inconvenience the customer (us).

Oh the irony of the Pandora logo! We had over 60 unforgettable moments with them...

...and this is where we had them.

Now some of you may say that technically we were not entitled to a refund and ought to have accepted a repair or replacement, but the fact is that over the years we have developed a policy of our own; a policy of zero tolerance towards faulty goods and shoddy service. Accepting an offer of a repair, or of replacement goods to be delivered at some indeterminate time in the future (as was proposed with the earrings), just leads one to a slippery slope of frustration with events dragging on for weeks or even months. Once the initial transaction has gone sour, most consumers want no more to do with the goods (or the company) – we didn’t, and a wise retailer will be guided by their policies rather than adhere to them blindly. If they recognise that the customer is unhappy it is prudent to set those policies aside and give a refund.  I know of which I speak having worked in customer facing roles for many years; it is a matter of treating customers fairly. Sometimes it is a matter of saying that while the rules say one thing, the best course of action is to step in front of them and do something different. Obviously where the rules are in place to support a legal requirement then there is no leeway; where the rules are merely company policy, or where the procedures simply do not fit the circumstances then there should be sufficient discretion allowed to have those rules or procedures set aside. Now by no means am I saying that just because a customer makes a fuss, complains or whatever, companies should cave in and give them everything they want. What I am saying is that common sense, discretion and acting reasonably should be at the cornerstone of customer service.

One of the problems with staff in stores and other branches of customer service is that they seem to take matters personally. When customers return goods that are faulty they don’t usually have an axe to grind with the employee, yet so many go on the defensive (and sometimes become simultaneously aggressive) as though the matter is personal. Often they try to make absurd justifications for both faulty products and their inability (or disinclination) to do anything to correct the situation.

The upshot of this episode with Pandora was that Val and I were seriously annoyed; sufficiently annoyed to write to the company to complain (no response at the time of writing: if and when we do get one I am sure it will be some unsatisfactory waffle about “policy”) and sufficiently peeved to be determined never to shop at Pandora again. And of course I was suitably miffed by the experience to write this blog.

Would we recommend Pandora to friends and family? I think you know the answer to that.