Keeping your word

This is yet another thing that really shits me. We’ve all heard the sayings: “My word is as strong as oak”, “My word is my bond”, blah, blah, blah.

Here’s the rule: If you say you’re going to do something, do it.

There’s no arguing with that. And there are no exceptions. That’s right, I’m talking to YOU Ben & Jerry’s and Lindt. These are two of the big organisations that have promised something and not come through.

I’ve mentioned before that my GF has a food blog. She was contacted by both of these companies with the promise to provide some product for her to use in recipes for her site. But did they come through? Of course, f**king not.

The thing is, by going back on your word, you’re perpuating our litigious society. If you promise me something and then don’t come through, then the next time we come to an agreement, I need it in writing. And that’s IF we do business again.

I know I’m only one bloke, but if a company screws me over like that, then I won’t deal with them again. And I don’t just mean large corporations either. I don’t care whether you’re as big as K-mart, or a corner store family business. Customer service is a major issue and if you can’t keep a promise, then I don’t want to deal with you.

We deal with this shit every day, don’t we? Whether it’s someone at work promising you something and then failing to deliver, or a store you’re dealt with who promise things (free delivery, stain protection, extra bonuses, etc) and then lets you down.

I say F**k ‘em. And I’d encourage all of you to do the same. If you let these people take advantage of you, they won’t change their ways. And before you know it, we end up with a retail industry like we have now, where they don’t give a shit about their customers.

Sadly, I find myself arguing with people and companies all the time. Sadly, most people DON’T care so much about customers/colleagues any more, so you find you have to fight and argue just to get what was agreed.

So if you tell someone you’re going to do something, bloody well do it. And if you can’t guarantee 100% that you will be able to come through for someone, then DON’T MAKE THE PROMISE. Simple.

Customer Service

I’ve mentioned before that while I love to name and shame those organisations that try to blatantly rip off their customers, I enjoy naming organisations that go out of their way to look after their customers just as much.

In my last post, I mentioned how I broke my foot. I’m still laid up, and my GF is doing an amazing job of looking after me. My problem is that now that we are home together all the time, I can’t go looking at certain webpages, because we sit together on the couch.

And before you start on me, I’m not talking about porn, I’m talking about sites where I could buy her a gift. So the other day, when she wandered off to have a shower, I jumped online and ordered some flowers. I wanted to thank her for looking after me so well, but I can’t exactly go to the shops and buy something.

So I bought her some flowers through Interflora online and arranged to have them delivered the following day. I ordered some tulips (her second favourite flower), added some extra buds from the standard package, and included a heart balloon and teddy bear.

The flowers arrived and looked magnificent. But I was disappointed at the size of the bouquet. They delivered 10 buds, and when I checked the website, 10 is the “standard” size. But I ordered extra. I gave them a call, expecting them to just refund me the difference in price and leave me unhappy, but their response amazed me.

The phone was answered by Hugh, before the second ring. He was polite and respectful, and when I explained the problem, he brought up the order and then asked to put me on hold.

I was on hold for about two minutes, and when he came back he said that he had spoken with the florist and they had confirmed that the error was an oversight. For the extra money I paid, I should have received an extra three buds. So I thought “Here it comes, a token refund”.

But no. Hugh said that what they would do is arrange another half-dozen buds. The three I should have had, plus a few extras as an apology. And then he asked if I was happy with that solution. I said I was, and then he said the most amazing thing to me.

“The courier is leaving in about 15 minutes, so we can have them delivered this afternoon if you like”. Within about two hours, the courier returned to our home with a freshly packaged, half-dozen tulips. And attached to the flowers was a card from the florist with an apology.

So thank you, Aspley Arcade Florist. If you live in Brisbane, particularly around Aspley, I would highly recommend this florist. Not only was their customer service amazing, but the quality of the flowers was even better. Next time I order flowers, I’ll go direct to these guys.

Customer Service

Maybe the title of this post should be more related to the mystery of where it went. I’m a child of the 70′s, and back then, customer service counted. It was the bread and butter of retailers, and I’ll never forget two signs that I saw in my younger days:

If we don’t take care of our customers, someone else will; and

If you liked our service, tell your friends. If you didn’t, tell us.

Both of these signs tell you one thing about the retailer – they care about their customers. If you click on the “Good Stuff” link at the top of the page, I have made the effort to recognise companies and retailers that I have dealt with that look after their customers.

What really shits me about service these days is that not only are retailers supplying Gen Y, but they are also pandering to them, and they EMPLOY them as well. I can’t find one good thing about that combination.

