People reading a Customer Experience blog most likely are “the choir”, right? If you’re interested enough to read a blog you’re probably already on the bandwagon or at a minimum aware enough to know there is a bandwagon! Today’s kudos is highlighting the “complainer”, the person who needs to get an order fixed. This example shows how to “complain” in a manner that allows the company or person that’s fixing the problem, to shine.
There is a right way and a rude way to treat the service people who are the other side of the counter, phone, or email.
First, the rude way:
I’ve was SO uncomfortable in the presence of rudeness. We were at a group dinner I’ve been in a restaurant and one person’s order was both wrong and it was cold. The person who received it, I’ll choose a RANDOM name here of Pissy Pants, or P.P. for short. P.P. spoke to the waitress in that tone, you know the tone, the one that’s condescending and martyr like. It was almost muttered underneath the breath. “My order was not right, I ordered this. And it was cold.” (P.P. ate it anyway and didn’t complain until after the meal was finished). An apology ensued. An offer to bring a new meal that was hot. Since P.P. had already eaten the meal, P.P. didn’t want a new one. What is the waitress supposed to do now? The only option is to discount or comp the meal. The restaurant, I’m sure, would so much rather the error be brought up first thing so that a great meal could be brought out. After all, the food at this place is great, so naturally they would want patrons to taste the greatness. It was an icky experience. Uncomfortable. I wanted to tip the waitress more! (In fact, we left extra after others left.)
9 times out of 10 in my experience, businesses want to make it right! There’s a way in which we can go about registering our complaint that’s respectful, polite, AND allows the company or person NOT to be put on the defensive or be put down, but rather allows them to look at you like a comrade/friend. Of course they’re going to want to fix things for friends!
Now, the right way:
My hubs ordered some ProBar’s on line. He was charged for the order but never received the order. He did receive a box, however it was nothing he’d ever ordered in the past, it was not a new promotional item (sometimes companies do that to get you to try other things), and was a quantity that one could not choose on line. Could have been an easy excuse to be confrontational.
Here’s what he wrote:
Hello,
A couple weeks ago I placed an order with Promotive for a couple of items from ProBar.In a very reasonable amount of time, I received what I thought to be my order, but after opening the package I realized that it wasn’t a complete order and after even further investigation, I realized it was completely incorrect.
Per the screen shot below, I ordered 12 ProBar Meal bars – Chocolate Coconut and 12 ProBar Base bars – Mint Chocolate.
I didn’t receive any of the ProBar Base product and only 6 of the ProBar Meal product (and they were not the Chocolate Coconut but the Whole Berry Blast). I’m completely okay paying for the 6 Whole Berry Blast and would love to make arrangements to do so. But I do wonder what happened to the nearly $60 in product I did order and was billed for on 8/6//16?
(Here he included a screen shot of the order)
Any information you can provide would be appreciated. I really love your products, they are top of the line!
Thanks very much,
~runnerboy (a.k.a. Jeff Irwin)
Mobile: 541-400-****“Triathlon; Why be great at one sport, when you can be average at three?”
– Every Triathlete
Setting up for success. This email was not combative, but rather simply stated the facts, setting the service person on the receiving end to be able to happily and delightfully fix the error, and ending with a compliment so they knew he was already a happy customer.
Here’s there reply: (yes, bizarre is misspelled below)
Jeff,
That is so bazaar! The order I have in our system matches the one from promotive. Please keep the product you received in error as a token of apology. We will reship your order ASAP. Please let me know if there’s anything else we can do to assist you.
Have a good day!
Amy Erickson
Orders – Customer Service
PHONE
800.921.2294
FAX
800.456.8880
Orders@theprobar.com
WEB
ThePROBAR.com
ADDRESS
190 N Apollo Road
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
Customer Experience Win. Also Customer Complaint Win! I’m sure Amy’s day had other P.P. people in it. Let’s face it, providing a consistently excellent Customer Experience is tough. Make sure that when we’re on the complaining end, which we will happen, that we’re respectful, polite, and set the stage for a positive experience all around.
Feel free to share this post and definitely sign up for the newsletter by clicking this link so you don’t miss great tips and training that motivate you too continually improve your business and life! Thanks for reading!!