Submitted by Scott in Minnesota

My wife and I decided to try something new for Sunday breakfast…a local eatery called The Bad Waitress. While it’s hard to discern this restaurant’s promise the name would indicate that one should not expect excellent service.

The restaurant is best described as a retro diner complete with checkered floor and black vinyl booths. The menu is replete with basic diner fare. We quickly learned that, as the name would imply, service was minimal. You write your own order, pour your own coffee, etc. Besides collecting the money about all they do is bring the food from the kitchen to your table and bus the table when you’re finished. That was their shtick.

Despite the crowd we were seated immediately. After perusing the menu my wife, who waited tables throughout high school and had the requisite skills, wrote out our order and took it to the cashier. After paying, the cashier informed her that the kitchen was backed up and that it would likely be 45 minutes before our food would be ready. This wasn’t a problem. We had the Sunday paper and all the coffee we could drink. We settled in for a leisurely breakfast.

After an hour had passed we called one of the employees over and asked him to check on the progress of our meal. He returned a moment later and assured us that our meal would be ready momentarily. Another 25 minutes passed. We had finished the Sunday paper and decided it was time to get on with our day. We asked the same employee about our order. He just shrugged. We asked to see the manager and he pointed to a woman at the register.

We told the manager that we had been waiting almost 90 minutes for our food. Even worse, 25 minutes earlier we had been told by one of her employees that our meal was moments away. She demanded to know who told us that. When I pointed out the gentleman her response was, “Well he wouldn’t know” as if I was stupid for even asking him.

At that point another employee came over from the kitchen and informed the manager that our order slip had fallen on the floor and was never placed in the queue. I was dumbfounded. I asked the manager why then were we told our order was almost ready. In the same tone as before she reminded me that she wasn’t the one who told us that as if that absolved her of all responsibility. There was no remorse, no apology. I asked for an immediate refund.

She processed our credit card refund but when she handed me the receipt I noticed she hadn’t refunded the $4.00 tip. (Tell me again why we tipped at a restaurant without table service?) I asked about the tip and was informed that it was gone…it had already been distributed amongst the staff. Again I was dumbfounded. Did she really expect me to reward the staff for this fiasco? I gave her one of those withering looks that makes dogs whimper and children put themselves in time-out. Realizing she was on thin ice she reached into the tip jar, pulled out four dollars and handed it to me. We left vowing never to return.

As we drove away, in search of a meal, I reflected upon our experience. Bad things happen, mistakes are made. It’s how you deal with those mistakes that determine if the customer leaves satisfied. But let’s go back to the initial promise and resulting expectations. I expected bad service. That was part of the shtick. Didn’t The Bad Waitress actually over-deliver on my expectations? Perhaps. But I also expected to eat. And that particular touchpoint trumps all other experiential elements. After all, it’s hard to leave a restaurant satisfied if no food has been consumed.

Submitted by Shannon in Minnesota

A trip to my daughter’s pediatrician resulted in a referral to a specialist. While I wasn’t overly concerned, anytime a doctor tells me I need to see a specialist I get a tad bit nervous. That nervousness quickly turned to frustration as I tried to schedule the appointment.

Week 1: Day 1: On Monday I called the specialist to schedule the appointment. The person who answered the phone said she would have to check the doctor’s schedule and would get back to me shortly.

Week 1: Day 4: Four days later, still having heard nothing from the doctor’s office, I called again. A different person answered the phone. She assured me that she had “special access” to the doctor’s schedule and would check his availability ASAP and get back to me with some scheduling options.

Week 2: Day 2: Five days pass without a return call from the doctor’s office so I call again. The person answering the phone wasn’t familiar with our case so I assume she is now the third person I’ve spoken with. I asked her if there was something delaying the process. Did they need more information? Was the doctor reviewing the case file before scheduling the appointment? I couldn’t understand the hold up. She promised to follow up immediately.

Week 3: Day 3: A week later the office finally called back and scheduled the appointment.

If it takes three weeks to schedule an appointment how good can their care be? Don’t they understand the anxiety that accompanies the need to schedule a doctor’s appointment? If this appointment leads to the need for treatment how well will my daughter be treated? Will the doctor communicate what’s going on in a timely fashion? Bottom line…can I trust this person with the health of my family?

Scott says:

Too often professionals…lawyers, doctors, etc…forget that they too must manage a holistic customer experience. If a bad experience with the front office causes the patient to question the capabilities of the doctor or the quality of care they will receive it could result in a decline of the practice. Organizations that deal with emotionally charged situations (like medical services) are particularly vulnerable to a single, bad touchpoint experience. Knowing this, they should ensure that every staff member understands the intended customer experience and their role in fulfilling that experience each and every day.

Submitted by Ann in Minnesota

For many years I was a loyal customer of my local sporting goods superstore.  I felt they excelled in two areas: Product assortment (at multiple price points) and customer service.  When my store was purchased by a large, national chain I went online to check out the new proprietor. Their website promised the finest quality products at competitive prices, backed by the best service anywhere.  This was encouraging so when it came time to buy my daughter’s competitive swimwear I decided to check them out.

