The Death of Customer Service...

[kehlis]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

I would be cautious of even celebrating now, wouldn't be shocked if they tacked on an installation fee anyway.

Edit: "Celebrating" is not the word I'm going for it's the best I could come up with.

[pietasterp]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

I would be cautious of even celebrating now, wouldn't be shocked if they tacked on an installation fee anyway.

Edit: "Celebrating" is not the word I'm going for it's the best I could come up with.

No, that's definitely the right word to use anytime you successfully got off the phone with Comcast without murdering a small animal with your bare hands.

[ODogg]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

The unfortunate part for stores, they have to suck it up.

Who's more likely to give a review? Someone who had a great shopping experience, or one who had a bad one?

That is true of people who do one-off reviews on places like Yelp but typically not true of people like myself consistently write reviews of places though. I am just as likely, or even more likely, to review a place that had a great experience than a place I did not.

I typically give the business the benefit of the doubt unless they are so bad I want to warn fellow consumers of just how terrible they really are. I also don't judge a business if they make a mistake but rather by how they correct (or fail to correct) that mistake when it's brought to their attention.

Just for reference: On Yelp I currently have 123 five star reviews, 115 four star reviews, 91 three star reviews, 25 two star reviews and 24 one star reviews.

As a longtime Yelp! Elite reviewer I have noticed that many other Yelp! Elites also tend to skew that way. We enjoy giving a great review to help the places that deserve it more than bad reviews!

[countryboy]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

I honestly never knew what Yelp was until it was an episode on South Park.

[ODogg]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

I honestly never knew what Yelp was until it was an episode on South Park.

Ironically I never really watched South Park until the episode that involved Yelp! LOL. Pretty good episode, too funny

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

That is true of people who do one-off reviews on places like Yelp but typically not true of people like myself consistently write reviews of places though. I am just as likely, or even more likely, to review a place that had a great experience than a place I did not.

I typically give the business the benefit of the doubt unless they are so bad I want to warn fellow consumers of just how terrible they really are. I also don't judge a business if they make a mistake but rather by how they correct (or fail to correct) that mistake when it's brought to their attention.

Just for reference: On Yelp I currently have 123 five star reviews, 115 four star reviews, 91 three star reviews, 25 two star reviews and 24 one star reviews.

As a longtime Yelp! Elite reviewer I have noticed that many other Yelp! Elites also tend to skew that way. We enjoy giving a great review to help the places that deserve it more than bad reviews!

But you are the exception and not the rule. Most people aren't posting reviews, but the ones more likely to post reviews will post after a negative experience.

[tdawg3782]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

But you are the exception and not the rule. Most people aren't posting reviews, but the ones more likely to post reviews will post after a negative experience.

At my company (Vons/Safeway) we used to have a secret shopper program. We had a list of things we were supposed to do. Greet, anticipate need, offer sample, take to item, selling suggestion, and parting comment. We would get shopped once a week. It was a big deal. We hated the fact that we got graded on a small snapshot in time and if you missed a few things you got hounded by the store manager. But you know what? Our service was on point. Everybody was friendly and helpful because we never knew who the shopper was and it created a culture.


Fast forward to today. They axed that program about 4 years ago to save money (didn't want to pay the secret shoppers anymore). We were all so stoked as employees. But do you know what happened? Service as a whole went down because we weren't be held accountable anymore. Some of us old school employees still did it because it was second nature but all the new hires didn't have to go through the training program and live in the culture of service. So they just didn't know any better.


Now what do we do for service? Stupid ****ing survey's. The absolute worst way to see how your store is doing in service. What I wouldn't give to go back to the secret shopper program. As has be alluded 90% of people that take the time to fill out a survey are pissed about something and that's why they are taking the time to fill it out. Personally if I have a good experience in a store I will show my loyalty by continuing to shop there. Not fill out an online survey. So you really just see the trash feedback of mostly complainers. Not to say they all are that way but some are just ridicules. You'll get ones that have not feedback at all but just low scores across the board. How do we improve as a company when that's what we have to go with?


