Customer Service

During the past two weeks, I’ve had two very different experiences with customer service.  The first is simply outrageous, the second had major repercussions. 

Gary and I have been looking for a clock for the family room wall for months.  We’ve actually bought two, both of which failed within days.  So, imagine how delighted we were to find that there was a clock store about 30 miles away.  We hit the road. 

As we went in, what greeted us was the unearthly squawking of at least 2 giant parrots who were about five feet away.  The noise pushed me right back out the door until I figured out what the source of that obnoxious sound was.  I entered with a chuckle, thinking someone would explain or they would be hushed.  Not the case.  A rather surly man came out and announced that they were hungry and asked what we wanted.  In response to my comment that we were looking for a wall clock he advised me to “look around” and went toward the back of his shop.  We looked, and I apparently violated some unseen boundary while looking at a group of antique dolls that were on display near the back.  He chastised me for being there, scolded me for not seeing a chair in the aisle that apparently anyone with a brain would know meant to stay out of that area and asked if we saw anything we wanted.  We didn’t, we wanted to run!

At no point did he ask if he could help us, try to distill down what it was we were looking for or offer a catalog or other options.  He was just unfriendly and unwelcoming.  It goes without saying that we took one look at each other and headed for the door, both of us wondering how on earth he kept a business going and what could make anyone that miserable.  You can be assured that we will never go back.

The second story is more troubling because of the impact, but it shows a contrast in resolution.  I use a mail delivery system for my drug delivery service.  They have given me excellent service both in phone contacts and timely delivery.  Until last week.

My last pill (Tarceva, the targeted cancer fighter) was to be taken on Saturday, but a delivery was scheduled for Friday.  I felt pretty safe, even knowing that we planned to leave town on Saturday for several days in Virginia.

Well, the meds didn’t come.  I called the specialty pharmacy in Oregon and a very nice nurse, full of apologies, told me that it had been shipped standard shipping instead of next day delivery, their error.  She assured me that a supervisor would call me shortly and gave me the UPS number so I could change the shipment and see if there were other options.  No supervisor called, UPS told me that I could not change the destination (so it would catch up with us), that would have to come from the shipper.  When I called back the office was closed.

The next morning I started again, calling a Florida location and talked with a supervisor there, also full of apologies and doing everything he could to make it right.  However, by this time he confirmed that we could not change the circumstances, but would have a supervisor in the right area call me back on Monday with delivery scheduled for Monday evening.  We called several commercial pharmacies, no one carries that drug.  My anxiety was high.

On the surface, this means I missed a day and a half’s worth of doses, but let me share the “collateral damage” of this error.  We planned to be in Virginia for at least 4 days.  Scheduled were a board meeting, a fundraiser (at which I was the speaker), a visit with my family (there visiting from Wisconsin), and an opportunity to say goodbye to my nephew who is heading off to sea for three months.  Due to the mix-up, I was unable to see my nephew off, lost the potential to raise funds for the non-profit I work with, and cut off two days of our trip.  I was not happy.

The call I got on our return, just after the Monday delivery, was amazing in repairing my ill feelings about this whole experience.  The woman who called me owned the problem as hers, apologized for the degree of inconvenience it had caused, and at my request told me what they plan to do to see that it doesn’t happen again.  She talked about using it as a training opportunity at the several breaks in their system and coaching staff to better meet the promises they make.  Then she offered me a gift card or a donation to the non-profit group.

Here’s why I was pleased.  They took this seriously and accepted responsibility.  They truly seemed to understand and be sorry for the inconvenience this caused me, and they outlined the steps they could take, both internally and with me, to make it better.  I was satisfied.

Reflections:

So, how does this relate to real life?  For me it is a clear illustration of how we can either make worse or improve a bad situation.  We all have some control to make changes and we can rely on friends to help.  We can keep our perspective.  Gary helped with calls and another friend took on the speaking engagement, we cut our vacation short and didn’t see my nephew but did have breakfast with my brother and his wife.  It worked out, perhaps not as planned, but it worked.  I’m fine, most of what we hoped for was accomplished, and I am home with a month’s supply of drugs and a donation on the way.  My learning is that when things don’t go as we hope, there are solutions.  We just have to look at our options and remember to treat people well.