Where Does The Customer ServiceProcess End?

A well-known international chain store which prides itself on the quality of its goods and fashion as well its service quality recently came across my radar from a lady who had been injured in one of their stores caused, by what appears to be, staff negligence. The incident was recorded in the store. However the issue raised here is not to do with establishing the liability of one party or another but to do with the treatment the customer received from the office of the chief executive.

The customer contacted the chief executive’s office on a number of occasions through a series of conversations that failed at any time to have the company express any kind of regret or sympathy and eventually led to the customer being told that if they felt they had a case then take it to court.

What could have led to such behaviour?  Is it that the whole world is becoming more litigious and therefore the company is advised by its lawyers and/or insurers to play hardball from the offset in the hope that many customers will give up rather than embark on a process of stressful litigation or is it that they categorise these customers differently?

This is, after all, a customer bringing a complaint to the company. Not about a product or service failure but about the performance of a member of their staff. Had the staff member been rude to the customer or mis-sold to the customer this would undoubtedly have been redressed by their complaints process, but it seems here that the complaints process ends when personal injury is involved.

So what does that say? It’s not OK to be rude to customers and if you are you will be reprimanded but it is OK to injure them?

So where should the Customer Service Process end? Could there not be a more empathetic way of dealing with such incidents?  The store in question has lost this customer for ever and those in their circle of influence are suitably shocked by the way this person has been moved from loyal customer to legal adversary at a stroke. Had the rejection occurred at a local level it may have been possible to view this as a one off aberration, the fact that it came from the chief executive’s office tends to indicate it is a strategic decision underpinned by a policy of denial of any kind of liability.

Is this the best way to sustain customer loyalty?

 

Philip Forrest

 

Sloppy Service and Greedy Too

 Is the entire Financial Services sector ethically disconnected??

The behaviour of the banks has been widely reported but just recently three incidences of combined incompetence and /or greed from other areas in the financial services sector have come across my personal radar.

The first involves my pension provider. Somewhat ludicrous UK Government legislation brought about a change in which payments were to be made. The pensions company claim to have made a general announcement regarding the changes around two years ago but made no specific reference to the way it would affect me until 3 weeks before the change was due to be implemented. The impact was to reduce my potential income by almost half. No recommendations or alternative solutions were offered at the time. When pressed it seems the purchase of an annuity could ameliorate the issue to some degree.

What followed was a master class of mismanagement, wrong quotations, wrong forms, people claiming to be too busy, no one single point of contact, wrong interim payments and no response to a letter of complaint to the CEO. The upshot of all of this 3 months later is that the I am left to deal with the resultant tax implications and the pensions company receives a big fat commission cheque from the annuity provider. So it’s not just the banks who appear immune from the financial pain which incompetence and rotten customer service brings to other sectors. A request to the pensions company for a commission sacrifice is so far unanswered! The sector is quick to say they are highly regulated but that only covers legal process, not incompetence or an ethical conscience.

 Should financial service intermediaries be able to offer appalling service and still get paid commission from their supply chain?

The next instance is my home insurance. The renewal arrived from the broker at my current address showing the details of the property from which I had moved 3 years ago. On contacting them I was assured that had anything happened I would have been covered and that they would rectify the matter. A subsequent telephone call from them asked me again to reiterate all of the property details I had previously supplied. Another call informed me all was resolved and they had negotiated a discount for me. That appeared to be a step in the right customer care direction. When the revised renewal papers arrived the premium was in fact lower but no discount was mentioned just a standard calculation. Could this be due to the fact that my property had been wrongly rated in the past and that I had been overcharged for the previous two years since my move? It seems that was the case so what was presented as a customer service gesture of recompense turns out to be a scam to avoid paying back the overcharge of the previous two years.

 I wonder how many instances of dodgy ethics go on in the world what the total cost of undisclosed incompetence is to customers of the financial sector?

