Late on Friday afternoon I got a call from the manager at my local Sears store. He was responding to my letter/issue. He apologized several times, said they had done many things incorrectly, and asked what he could do to make me happy. I thought about saying, "give me a complete line of Craftsman tools" but instead I simply asked for the 20% discount I thought I was due. He said that was no problem and he issued the refund to my credit card.
So while it was not the best experience (they should have taken care of me from the start), Sears did eventually make good. Here's to one store manager who understands customer service!
I actually think that over time, you'll see an increase in this level of service. Companies spend millions of dollars a year on advertising, and as they learn to quantify the number of people they lose do to bad customer service, they'll almost certainly do the correct arbitrage to make sure that people stay customers.
Of course, I'd rather they did it because it is the right thing to do, but when intrinsic motivation fails...
Posted by: matt @ Thrive | November 24, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Good, you just had to find someone who had the ability to make that decision. I agree with the previous poster, I would think a return to customer service is coming. People are getting more picky with their money, a retailer needs to reassure the customer they are getting good value and service or the consumer will go elsewhere.
Posted by: Miss M | November 24, 2008 at 12:50 PM
You should have demanded the tools!.....if only to see what he would do. ;)
Posted by: Eric N. | November 24, 2008 at 09:07 PM