The Voice Customer Service Training Blog How bad customer service costs companies their reputation and profits

Recently, my husband purchased a trailer kit from a well-known tool store. The sign on the display and the description on the website said nothing about two very important things:Speed cannot exceed 55 mph (something only written on the wheels and you don't see until you are ready to put the wheels on).A state inspection is required before you can get the trailer registered, licensed and legally use it.#2 may not seem like a big deal, but let me tell you why it was a deal breaker for us.We have been planning a camping and dirt biking trip the entire year with a group of friends. We spent most of the year, searching for used dirt bikes for our family of three. When we had all three purchased, we now needed a trailer that could transport them, as the bed of our truck would be filled with our camping and biking gear. We found a 4 x 8 folding trailer kit to be a good buy. We had to buy plywood and hardware to put a floor in and some wheel chucks to help secure the bikes. So, before we knew it, the cost was up from $300 to $440, still a reasonable price.My husband bought the trailer kit a week before our trip. When he was checking out at the store, the associate handed him the title and stated that he would need the title to take to the DMV to register the trailer and that they "might" do an inspection. So, the next day he began to assemble the trailer. He worked on it Friday evening and part of Saturday. Things didn't fit together great, but with some muscle, he was able to force some fittings together.Monday morning, I took the title and receipt to the DMV. I waited in line and when it was my turn I was told that it could not be registered and licensed until I took it to another location for an inspection. I was given a print out of the locations where it could be inspected (at local Sheriff departments around Denver). I called all of them and could not get in before our camping trip. So, now we have a trailer that is not legal to use and no trailer for this much anticipated vacation in the mountains.I was furious with the store who sold us this trailer kit for their mis-information and lack of information. I called the store where it was purchased and spoke to the manager, "Kim". She argued with me that "most people" know what has to be done with the trailer kits and it is not their job, but the consumer's job to be educated on the procedure to legally get the trailer in use. The only thing she offered was for us to disassemble the trailer and bring it back for a full refund. Not only does this still leave us without a trailer, but it was ridiculous to ask a customer to spend all that time to disassemble it. I suggested the store pay for a rental trailer for our four day trip. She said no one in the company would ever authorize that. I asked who her manager was and initially got the run around until I said that I would make it to the president of the company and she would have to answer to the president for her lack of customer service. Then she gave me her immediate supervisor's name and told me how to get in touch with "Jenny".I called Jenny and repeated my story and what Kim had said to me. She asked me if she understood me correctly, that I thought the stores should know all these county regulations and educate the customer. (Well, Jenny - this is not a county law, but a state law, so YES in either case. You should know better than to have your staff giving out false information or no information.) She said that what Kim offered me was all they could do. Then I asked her for her supervisor's name and number. She gave me the run around. I told her the same thing I told Kim about getting to the president of the company. I also suggested the same solution of the store paying for a rental trailer for our trip. Finally, she gave me her manager's name and cell number. She also said we could return it assembled and we would get a refund for the trailer and all the parts we bought from the store to add on to the trailer. Well, in my mind this still does not solve our problem of not having a trailer for the long weekend. Fortunately, my husband found a friend's trailer that we could borrow.Now, I called Jenny's manager, "Mike" and explained everything to him - repeating my story a third time! I told him what Jenny offered and he agreed that could be done. He said he would have to "send a team there to disassemble the trailer". I said to him that if we bring the trailer back, we wanted no problems when we got there. He assured me he would make sure we had no problems.So, we took the trailer back. Before going to the store, I called Jenny and asked if there was a specific place to drop off the trailer and if we needed to ask for a manager when we got there. I also told her what time we would be at the store. She told me where to drop it off and stated the clerks all knew what was going on. Well - not true. No one knew what was going on when we got there. So, more of our time was wasted while the clerk tried calling a manager for clarification. We did get a full refund. We have a trailer for our vacation and have started a search on Craig's List for a used trailer for use on future vacations.But, what is the damage and cost to the store?Assuming Mike really will send a team to disassemble the trailer (which I doubt), there is that cost to the store.They lost a $400 sale.We won't ever shop there again, so they lost our repeat business.I am writing this blog and some people will figure out what store this is - bad word of mouth advertising is very costly.I am the type of person to write reviews (good and bad). So, I will be writing a Google review.What could it have cost the store to provide my solution (renting us a trailer)?To rent a trailer for four days - only $60!This example of short-sided customer service will cost this store far more than a mere $60 to pay for a rented trailer. Instead of a bad review, I would have written a good review on Google. Instead of giving a thumbs down on my blog, I would be writing a positive story and given a thumbs up!This store has a serious lack of customer service. Never argue with a customer or say they should have known better. And, if you are not authorized to approve a solution the customer is asking for, don't make it hard for them to escalate the call! In this case, if I had been any of those managers, I would have paid for the $60 trailer rental for the customer and worried later if Corporate would reimburse me. Had they done that, this story would be about how they delivered over-the-top customer service. Companies who deliver exceptional customer service become industry leaders!There are so many training lessons to this story. Exceptional customer service means making sure you make it easy for customers to do business with you; it also means educating customers. And, you can be assured, this story will be going into our training workshops as a prime example of many teaching points. For more information on our customized, in-person training workshops, contact us today.