What Happens When Customer Focus Is Gone

Recently I gave a subscription supplier the biggest caning since Flashman dropped his pants at Rugby in the 1800s.

Here’s how it went down …

I sent an email to the supplier querying an additional service they provide as I was interested in determining whether it may be of benefit to me.

Within 24 hours I had received an email reply from a representative as part of their customer service plan.

The representative went on to say how happy he was to help me.

So happy that I’d have to email a separate division of the organisation as they were not responsible for my query.

What … the … (insert appropriate word)??

The representative was, however, extremely helpful in providing some additional articles on the service.

Upon reading these, I discovered they stated to contact the same customer service contact point that I had already contacted.

So I did and had another representative advise he would send details to the separate division and to wait until they contacted me.

So I did.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, I got fed-up with waiting and emailed the representative back.

I told him that no-one had got back to me and could he possibly take care of this query for me.

(You know … just to see if anyone in the organisation had any customer focus). 

He apologised and said he couldn’t deal with it due to it being handled by the separate division but that he had cc’ed my response to the relevant person in the division.

So I waited for that person to contact me.

And waited.

And waited.

As of writing this, two weeks later, no-one has contacted me and I’ve now made the decision I’m changing suppliers.

Incredibly though, yesterday I received an automated email saying my case had been closed and to provide feedback on my experience … which I duly provided.

Now I know I wouldn’t be the only business to have experienced this lack of customer focus … or maybe I am … you tell me?

And the cherry on top of the cake?

They sent the automatic monthly rebill straight after the feedback form.

I know it comes down to a question of how do you measure good customer service.

But for all intensive purposes it would be difficult to conclude this was a good example.

So what did I learn from this?

Strange as it may seem, I found this a positive experience as it gave me good information on how NOT to handle a customer service situation.

So when I have someone in future enquiring about anything, I can make sure it’s dealt-with quickly and efficiently.

Because when an organisation loses its customer focus, it’s very hard to come back from there.

Had a similar bad experience?

Then hop over to www.sculptaccountants.com.au/contact/ and let me know I’m not the only one.

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Until next time.

Please Note: These articles are provided for education purposes only and should not be construed as specific advice. Always seek professional advice in relation to your personal and business circumstances.