Customer Service - OT, perhaps

I am a real stickler for good customer service. I give it, and I
expect it. I have severed ties with two suppliers this year based upon
poor customer service alone, even though their prices were
exceptionally good. I think some places think that if their prices are
good enough, they don't need to be efficient, pleasant, cooperative or
the like.

I make a bigger noise about GOOD customer service, as I think folks
too often forget to recognize service that is exemplary. This has been
a week for dealing with both ends of the spectrum for me.

I spoke with a tech person (supposedly) at Paragon today who didn't
seem to have a clue about how kilns work. Not good.

On the other hand, my website is down (which has only ever happened
once before in about three years). I emailed tech support and got a
personalized, helpful, information-packed, friendly reply less than
two minutes later.

Another good customer service experience recently was at, of all
places, the Toledo VA Clinic. I had my initial appointment there to
connect with a Primary Care Physician last week, and I came prepared
to spend all day. I was seen immediately, they took blood, urine, gave
me a flu shot, filled my prescriptions, ordered me a nebulizer and
made my next appointment. And I was out of there in LESS THAN AN HOUR!

Another good customer service experience was last night. I made a
purchase from Max and Me in the middle of the night (I actually bought
a RING for myself! I never do that!!!), got a response right away AND
received notification this morning that my package had been shipped!

It doesn't take much to provide customers with a positive experience.
It just makes good business sense to me to go the extra mile to make
that happen.


Tink
Check here for available work:
http://blackswampglassworks.com/latest.htm

In this day of internet shopping and more and more Walmart type shops the
places that treat us as inconveniences will lose eventually and those who
give consistently good service will win. In other words, for a lot of us the
more faceless we become the more we will value that wonderful personal touch
that says we matter.
It wont matter to everyone, for some the bottom line will always be more
important than being treated graciously, but the rest of us will hunt out
the businesses who take that extra step to ensure we are glad we did
business with them.
Case in point. I placed an order with an online bead store. The rounds
they sent me were not the size I had ordered. Or rather half of them were
not the right size, and the color was more purple than I thought they would
be. One email later and I was assured they would send me replacements and a
pre paid mailer to send whichever I didnt keep back. The replacements were
just what I ordered and I wouldnt hesitate to do business with them again.
People make mistakes and that doesnt bother me. Its how they handle that
error that makes or breaks it with me.
In other words.. OMTP....
Diana

--
Weird people need beads, too
"Tinkster" wrote in message
...
I am a real stickler for good customer service. I give it, and I
expect it. I have severed ties with two suppliers this year based upon
poor customer service alone, even though their prices were
exceptionally good. I think some places think that if their prices are
good enough, they don't need to be efficient, pleasant, cooperative or
the like.

I make a bigger noise about GOOD customer service, as I think folks
too often forget to recognize service that is exemplary. This has been
a week for dealing with both ends of the spectrum for me.

I spoke with a tech person (supposedly) at Paragon today who didn't
seem to have a clue about how kilns work. Not good.

On the other hand, my website is down (which has only ever happened
once before in about three years). I emailed tech support and got a
personalized, helpful, information-packed, friendly reply less than
two minutes later.

Another good customer service experience recently was at, of all
places, the Toledo VA Clinic. I had my initial appointment there to
connect with a Primary Care Physician last week, and I came prepared
to spend all day. I was seen immediately, they took blood, urine, gave
me a flu shot, filled my prescriptions, ordered me a nebulizer and
made my next appointment. And I was out of there in LESS THAN AN HOUR!

Another good customer service experience was last night. I made a
purchase from Max and Me in the middle of the night (I actually bought
a RING for myself! I never do that!!!), got a response right away AND
received notification this morning that my package had been shipped!

It doesn't take much to provide customers with a positive experience.
It just makes good business sense to me to go the extra mile to make
that happen.


Tink
Check here for available work:
http://blackswampglassworks.com/latest.htm

That's why I adore Val and her glass. She's always been prompt, and the one
time there was a mix-up, she sent me replacement glass immediately and
credited me for the glass I returned to her.

Kalera is wonderful too!!!

The big guys, Frantz and Arrow Springs, drive me buggy. I have a few things
I want/need, but I'm waiting to get to PA next week so I can go to Wale
instead. Mike & Elliot, back there, are my heroes.

Paulette at Suncoast absolutely rocks. We had several emails back & forth
before I bought my Onyx, and she was always friendly and patient with my
silly questions.

Oh, and Nicole (Black Cat Beads) is a sweetie!!!!!

I know there are others but that's who comes to mind, glasswise, first.

KarenK

On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 18:34:59 -0500, Diana Curtis wrote
(in message ):

It wont matter to everyone, for some the bottom line will always be more
important than being treated graciously, but the rest of us will hunt out
the businesses who take that extra step to ensure we are glad we did
business with them.

I guess this is an official OMTP as well. I spent a few moments
thinking of the places I do business with, and the places I know that
give exemplary service:

my pharmacy - My prescriptions (and there are a ton of them) are
handled perfectly, and if there is the slightest question, I get a
phone call. The few times my insurance has decided to decline
payment for a specific medication, they've called and gone to bat for
me without my even asking. The clerks there recognize me as I walk
in the door, and have my bag of stuff ready before I even make it to
the counter.