TLDR Bottom line survey's for customer service feedback is the worst method possible.

[p_rushing]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

At my company (Vons/Safeway) we used to have a secret shopper program. We had a list of things we were supposed to do. Greet, anticipate need, offer sample, take to item, selling suggestion, and parting comment. We would get shopped once a week. It was a big deal. We hated the fact that we got graded on a small snapshot in time and if you missed a few things you got hounded by the store manager. But you know what? Our service was on point. Everybody was friendly and helpful because we never knew who the shopper was and it created a culture.


Fast forward to today. They axed that program about 4 years ago to save money (didn't want to pay the secret shoppers anymore). We were all so stoked as employees. But do you know what happened? Service as a whole went down because we weren't be held accountable anymore. Some of us old school employees still did it because it was second nature but all the new hires didn't have to go through the training program and live in the culture of service. So they just didn't know any better.


Now what do we do for service? Stupid ****ing survey's. The absolute worst way to see how your store is doing in service. What I wouldn't give to go back to the secret shopper program. As has be alluded 90% of people that take the time to fill out a survey are pissed about something and that's why they are taking the time to fill it out. Personally if I have a good experience in a store I will show my loyalty by continuing to shop there. Not fill out an online survey. So you really just see the trash feedback of mostly complainers. Not to say they all are that way but some are just ridicules. You'll get ones that have not feedback at all but just low scores across the board. How do we improve as a company when that's what we have to go with?


TLDR Bottom line survey's for customer service feedback is the worst method possible.

Depends on how it is treated.

I generally fill out the survey if it is a place I visit a lot. I know some places have to have 8s or above on all questions. If not, they have to follow up. I've been contacted before because I interacted with an employee who should be fired and after the 2nd or 3rd interaction, I mentioned her on the survey.

Ones on the receipts are generally useless because most people don't fill them out. Chickfila offers you a sandwich for filling it out, so I also do that one. Otherwise unless you get terrible service most people through them away.

Maybe if they offered additional loyalty points since most places have cards, they could get people to fill them out but that would cost money and the whole reason for the survey was to save money.

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk

[ASB37]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

Surveys to me are the worst. Especially because from what I understand/hear so many of them are automatically seen as negative if they are anything other than perfect.

I know that is especially true for car dealerships. I really wanted to give an honest feedback about my experience when I bought a car a few years ago. The sales person I worked with was great and I had no problem giving him 5/5 stars. Even though I was buying the car in full with cash they still had me meet with their finance guy who tried to sell me on every deal, warranty, extra package imaginable. I get that they have to do it and the guy was just doing his job so I didn't really have a problem sitting through it and just saying no over and over, but at one point the finance guy was basically begging me to buy something. He said something to the effect of "please this is my livelihood." That sort of sales pitch really sat wrong with me, especially since it was a luxury brand and not something I would have expected.

I wanted to give a 4/5 and say something about it but I know from reading stuff online that car dealerships view anything less than 5/5 as basically a huge red flag so I just ended up giving him a perfect score. I don't want to mess up anyone's paycheck or life to that extent.

At the end of the day the "survey" isn't really providing any useful feedback for the customer, the employee or the employer.

[speels]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

Do you know what is worse than surveys? Anonymous surveys where you don't ask that client's for their personal information and you don't follow up!! This is how my company does them. Clients are called and asked to do a survey that is first off not very well written. One of the questions asked if you would recommend us to a friend. Simple question, but we are in an industry that deals with money and I can't tell you the number of times we get "I don't discuss money with anyone", or "this is very personal and people should do it where they want." So I get a low grade because people don't want to talk about their finances with friends.

We also don't specify who and where they deal with. I had a response that the "lady" screwed up and made them mad. Well, in that department in my shop I am the only one that handles those deals and I sure ain't no lady. So I get hammered (which can affect my bonus) because this lady went somewhere else and had a bad experience, but was a customer of my shop. The worst part is these are anonymous so I can't even reach out tot her to offer an apology or an effort to fix this mistake.

