Most of my work experience has had something to do with working with the public and customer service. I worked in radio as an on air personality, I was a waitress and I was even in the most hated profession of all, the dreaded telemarketer. *gasp* One thing I learned was that there is a right way and a wrong way to treat the public. Yes, some people are crazy difficult to deal with, but those are very few and far between, in my experience. Most people really just want you to be nice to them. So, I want to share with you two very different customer service stories of mine from this week so that you who might be venturing into customer service might get an idea of what good and bad customer service look like.

Car Cramming To Disney World

As you may know, we recently came back from Disney World. As of that trip we owned a 2007 Chevy HHR {excellent on gas, small on space} and a 2002 Jeep Liberty {pretty good on gas, a little better on space}. We took the Jeep on the over 9 hour drive with 4 people and all their luggage crammed in the car. Add souvenirs on the trip back and we were packed in like sardines. Jay and I had been discussing getting a new car {since Amber is now driving, too} for a while and this trip was the nail in the coffin.

Customer Service Stories: The Really Good – H&H Auto {Mount Airy, NC}

We have purchased 2 cars from H&H Auto in the past so we like to cruise their lot on occasion to see if they have something we like. Both of the cars we purchased from them in the past were great cars with very few, if any, issues. The HHR that I mentioned earlier is one of them. It has 160K miles on it {most of which I put on it driving to App State} and no real issues of which to speak.

We had been talking about how we liked Chevy Traverses, Ford Edges, Toyota Venzas and GMC Acadias, mostly. This past Saturday we saw a Traverse on the lot. We pulled in and checked it out, but it didn’t have 3rd row seating and it was black. I just don’t really love black or white cars if I can have my choice as they seem to show the most dirt. Then we saw the one I fell in love with – a tan {saddle, actually} colored GMC Acadia. With 3rd row seating and black interior, this baby was the clear winner as far as I was concerned.

Hallelujah For Excellent Customer Service

I give H&H Auto an A+ in customer service. We will definitely go back.

They were closing but we came back on Monday and left with the new-to-us 2012 GMC Acadia SLT. 🙂 Why do I feel this was an example of excellent customer service?

1. They were interested in putting us in the car we wanted, not the one they wanted us to have. {I’ve had salesman say things like, “You’ll love this,” before. Really? How do you know since you don’t know me? lol}

2. They taught us some cool things. The salesman {Dale} sat in the car and showed me how to operate features that were not ones I was accustomed to in either of our other cars. {This baby has a back up camera and climate control!}

3. They were friendly. Friendliness goes a LONG way with me.

4. No pushy sales tactics. We didn’t want to trade a car and they were cool with that and did not try to pressure us into it.

5. They answered all our questions. We bought the extended warranty and they explained it to us in detail and answered all our questions. {Ever been hurried along after filling out paperwork? I have and it’s not cool. That was not the case here}.

Customer Service Stories: The Bad And The Ugly – Unnamed Cell Phone Carrier

Now to a totally different customer service story…I have been with my current cell phone carrier for almost 10 years. This will be my last week. Trust.

Disclaimer: We have written about Walmart Family Mobile powered by T-Mobile on here and we are getting ready to review Virgin Mobile. I am not talking about either of these companies as we like them both. However, I won’t name this company because I don’t want to taint other’s opinions of them. I just want to share my experience.

I loved my first 5 or so years of service with them. But they started a new plan that is based on points and it has been horrible ever since then. My biggest problem with them is customer service. Every time I would call after they started this plan, they tried to offer it to me. I said no. They offered again. Still no. I did my research and it would have added $30 to my plan monthly. My plan was already way more expensive than my husband’s, so no thanks.

Finally I told them to stop offering me that plan as I was not interested. I had a grandfathered plan that was great and I planned to keep it.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I have had tons of equipment problems with them. They always seem to get the cool phones about 100 years after everyone else and their phones don’t seem to last as long. I know this because we are a household with more than one company {as I mentioned earlier}. I complain and they always blame me for my phones breaking. There are never any apologies, no offers to make it right, just accusing me of dropping my phone, getting it wet, whatever. It’s never a faulty phone. Never.

So, after considering the poor quality of the phones, the lack of choices and the high price of the plan, I decided to leave them this summer. I called to cancel and this “super nice guy” {I was shocked} talked me into renewing by offering me something better. He promised that I could get a phone later at a discounted rate {I didn’t want to buy a new phone just then} if I would just stay with them for two more years. He also told me if I kept two lines, I would get this super discount. I really didn’t want to keep that 2nd line as I didn’t need it, but I did just to get the multi-line discount {otherwise he stressed that the single line would be more expensive}. The price sounded good. I got good customer service for a change. So, I decided to stay.

Tonight I called to get a new phone that I was promised would be available since I had renewed. And I was told I would have to pay full price for it or get a higher priced plan to get a discount. What? This is definitely not what I was told by “super nice guy.” In the end, the rep {Karen} I spoke to basically said I was a liar and that he wouldn’t have told me that {I guess she knew this because she was there???}. We argued for a while about it, she wouldn’t honor the contract I had agreed to previously and finally she agreed to let me out of my contract if I could “find a better deal elsewhere.”

Not a problem. My husband already has one. So, here is why I think I received bad customer service…

1. The rep called me a liar – not in that exact terminology, but she repeatedly said the “super nice guy” didn’t tell me what I said he did.

2. She talked down to me. She kept talking to me as if the reason I didn’t want their plan is because I simply couldn’t afford it. {It’s not about an inability to afford the plan – though it isn’t her business why I would like a cheaper plan anyway. I just think spending $30 more a month for a cell phone with poor customer service just isn’t worth the price. I’d rather spend that towards a car, trip, etc.}

3. She didn’t listen. She talked over me almost the entire conversation and several times when I tried to talk she would say “Like I said…” in a really smart alecy tone without ever really answering my questions.

4. When I asked for clarification on certain things, she just kept repeating the same thing over and over, acting like she was exasperated with my wanting full details. {Being able to explain something in terms that your audience can understand is a sign of wisdom, not repeating things over and over – that just shows you don’t understand the concept yourself but have instead memorized it. That is when you should ask someone else who does know the answer}.

I don’t recall ever speaking to a customer like that in my many years of customer service. I would have been terrified that I would have gotten fired. Plus, it’s just rude. However, I have found that complaining about this particular company gets me nowhere so, after almost 10 years, I will be moving to a new cell phone company. It’s apparent that my business is not needed there.

I have been with the same insurance company since like 2007, we have owned the same home for almost 10 years, we have bought 3 cars from the same dealership and on and on. I don’t like to just hop around from company to company. I really tried to make it work with this cell phone carrier, but sometimes it’s time to just part ways.

Do You Have Any Good Or Bad Customer Service Stories To Share?