Costco - never a complaint. Great prices, super service, and I can
bring things back if I'm ever dissatasified with them. I bought an
expensive chair that broke a year later. I called and said that I
thought such an expensive chair should last more than a year. They
agreed and refunded my money without ever seeing the chair.

South Pacific Beads and Jewelweaver beads: Both have incredible,
personalized customer service. Once, South Pacific advertised some
pearls as being teal when they were a sky blue. Willis, who owns the
place, admitted that he's a guy, and colors don't mean that much to
him, and he refunded all my money (and I didn't have to return the
sky blue pearls).

Ditto for Jewelweaver - they mistakenly insured my package and I had
to go to the post awful to collect it. It's not handicapped
accessible, so I had to wait in front on the sidewalk until an
employee saw me, then he got the package. I felt like the biggest
dope, waiting on the sidewalk. When I got home, I sent Andrea an
email, telling her how terrible my experience had been. She called
me (on the phone) a short time later, and explained that her brother
had been doing the shipping, and he forgot that I'm the customer who
doesn't want insurance. Then she and her husband sent me a beautiful
agate pendant that Tom had made.

My Bank - Even though I do all my banking online, and only show my
face there maybe twice a year, they are so nice to me. Recently, I
almost bounced a check, and the manager called me. "Kathy, something
looks wrong here. You _never_ bounce checks, and there was a failed
wire transfer into your account. (the insurance company messed up
again) If the insurance comany plans to retry the wire tomorrow, I
can hold the check and keep it from bouncing."

Not bad. He could have let the system do its job and bounce my check
(with a $25 fee), or chided me for not having a line of credit on my
checking account. Instead, he checked my account record, figured out
the problem, and called me with a solution. I was very happy.

My water delivery guy, my heating oil delivery guy and the Diet Coke
syrup people. I have all these things delivered to my house. The
water and Diet Coke people send me an email two days before each
delivery, reminding me to put the empty water bottles or Co2
canisters on the back porch. They pick up the empties and leave me
the new stuff (or fill the tank with oil), and debit the money from
my bank account. No muss, no fuss, and I never have the slightest
problem with them.

All these places have more than earned my loyalty, and will have a
good customer for a long time. I know that South Pacfic and
Jewelweaver have more than made up for their nice treatment of me by
the additional sales I've given them.

Now, if I could only find a place that would deliver fresh fruit and
vegetables, I'd be all set. We have a great produce store nearby,
but the aisles are way too narrow for me, and I can't really lean on
the food displays when I try to walk.

I think that good customer service is going to be the essential
quality that determines whether a business survives in the future.
People are getting sick and tired of the Wal-mart and Macdonald's
model of customer service, where everyone is treated like a machine
to be refueled and shown to the door. Price really isn't everything.

Kathy N-V

and the Diet Coke
syrup people. I have all these things delivered to my house.

OMG you can have it delivered to your house? I love fountain Diet Coke so
much more than canned or bottled. It is truly the elixir of life. I would
drink it all day.
-Ellen

On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 8:39:38 -0500, JavaGirlBT wrote
(in message ):

and the Diet Coke
syrup people. I have all these things delivered to my house.

OMG you can have it delivered to your house? I love fountain Diet Coke so
much more than canned or bottled. It is truly the elixir of life. I would
drink it all day.

Sure do. I got a carbonator from a place called "Soda Club"
(www.sodaclub.com), and that puts the bubbles in my water. I get the
syrup from my local Coca Cola distributor in 1 gallon cartons, which
I transfer to bottles. If I'm feeling lazy or cheap, I use the Diet
Cola extract from Soda Club, because it tastes nearly as good as the
real thing for about 1/4 the price.

Buying the Diet Coke syrup and having it delivered to the house isn't
a lot cheaper than buying cans, but it's a lot cleaner. I don't have
cans cluttering up my house, and when Bob and Manda drink sugared
drinks, I don't ever worry about bugs getting in the house in the
summertime. (We've never had bugs, but I think that's because I'm
eternally vigilant)

Kathy N-V

Diana wrote:

In this day of internet shopping and more and more Walmart type shops the
places that treat us as inconveniences will lose eventually and those who
give consistently good service will win. In other words, for a lot of us
the
more faceless we become the more we will value that wonderful personal
touch
that says we matter.

So true. Online orders require just that little bit extra to make the
difference.

Case in point. I placed an order with an online bead store. The rounds
they sent me were not the size I had ordered. Or rather half of them were
not the right size, and the color was more purple than I thought they
would
be. One email later and I was assured they would send me replacements and
a
pre paid mailer to send whichever I didnt keep back. The replacements were
just what I ordered and I wouldnt hesitate to do business with them again.
People make mistakes and that doesnt bother me. Its how they handle that
error that makes or breaks it with me.
In other words.. OMTP....

OMTP.

Everyone makes mistakes. Not everyone handles them well. The ones that do
are priceless.

-Su

--
Tillerman eBay shop: http://stores.ebay.com/thetillermanbeads
Tillerman website: http://www.tillerman.co.uk