Sunday, August 22, 2010

Customer is always right

I never liked the customer service in London. Some shop assistants behave like I owe them a living. One day in a supermarket I asked for help to locate a cereal brand which I liked. Instead of explaining where to look for it, I was told that if I didn't see it, then it's sold out. The shop assistant didn't even bother checking if I knew where it was or that if it was really sold out.

Supermarket careless attitude towards customers

Another incident was dealing with a mobile network operator. Instead of resolving my problem with my voice call, the customer service officer had the gumption to ask why I didn't resort to texting instead!

With so much displeasure dealing with the people whom I owe a living, I decided to fight back. I decided to exercise my right as a consumer.

The first attempt was writing to the manager of the mobile network operator. I told the manager I was absolutely disgusted by the behaviour of his staff and that I was made to feel like I was in the wrong because of the way I used my phone. I received a call the following day with an apology. As a gesture of goodwill, the mobile operator awarded two months free line rental and a written apology in email and in text.

The second attempt was with EasyJet, the airline that inspired the founder of Air Asia. In my recent trip to Malaga, there was a 2.5-hour delay to flight departure. I was really unhappy when I nearly missed the car rental pickup because of the late arrival. I read EasyJet's policy and filed for an appropriate compensation. Anyone who's flown on no-frills would attest that it's easier to squeeze blood out of rock than for them to compensate passengers. I tried my luck and was delighted they responded with an apology and the amount we asked for.

The third attempt was my recent long-distance swim in the Thames. I bought a £325 high-performance wetsuit to swim in the competition. Everything went well until the last part when I tried removing the bib off my wetsuit. The adhesive held on to the wetsuit like a leech. And like a leech, it damaged the surface when I tried removing it from the wetsuit. That was exactly what happened to the wetsuit. A chunk of rubber was ripped out with the bib sticker leaving the neoprene exposed. I was horrified to see that happening to the new wetsuit. It's like driving your new car and being involved in a horrible accident on the same day!

Damage on wetsuit

I was really upset that I couldn't stop talking about it to my "supporters" and thinking about it the next few days. To put the matter to rest, I wrote in to the organiser and complained. I didn't expect a response but to my surprise the organiser admitted it was the bib sticker manufacturer's fault. She conceded I wasn't the first who complained. She offered to settle the complaint amicably by offering compensation in kind and fees for future races. I took account of the total compensation and it was well worth more than half the price of the wetsuit.

By now I would have given the impression that I complain a lot. But I would argue with that notion because I don't. I am a stickler for perfection. So I do commend and praise for good performance. This article proves just that. I have also commended the customer service officer for the car rental in Malaga who stayed back until 3am to sort out a car for me.

I have taken the position that I don't owe anyone a living because no one owes me one as well. Yes, customer is always right but most importantly, customer must do what is right.

9 comments:

Khoo Yit Kiat said...

Wah...man, a look at the wetsuit, I feel for you man. For that amount of money you paid, truely sakit hati. But lucky u get compensated in kind. Well I just heard a story of customer service in England. Friend went to shop, paid in Scottish pounds..the front liner actually took time to check the notes and even call up the supervisor! Guess how my friend felt at that time! My fren said to the girl, "For goodness sake, it's "British" pounds" Haha.

Yap! It's 3088.. said...

Lil Khoo,

Yes, felt totally wrecked by the damage. I'm now thinking of selling it as 2nd hand. Trying to recover the other half of the cost;)

Yes there's something about Scottish notes that ppl here don't accept. apparently there are too many fakes in circulation.

Raymond said...

o my holy god, 325 pounds for tht wetsuit! why not u post a pic with the suit, want to see la

Yap! It's 3088.. said...

Ray,

The pics of me in the wetsuit are in my FB. Try to find it and tell me how i look!;)

niQue_naQ said...

at least in UK, when u lodged a complain, the customer service took it seriously and usually you will get a reply and an apology at the very least! in malaysia, ive tried several times lodging a complain to companies like celcom and maxis and jusco, but do they care? not at all! even had the nerve saying something like "we dont care if you dont want to buy from us, cos others will!!" boleh?? my frend once actually went to court for the small claims tribunal baru dapat her deserved compensation, otherwise, here in msia, they dont really care!

Yap! It's 3088.. said...

Nik,

Thanks for reminding me. It's true customers here demand and know their rights very well. It's unfortunate we haven't reached that level of maturity with customer service in Malaysia.

Amy said...

Oh, In that case, I can also lodge a report to the Norwegian airline? The flight that I took to Norway was delayed for 8 hours. What kind of compensation did you claim? What type of compensation am I entitle to?

Amy said...

Oh, In that case, can I also lodge a report to the Norwegian airline? The flight I took was delayed for 8 hours. What kind of compensation can I claim?

Jamie Pang said...

Well said, well said! I also won't stand for such services here as well. The challenge is keeping a civil attitude while dealing with these people.