We needed a swim suit, goggles and a cap.  Believe it or not it took three trips to purchase these items:

Trip 1: I was pressed for time.  I could not find the swimwear section nor could I find an employee to ask.  After a fair amount of wandering I found the section but couldn’t get into the fitting room.  There’s a button to push for fitting room service.  When I pushed it I could hear the announcement played over the PA in the store.  After three attempts, nobody responded.  I finally scooted into a room when somebody vacated one.  Finally ran out of time and had to leave without the goggles and cap.

Trip 2: Pressed for time again…story of my life.  But all I needed was a cap and goggles.  Dashed in and headed to swimsuits on the 2nd floor.  Swimming accessories were nowhere to be found.  I walked around the entire second floor but couldn’t find a sales associate.  Ran out of time and left fuming.

Trip 3: I have no idea why I chose to give them another chance but I did.  I needed the swim cap for a meet the next day.  Unfortunately the store was having a big baseball/softball/soccer “event” that day.  The place was crowded.  I went back up to the 2nd floor in search help but found none.  I went back downstairs and asked the nearest sales associate for assistance.  The sales associate snapped at me and told me it was one of their busiest days of the year and that I shouldn’t expect assistance on the 2nd floor.  While she did eventually help me find what I needed the entire encounter left a bad taste in my mouth.

Three strikes and you’re out!  Clearly this chain’s promise of the “best service anywhere” is wishful thinking.  It’s time for me to find a new favorite sporting goods superstore.

Scott says:

This retailer should be grateful to the writer for giving it three chances.  It’s unfortunate that those opportunities to create a loyal customer were squandered.  Two things came to mind as I read this account.

1. Be careful what you promise.  Don’t promise the best service anywhere if your business model precludes you from staffing the store appropriately to fulfill that promise.  Every retailer can’t offer the service of a Nordstrom.  Low cost retailers shouldn’t try. Customers will understand that a reduced level of service is their sacrifice for lower prices.  But if you choose to promise the best service anywhere, you better deliver or customer dissatisfaction will result.
2. When one company takes over another the transition can be very dicey.  If the conquering organization hopes to maintain the loyal customer base of the vanquished foe it needs to do more than just change the name above the door. They need to understand the existing customer expectations created by the ongoing customer experience delivered by the company they’ve just acquired and develop a thoughtful plan for transitioning customers to the new entity. If for example, as a retailer they plan to change the store layout, they may want to put extra help on during the transition to help customers find what they’re looking and/or meet their service expectations.

Submitted by Laura in Iowa

Our cable TV company recently removed two of our favorite channels from their lineup: our 24-hour public-television cartoon channel and the TV Guide Channel. While I understand that these may not be very popular channels in most households they are very important to us especially when the kids are sick and need tender loving care throughout the day and night. Losing them was a disappointment.

Shortly after receiving the bad news of the cancellations, we received a telemarketing call from the cable company. They wanted more of our business…specifically an upgrade to a digital package and the addition of internet and phone service. This would have tripled our monthly expenditures…in a very distressing economic environment.

I explained my current dissatisfaction with the shrinking cable line-up. Of course the sales rep was unprepared to address the issue. Rather than send me to a customer service rep or manager that might be able to address my existing concerns, he shrugged it off. Since I wasn’t willing to add additional services he had no reason to continue the conversation. He left me feeling even more frustrated and looking for alternatives to our current cable service.

Scott says:

Unfortunately this is a fairly common customer experience breakdown. Companies that use telemarketing to increase product penetration among existing customers often run afoul of dissatisfied customers. Since most companies aren’t aware of individual customer-by-customer concerns (like those related above) this problem is impossible to avoid. Knowing that, however, outbound telemarketers should be trained to deal with these types of situations to prevent them from making a small problem into a big issue. A process for moving from selling mode to solving mode should be clearly outlined. Responding to the customer’s concerns, either personally or via a warm transfer, could turn a volatile situation into an empathetic customer experience.

Submitted by Ellen in Minnesota

A few years ago my family had the misfortune of having our house robbed twice in less than a year. Both times a thief smashed a first floor bedroom window while we were away on vacation and took what he could carry. Given the similar circumstances, we were pretty sure it was one perpetrator who decided to come back for seconds. Unfortunately, the police were never able to catch the thief, who presumably walks the streets today a free man, though hopefully with a guilty conscience.

But this isn’t a story about society’s ills. It’s a story about homeowner’s insurance. Up until this time we had owned homes for 16 years without ever making an insurance claim. We spent all 16 of those years with the same industry-leading, national insurance company and represented by the same agent.

We’re all told insurance companies are very good at taking your money but impossible to deal with when you need some back. Much to my surprise, our claims experiences proved to be quite the opposite. The adjustors and customer service people we dealt with were compassionate, empathetic, and very fair. In fact, after our second incident, a quirk of our policy precluded part of our claim. To make up for this shortfall, the adjustor waived our $1,000 deductible, thus giving us more than they were technically obligated. I was stunned. Even delighted. I told the story to everyone I knew. I was now a raving fan of my insurance company. How many people do you know who rave about their insurance company?

