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I’ve just got back from a rather disappointing shopping trip. My task today was to find a new adaptor for my laptop – should have been simple enough – however, another less than satisfactory Customer Service Experience left me realising how easy it is for a business to lose a customer.
Let me explain: I live in Spain – a country which is not known for excelling in Customer Care! – I decided to go to a well know store which specialises in electrical appliances; usually good value for money and OK service. I went straight to the computer department and decided to ask a young guy – who I thought was an attendant – where I could find the adaptors. It turns out that he actually worked in the warehouse and was just replacing some items. Now, he could easily have told me that he couldn’t help me and that I should find a customer service representative; however, I was pleasantly surprised when he proceeded to escort me and find someone who could help me.
It didn’t take us long to find help (actually we just had to go into the next isle!). The guy from the warehouse explained to his colleague that I was looking for an adaptor – all fine up until then. Just when I thought that I was going to get my hands on the coveted adaptor, my experience went pear shaped. The “Customer” rep just pointed at a spot in the distance (more like the other side of the store) and told me that I could find what I was looking for there!
Please don’t get me wrong, I am not usually fussy about things like this and under normal circumstances I would have just accepted his, less than satisfactory, answer and got on with finding what I was looking for. Funny thing is that the guy from the warehouse actually took me over to where I could find the adaptors! (Brownie points for him!) The problem is that I was now faced with a large display with loads of adaptors for all types of laptops, netbooks, PC’s; you name it they had it!
Imagine this, it’s hot (36ºC) and I’ve just finished a long day at work; I don’t want to have to look at all the options, one by one, and try and decifer which adaptor is compatible with my laptop. Last thing I want is to choose the wrong one and blow up my computer! So what did I do? Quite simple, I walked out of the store and went to their competition (just around the corner) to buy the adaptor!
I know I could have gone back to the guy and asked for more information or even tried to get hold of someone else; the point is, I was upset at the guys attitude and thought that if he couldn’t be bothered to help me, then I would just take my business elsewhere.
What I am trying to get at here is that a simple attitude problem from a “customer Service” rep for this company cost them a client. Ok, so the adaptor was only 60 Euros; however, I like to spend my hard earned salary on precisely the king of merchandise they sell in that store! Will I shop there again? Probably, but not in the near future. I’ll have to wait until I forget about the incident or until the guy in the warehouse gets promoted to the storefront. After all, he offered a much better customer experience than his colleague.
Photo Credit: cdrummbks