[ZTWsquared]

As puppet says this is good advice ... if for no other reason than it is common courtesy and it fits nicely with the "catching more flies with honey" approach.

My question to you is this: in the Canadian Tire example and the Credit Card example you cite, were the front line CS reps empowered to make the decision themselves in terms of giving you a better price on replacment tires and in terms of refunding your interest?

I think the thing that bothers people the most (okay, bothers me the most) is companies that create the pretense that CS reps are there to make things right for the customer ... whereas in reality (according to my experience anyway) the real role of the CS rep is to isolate the customer from the person who actually has the ability to spend the company's money and either run interference for them, or actually persuade the customer that their situation isn't as bad as they think and therefore be happy with the way things are.

In Ford's case, as an example, it doesn't matter how friendly, persuasive or civil you are with the frontline CS rep, there's very little they can actually do for you. Their primary role as far as I can tell, is to provide "stock" answers and send the customer back to the dealer.

So, as far as I'm concerned, a Customer Satisfaction process that doesn't empower frontline CS reps to actually provide some relief to the customer ... isn't really worthy of the term customer satisfaction ... and this is in no way intended as a slight against the folks who actually answer the phones.

And to put this into context vis a vis this thread ... dealerships that don't empower Service Advisors to make things right for the customer, but force you to negotiate with them first just for the "privilege" of talking with the Service Manager ... are also missing the point of Customer Satisfaction.

Alec Brandon,Apr 5 2007, 01:19 PM Wrote:I work in a call centre, I am the Quality Manager.
You know when you call a 800 number and it says 'This call may be monitor for quality purposes...'  well I manage the team that listens to those calls.
I say this because I know customer service.

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience.
Her are some key things to say when dealing with these issue (I recently had a bad experience with Canadian Tire myself).

Tell them... in a VERY calm, friendly, cooperative tone...
I am very dissatisfied with the service because (always give a reason!)
I understand how important customer satisfaction is to Company Name and want to provide every opportunity for you to make it right.
Let's work together to come up with an agreeable resolution
We can all learn from this experiene
Putting yourself in my shoes I'm sure you can empathize with my situation.
I'm not looking for special treating, only fair treatment.

The issue I had with Canadian tire is that they told me that the belts on my summer tires had warped and they needed replacing.  They had less than 20,000 KM but where 3 years old.  I was able to get 4 new tires at $50 each.  Reason, I was polite and convinencing...

Hell, I even had Visa refund me the interest payment on my Visa bill that I admitted to paying late...  Why would they do that?  Because I am a loyal customer and my satisfaction is important to them...
[right][snapback]233405[/snapback][/right]