Have you ever had such a bad customer experience with a company that you talked about it continually for four days? This is such a story.
Real World Story:
My friend told me the following story about his experience with Dollar Rent A Car.
One evening earlier this month, I arrived at the Phoenix airport to pick up a Dollar rental car. As the young woman at the “Dollar Express” counter helps the person in front of me, I overhear her say “Yeah, the Dollar at this location SUCKS!” I let it go and left the airport at about 10 pm to pick up my niece, and then headed to Target. At approximately 11pm, we walked out of the store to find that the rental car’s battery was dead. Bummer. I wasn’t mad, just a bit frustrated. I called the roadside assistance number printed on my Dollar paperwork, and the man on the phone kept saying I could have them jump it now, or I could take it home and then return it in the morning. Here’s the thing: I’m renting a car; I’m not home. Finally, I talked him into allowing me to return the car that night. It took one hour for roadside assistance to arrive. Again, I wasn’t upset, just frustrated at the inconvenience. Back to the airport I go at almost midnight to exchange the car.
When I returned to the airport, I tried joking around with the employee who was assisting me. When he looked up my booking information, he said he did not have any cars in my reservation class. I jokingly said, “I’m sure you can upgrade me for free for the inconvenience.” Sounding very annoyed, he said, “I guess I’ll have to upgrade you.” Now I was starting to get annoyed! As soon as I turned the ignition key on the upgraded replacement car, I noticed the “check engine” light was on. You have got to be kidding me! Another malfunctioning car in one night? I go back inside. When I tell the employee about the warning light, he says in an annoyed tone, “The mechanics usually service the cars but they don’t like to reset the lights. I’ll just turn it off.” At this point, however, I do not trust this guy. the Dollar Rent A Car company, or the car provided for my two hour drive through the desert to Sedona tomorrow. As he senses my frustration now, he starts to b really rude and blows off my concerns, talking over ma and walking away from me. At this point and with no other options and a closed customer service department, I just want to get out of there so I reluctantly I decide to keep the “new, upgraded” car and go on my way.
It’s after midnight now, and there’s no one in sight at the airport. In order to get out of the parking lot, I have to drive through a security gate. The employee says not to worry; he’ll meet me there. He does, about 10 minutes later. He drives up in his car, approaches my window, and asks to see my license and registration in order to release the car to me. Are you kidding? I had just spoken with this guy 10 minutes ago. This was absolutely ridiculous. The return process was almost as equally clumsy. Talk about BAD customer service. This was the worst service that I have received EVER, and I will tell the world about it.
Strategies that Turn it Around:
- Provide quality products. The quality of your service will be measured by the quality of your products. So, be sure to maintain equipment regularly to provide a safe and reliable product.
- Replace and, when possible, upgrade replacement products. If your customer has a problem with your product, apologize sincerely—and with a positive attitude—for the inconvenience. Then fix, replace, or upgrade it quickly and efficiently.
- Go above and beyond when a customer complains. Don’t settle for satisfaction. Reach for loyalty. And the best way for reaching this goal is to ALWAYS go above and beyond, not just after a customer complains.
Remember: Customers understand that problems occur; however, it’s how companies deal with unexpected issues that makes all the difference between gold-standard care and dollar service. When you deal with a problem quickly and efficiently, 96% of your customers will become loyal repeat clients. Now that’s bang for your buck!
What do YOU do when your customers complain? Please share in the comments section below.