The third instance involves the administrators of a major UK electrical retail group that recently failed. The administrators organised a liquidation sale. The sale offered discounts of up to 30% but was criticised in the press as a “waste of time” and “not worth going”. One customer purchased a steam iron. The iron had been offered by the company prior to the liquidation for £49.99. The price direct from the international manufacturer is £65.00. In the sale the same product was priced at £119 – a 140% uplift!- customers were able to get a 20% discount on that price! The store manager confirmed that the administrators re-set the prices and at store level they no longer had any control. I contacted the administrators to offer them the opportunity to respond - no reply.

So it appears a major international audit, tax, consulting & corporate finance services organisation thinks nothing of ripping off customers.  Is the whole financial services sector living in a world where not only does it think it can behave as it wishes, but it actually can?

As customers have we a right to expect not only the highest standards of professionalism from such a vital sector  but also that they operate to an ethical standard which goes beyond their need to comply with the laws of the land in which they operate?

Are their leaders fit to lead?

Are the regulators up to the job?

Philip Forrest

 

Can Luxury Hotel Brands Deliver Great Service?

I had the rare opportunity recently to have 3 two night stays in 3 different luxury hotel groups in the space of 10 days so the possibility of service quality comparison inevitably presented itself.

The first, a large beach front hotel in Dubai. The check in process was immaculate from being greeted at the entrance to the journey to the room even though it was at 2 am in the morning. There was refurbishment work going on in the lobby but the temporary check-in would have graced any hotel anywhere and was fully technically functional. The service was effortless and seamless from all staff and even the ladies who made up the rooms called me by name, not difficult to organise but the first time I have had that particular experience. All facilities were carefully explained and some additional preferences I requested for facilities in my room (which was already beautifully equipped) were quickly and freely arranged. After the trip a simple but very effective guest satisfaction survey was offered.

The second,  a newer luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi part of a group whose family have been operating hotels in Europe for many years and whose motto is” The Art of Simple Luxury”. The greeting and midday check in was lumpy and left me with the suspicion that I might never see my bags again!  I was given a mini suite but my bags went to the room of a colleague who kindly delivered them to me. The room had “hi tech” lighting and heating controls. The lighting was managed by an intricate array of tiny buttons which turned the night into a light show when trying to find the button for the bathroom in the dark. The air conditioning control was never mastered. A capsule coffee machine was present but no coffee capsules, on enquiring I was told I had to pay extra for them! Simple Luxury clearly has its limits. Am I the only one to find these kinds of things an irritant. Everything seemed a bit hard for the staff in the restaurants and the bar and one restaurant themed as Chinese served no food that resembled Chinese cuisine in either content or presentation. After the trip – nothing.

The third, a palatial premises in Oman operated by a group that is held up as a world leader in service quality. The greeting was courteous and pleasant I was escorted to my room, the facilities were explained and the bags arrived in a timely manner.  A satisfaction survey left in the room by a previous guest left a complaint about hair in the bath plug slowing down the outflow of the water. It had been resolved but should I have read that? What else had been missed? The restaurant service was friendly but on clearing the cutlery from one course it was not replaced for the next, even after a request, so leaving me to raid an adjacent empty table to acquire more. A city trip was ordered from the hotel concierge. Not cheap at $US 180 for 3.5 hours. The guide was a pleasant, affable post graduate in English. However his knowledge was limited and he admitted he had taken the job only two weeks before to improve his English skills. It appeared I knew many things about Oman that he didn’t and was it my role in life to pay to improve his English? After the trip an excruciatingly long online satisfaction survey followed by an email apology from the hotel.

 

The best in my experience I am happy to tell you is the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai and delivered one of the best service quality experiences I have had in the last thirty years.

As for the other hotels. ….

Had the team in Abu Dhabi ever walked the course from the customer’s viewpoint?

Should the team in Muscat set and check standards for the excursions and other services they sell?

Do their very brands create a level of expectation which is not possible to achieve and is disappointment the inevitable consequence? 

Philip Forrest