Customer Service 101 - The Good, The Bad & The Petty

"Customers are like teeth. Ignore them and they'll go away." ~ Jerry Flanagan

I learned very early in my employment journey that customer service was not for me. I bid on a Customer Service Representative position because it was one of the highest paying positions at that time and I wanted to make more money. I moved through the classroom part of the training with ease, but when it came time to answer an incoming call, I was terrified and began to second guess my decision. I lost what little confidence I had because my new Supervisor came running to my desk to point out any error that I made in front of everyone within earshot. She monitored every call that I answered because I was the new girl. I know that she was only doing her job, but I'm still a little salty about that over forty years later. After being cursed out by a customer because his service was cutoff due to non-payment, I went to lunch and didn't return. I called my former supervisor and told her that I had walked off the job, and luckily she knew someone in Human Resources who helped me get my old job back within a few days. After that, I stayed in the Finance Department for the remainder of my thirty-five year career. Despite being told by others that "you have a great personality, you'd be great in a customer service job", I always politely tell them no I wouldn't and keep it moving.

I decided to write this post to share a few of the customer service experiences that I've had the last couple of days. All of the experiences haven't been great, but the good ones far outweigh the bad one that I will only mention in passing.

Thank you to Dale - My daughter Dawn has been looking for a new car after the motor blew up in her old one and she had been looking online at dealerships in the Middle Tennessee area. I had driven her to multiple lots over a few days and she found two cars that she liked at a dealership in Clarksville near her home. She had communicated via text with the salesperson that she was assigned to, and we went there expecting that she would be able to test drive the two cars that they discussed via text. The first car had already been sold in a pre-sale before we got there, but she liked the second one and wanted to purchase it. Thinking that everything was done, I decided to head back home until I got a call from her to come back. When I saw the look on her face, I knew that there was a problem. The salesman that she was working with had a lunch appointment that he had to get to so he left her there with another salesman to finish everything up. Well it turns out, he didn't bring the correct car that they had been discussing via text from the lot and had never checked the VIN. The car that she was about to purchase was two years older and was not the car that Navy Federal was financing for her. She was irritated and wanted to leave until Dale, the salesman who was just asked to close the sale, stepped in and asked her for a chance to fix the mess. She reluctantly agreed to stay and that young man went to work. He found the car on another lot that the dealer owns and went to pick it up. He did everything necessary to clear up the mess. I was hesitant to leave and head home until everything was done, but Dale walked over to my car and promised me that he'd take care of her and see that everything was completed. I was elated when I learned that Dale would be credited with the sale and not the salesman who created the mess. I wasn't surprised to learn that Dale was new to sales and had been a customer service representative at the dealership. If I was in the market for a car, I'd definitely reach out to Dale.

Thank you to the manager of The Budget Car Rental Office who worked diligently to find Xavier's telephone that he plays games and watches videos on. Dawn was renting cars to get around after her car broke down until she found one that she wanted to buy. She accidentally left it in the back seat thinking that the Happy Meal box that it was in was trash. He was very upset and she promised that she'd get him another one soon. After searching for the phone and realizing her mistake, she returned to the rental car office days later and discovered that the car had been rented. The manager contacted the customer who last rented it and he went to work to find that phone. I went this afternoon to pick up the phone that was returned by the customer from South Carolina. He was a retired police officer and he was determined to help find it, especially after her learned that Xavier was six years old. He had the car detailed before returning it in South Carolina and the phone was still at the detail shop in the same box. I'm grateful for his persistence and for the Rental Car Manager's excellent customer service and kindness.

I promised that I would mention the bad customer experience that I had only in passing. and I will. I pulled up to The Family Dollar Store to get a few snacks for Xavier before I picked him up from school. He expects snacks and I might be guilty of spoiling him a bit. After I parked and before I could get both feet on the ground, the employee let the blinds down and turned away from the door. Another customer was trying to open the door that was locked. I finally saw a few barely visible words written on a small post-it note, "closing early". I understand that businesses are struggling with staff shortages and other issues, but could someone have just written a bigger note so that customers outside could see it? It would have felt better than having the blinds shut in your face. Okay that's my rant........

Blessings,

Marilyn