The honeymoon ended three weeks later, however, when I received a form letter from my insurance company informing me that after reviewing my claims history they would no longer be able to offer me homeowner’s insurance. I had to read the letter three times before I fully comprehended that I was being dumped. After the adjustors bent over backwards to make me a satisfied customer, the underwriters were tossing me out on my ear.

Believing there must have been a mistake, I called my agent, who had been uncomfortably silent throughout this entire process. He confirmed that he too had received the letter and that, yes, my policy would not be renewed. I was struck by his cavalier attitude. Granted we hadn’t been close over the years, but I had been a loyal client for 16 years. You’d think that commitment would have at least merited a phone call.

The only consolation the agent offered was that despite the loss of the homeowner’s coverage, there was no effect on the other five policies I had with him. Like he was doing me a favor! But customer relationships don’t work that way. Once burned, trust is lost. My agent and his company exposed their true colors, and I had no desire to continue my relationship. I moved my entire business to another company – and saved a significant amount of money in the process.

Scott says:

I love this story because it illustrates both the complexity of a customer experience and the range of factors involved. In this case the agent, the adjustors, and the underwriters each had a different role to play in the overall customer experience. Yet the experience itself was defined by the whole. The heroic actions of the adjustors were negated by the callous interpretation of the underwriting policy and the lack of communication from the agent. The result was the dissolution of a solid 16-year customer relationship.

Submitted by Scott in Minnesota

As a typical consumer, I recently purchased a new alarm clock radio from one of my favorite gadget stores, CostlyToyz (clearly a ficticious name devised to conceal the true identity of the proprietor). The alarm clock is CostlyToyz branded as is much of their unique and exclusive merchandise. I was impressed by the clock’s packaging, which authoritatively stated, “We improve your life through innovative products and our unwavering commitment to excellence.”  Now that is quite a marketplace promise!

The clock’s features included the ability to set the time itself, keep track of up to twenty radio stations, and wake up the user with his or her choice of either music or an alarm buzzer. The setup instructions were fairly straightforward. I excitedly plugged in my new clock and as promised, it instantly set itself to the correct time. Very impressive!  Within mere minutes I had set three of the presets to my favorite radio stations, tested the alarm, and then set it to wake me at 6:00 a.m. the following day.

At 6:15 a.m. the next morning I awoke to the unpleasant sound of static blaring from my new toy. Perplexed, I tried all the presets that had been set the night before, but sadly received only more static. I turned off the radio and noticed that the alarm light that was lit the previous night to indicate the clock alarm was set no longer seemed to work. Hoping to “reboot,” I unplugged the unit and replugged it back in, but nothing seemed to work. I could no longer set the alarm or tune in a single radio station. Clearly my clock was defective.

I was sure that CostlyToyz would replace the item, so I didn’t let myself get too bent out of shape over the situation. I simply plugged my old alarm clock back in and went about my day. It took me almost a week to get back to the mall where I had purchased the product. Even so, I confidently entered the store carrying the carefully reboxed product and proceeded to the desk where a sales clerk politely asked me how he could help. I told him I had purchased the clock radio six days prior at that particular store and that I needed to exchange it for a working model. The clerk responded by saying he would get the manager.

The manager emerged from the back of the store and promptly asked what my problem was. His choice of the word “problem” struck me as overly presumptive. I told him there wasn’t any problem, that I had simply purchased a clock radio that was apparently defective and that I would like to have it replaced. He asked if I had my receipt. I looked in the bag, but didn’t find it. When I stated as much to the manager, he informed me that he could not make the exchange without the receipt. My response went something along the lines of, “Sure you can. This is clearly CostlyToyz merchandise - it says so right on the box. It doesn’t work. I do not want a refund. I would just like you to give me another one and send this defective one back to the factory.” The manager then uttered those annoying words that have become infamous in the annals of American retailing: “I’m sorry sir; we can’t process a return without a receipt. That’s our policy.”

I was stunned. I didn’t want to “process a return.” I just wanted to make an exchange for a product that worked. I asked him if it was also CostlyToyz’s policy not to stand behind merchandise that carries its name. He merely repeated, “Our policy clearly states that we can’t process a return without a receipt.”  I realized that I was essentially dealing with an automaton that had little authority to solve my problem and that to further engage him would be pointless. Still, I had to ask, “Does it bother you that you’ve just lost a customer for life?” He simply shrugged. I walked out carrying my carefully repackaged, non-working clock radio and the impression that CostlyToyz’s unwavering commitment to excellence extends only to those customers who remember to save their receipts.

Scott says:

This is an excellent example of a governance process gone awry.  The merchant designed a strict returns process that removed discretion at the store level.  For many merchants this may be a very appropriate process that balances financial health and the customer’s expectations. However, in this particular case, the merchant promises to improve their customers’ lives, creating higher customer expectations.  As we have seen the restrictive returns policy can prevent fulfillment of the promise leaving customers unsatisfied and looking elsewhere for their toys.

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