Again, this is super frustrating when Customer Service is a huge deciding factor in your pay.

[tdawg3782]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

Surveys to me are the worst. Especially because from what I understand/hear so many of them are automatically seen as negative if they are anything other than perfect.

I know that is especially true for car dealerships. I really wanted to give an honest feedback about my experience when I bought a car a few years ago. The sales person I worked with was great and I had no problem giving him 5/5 stars. Even though I was buying the car in full with cash they still had me meet with their finance guy who tried to sell me on every deal, warranty, extra package imaginable. I get that they have to do it and the guy was just doing his job so I didn't really have a problem sitting through it and just saying no over and over, but at one point the finance guy was basically begging me to buy something. He said something to the effect of "please this is my livelihood." That sort of sales pitch really sat wrong with me, especially since it was a luxury brand and not something I would have expected.

I wanted to give a 4/5 and say something about it but I know from reading stuff online that car dealerships view anything less than 5/5 as basically a huge red flag so I just ended up giving him a perfect score. I don't want to mess up anyone's paycheck or life to that extent.

At the end of the day the "survey" isn't really providing any useful feedback for the customer, the employee or the employer.

I can attest to this. We originally had a 1-10 rating on our surveys. 10 was worth 10, 9 was worth 9, and 1-8 was worth zero lol. What a ****ing joke. How many of us would give an 8 thinking we were giving a great survey to the establishment or employee only to never know that 8 got someone in trouble by a manager or the store **** on by corporate. Also some people won't ever rate someplace perfect just out of how they view things. Which is fine but why would the company purposely give the customer an option to give a 1-10 rating when only the 9 and 10 actually count for anything.


We've since changed it to a 1-5 scale and each number is actually worth that number. But they expect a 4.85 avg or higher or you suck basically lol.

[Majingir]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

Isn't Uber that way too? Below 4/5 or something is viewed as bad.

I rarely give 10/10 on any kind of survey I ever do. I always feel there's room for improvement,and giving a 10 means there's no way to do something better.

Just like mentioned,the whole "how likely are you to recommend this to your friends or family"stuff. I give it low score. Not because I don't like it, I simply don't recommend things to people.

Unfortunately, most people don't understand or carry out surveys properly. There's a difference in collecting data and turning it into useful information. Sadly,the ones higher up don't understand or care. The ones conducting the research probably do know all about it, but it's hard to explain its value to someone who is unfamiliar.

I had similar issue in past trying to explain to people the value of company social media pages. They had no idea about it, didn't care, and seemingly got mad when I suggested to use the account for useful posts and not just retweeting or sharing random WSJ, Business Insider or whatever article they did every day.


Also, some companies shouldn't be surprised if people don't do the surveys. What's in it for them? Some offer a entry in a monthly gift card draw, which is a nice cheap way to gather valuable data (collect thousands of responses, only paying 1 person $100 a month). Others are laughable. Subway and others offered a free cookie. A cookie code you'd give the cashier when you order to save 25 cents lol.

[Speedy]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

I just want an acknowledgement when I say thank you. I was taught as a kid to do this, surely others were too?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

[Jr.]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

I just want an acknowledgement when I say thank you. I was taught as a kid to do this, surely others were too?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

I've never heard this. I like getting acknowledgement with a "thank you" when I've done something for someone else, but if someone has helped me, I just give a "thank you" to show that. I don't take any offense if they don't respond.

[pietasterp]

Re: The Death of Customer Service...

I just want an acknowledgement when I say thank you. I was taught as a kid to do this, surely others were too?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

I've never heard this. I like getting acknowledgement with a "thank you" when I've done something for someone else, but if someone has helped me, I just give a "thank you" to show that. I don't take any offense if they don't respond.

I can see both sides of this. My issue is, I don't know the best way to acknowledge a 'thank you'.

"You got it" seems a bit too casual and chummy.
"Of course" seems insincere.
"My pleasure" strikes me as obsequious.
"No problem" is usually my go-to, but it never feels totally natural.