When I walk into a store these days, I have no idea who the staff are. There are no uniforms any more! The only way you can spot them is that they wear one of those bullshit lanyard things with a token ID or a key on it. If I walk into a store, I expect the staff to stand out from the customers.

I also want to know why the shop assitants seem to think that THEY are doing ME a favour by “letting” me shop there. Here I was thinking that without me (and others like me), their shop would go broke. Shouldn’t that mean that the customers should be treated with respect? Here’s what I mean…

Walk into a retail store in your neighbourhood. What happens? Are you greeted by a salesperson dressed neatly in an identifiable uniform? Do they wear a collared shirt with the company name or logo on it? Are they wearing a tie? Or a skirt suit? F**k no! They’re wearing skinny f**king jeans, a t-shirt and have hair that looks like they woke up about 10 minutes ago.

And how is their service? Do they give you a minute or two to survey the store, to see what’s on offer and then see what item/s you’re interested in before approaching you with a “Good morning Sir/Ma’am, would you like some help?” Of course not. They do one of two things, don’t they.

Either they ignore you completely, or they’re on you as you walk in the door pressuring you to buy something. And do they show you any respect? Hell no. Do they show any courtesy? Hell no. If you’re lucky, you get something like “Hey dude, if you need any help, I’ll be over there”. Maybe you might even get (from a long haired, jeans-wearing schmuck) “G’day mate. Can I help you with something? No? No worries, just give me a yell if you need help”

The salesman, it seems, is doing us a favour by allowing us to shop there. What I would like to see is a return to old fashioned manners. When I was 17, I had the standard part-time job in a department store. Even though I hardly ever dealt with customers, I wore black trousers, a white collared shirt and a tie.

After that job I worked in a supermarket. I stacked shelves, moved stock, cleaned up spills and packed the customers’ bags. And I wore black trousers, a white collared shirt and a tie. And I got sacked because one afternoon, I chatted to the check-out chick while packing a bag instead of talking to the customer.

And yet when I was in my early thirties, I once went to a supermarket where two young girls were running the check-out. The first words they spoke to me were “That’ll be $78 thanks”. At the risk of sounding like a Grumpy Aussie, what is happening with young people these days?

If you miss the days of customer service, let me know. But I can be open minded, too – if you’re Gen Y and you can explain why sales people behave like this today, please PLEASE let me know.

ecOasis

I know I go on about people who annoy me, but occasionally these days, someone goes out of the way to do the right thing. And if I’m ready to go off at idiots, I should be ready to praise the good people.

My partner and I recently went away for a “special” weekend together, after I had been away with work for a few weeks. We chose a place called ecOasis, which is located in a town called Uki (pronounced Yoo-kye), kind of near Byron Bay. We had been there before, and absolutely loved it.

ecOasis is a series of secluded, self contained chalets in a rain-forest environment. Some have spas, one has a fire and they even have DVD’s and sometimes a PS3. It’s VERY romantic, VERY relaxing, and you get great brownie points for spending the weekend there.

This time around, our visit wasn’t so great. The owner, Jill, couldn’t be there herself, so her daughter was taking care of the place for the weekend. Uki is pretty excluded, so there’s pretty much no mobile service, and the distance from reception to the chalets is travelled by car.

We arrived in the afternoon, and Jill had arranged a BBQ pack for us, as requested. There was certainly no skimping on the BBQ pack, and the chalets have excellent facilities. When we went to cook dinner on the first night, we found we had only been given about 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 serve of butter – this to cater for 6 meals.

The following morning we drove to reception, and left a message to ask for more oil, butter and few minor things. To cut a long story short, these never arrived. Not a HUGE problem, but it made it difficult for us to eat a decent meal, as we had to ‘work around’ the lack of oil and butter.

It will come as no surprise, that if my partner and I are unhappy with our service, we let people know. We don’t yell and scream and threaten managers, we send politely worded e-mails to let people know that our experience was not what we had expected. We never ask or demand anything (like a free meal), we just voice our opinion and see how the establishment responds.

In the past, we have received everything from apologies, to discounted or free meals, and occasionally, arguments with managers and owners because they believed they were above their customer’s opinions.

When we returned home from ecOasis, my partner e-mailled Jill to let her know we were disappointed in our visit, and that it wasn’t at the standard as our previous stay. We kind of expected an apology, and a promise that it would be better next time.

But not Jill. She responded VERY quickly, apologised for the issues, and asked us to come back for a weekend, FOR FREE. In today’s world, where customer service has gone down the toilet, it’s amazing to come across people like Jill. I can’t recomment staying at ecOasis highly enough. Whether you’re after a special treat for an anniversary, a romantice weekend away, or just some “special” time with the one you love – get your butt down there.