How Not to Treat a Customer
I was at a Verizon store today for service on my phone, which stopped working yesterday. Normally from what I hear the associates there are fairly helpful (they've been average at best the few times I've been there), but today that definitely wasn't the case.
My phone had stopped working yesterday, and I wanted to know whether it was due to a service interruption or whether the phone was broken. I took it to the store, showed it to the associate, and told him it stopped working yesterday. He took it apart and gave the response they always give when they don't know what's wrong: "you got it wet." (More about how they determine that here).
It was working until yesterday afternoon, and between that time and the time it stopped working it didn't come anywhere near a liquid substance. Plus, it started working again for about an hour this afternoon before it cut out again. Very unlikely wetness caused it to stop working. That's not my problem, however. I would have been fine paying the deductible to have the phone replaced. It was when the associate looked at me after I told him I didn't get it wet and said "I bet you never lie either, right?" that this went from an inconvenience for me to a blog post about bad customer service.
I didn't ask for a manager, though I probably should have. I did fill out their satisfaction survey and give a "1" on the recommendation scale, though I don't expect anyone to get back to me as a result. It's just one more factor that will go into my decision of whether or not to renew my contract in a few months, and whether to upgrade to the Blackberry I've been looking at.
Related Entries
- Guest Blogger Joseph Jaffe: It's Better to Be S.A.F.E. Than Sorry
- Hoffman's Hot Seat: The Chief Customer Officer: Building a Customer Strategy
- Guest Blogger Ralph Heath: What Has Happened to Customer Service in America?
Not only have they not contacted me regarding this blog post, I also filled out their NPS survey, giving them a 1 (the lowest score) and describing the story in detail under the "comments" section. It's mind-boggling that they could be so clueless.
I hope Verizon has contacted you since this post. An area of customer service I have seen that really impacts customer perception is the ability to tap into social networks, blogs, etc. and identify where a company can respond and help turn a negative into a positive.
If Verizon has not been in touch with you, shame on them and their blog monitoring. Customer service extends far beyond the store front.
I hope you get your phone fixed!
Justin
Wunderkind PR