I want your guy's opinions on customer service.

That's something else I have seen, there are places with absolutely atrocious customer service which keep customers and make money. As a rather extreme example, I give you the Soup Nazi. He was a complete azzh--e to his customers, yet they kept coming back and he even became famous enough to have a 'Seinfeld' episode built around him. So what if his soups were fantastic; you'd think after being told to leave four or five times people would stay away and the place would go down the tubes. Yet exactly the opposite happened.

Someone explain to me how that kind of thing can happen, please.

Some people want to abuse you, some people want to be abused.

Eurhythmics fan, huh?

I don't think that's it, though.

Curmudgeon wrote: I don't think that's it, though.

Lots of people in this world who honestly can't think for themselves. "Well, this is an Audi/Porsche dealership, I have an Audi/Porsche, I HAVE to get work done here, and this is how it will be everywhere else".

You have no idea how many "car" guys in Edmonton have no problem plunking down $2500 for a dealership to do some menial work on their car because "it's the dealership, who else do I take it to?" You see people walk into dealerships to buy cars, they are literally getting screwed and they EVEN KNOW IT, but they still buy the car. "Oh, they increased the invoice by $2k over what we agreed for "fees" and "delivery" charges, blah blah blah, oh well, I guess I'll pay"

It's insanity!

Curmudgeon wrote: That's something else I have seen, there are places with absolutely atrocious customer service which keep customers and make money. As a rather extreme example, I give you the Soup Nazi. He was a complete azzh--e to his customers, yet they kept coming back and he even became famous enough to have a 'Seinfeld' episode built around him. So what if his soups were fantastic; you'd think after being told to leave four or five times people would stay away and the place would go down the tubes. Yet exactly the opposite happened. Someone explain to me how that kind of thing can happen, please.

"I came here for an Argument!"

"Oh! Oh, this is Abuse!"

"Sorry!" (leaves)

(mutters) "Stupid git!"

I spent a lot of time dealing with the public in previous jobs. I've got a very good idea of what I want, and as many others have said, my expectations vary from place to place and based on the baseline expected customer service and knowledge level (ie: Merchant's Tire vs. a specialty speed shop). I won't expect an employee at Merchant's to be able to discuss or perform tire shaving, but I would expect that at the speed shop.

A lot of businesses don't realize that customer satisfaction is a sliding scale based on experience. If I'm getting a car repair done today and somebody does something unexpected, like washing my windows, they went above and beyond. If everybody starts doing that, the baseline is reset to that level and they'll have to start doing something else in addition to that in order to have gone above and beyond.

The two biggest drivers of my own customer satisfaction are:

1. Honesty: I'll be honest about what I want, I expect a business to be honest about prices, times and services performed

2. Fixing mistakes: Enterprises that can turn a mistake into a loyal customer will do better in the long term.

There is a sushi place my fiancee likes. On Mondays they have a really good happy hour. I used to like going until one day there were 4 of us at dinner, we ate, paid, and were having a conversation for another few minutes after paying the check. The middle aged Asian woman who owns the place told us we needed to leave so someone else could have the table less than 5 minutes after paying the bill.

It's the single time in my life I've ever been asked to leave a restaurant. I haven't been back, and that was a couple years ago. We went at least once a month, sometimes more.

On the flip side, the first I ordered something from McMaster-Carr for myself, I put my work zip code rather than home. This was a Sunday evening. I called the number on the website, someone answered, fixed the zip code in the computer, and I still had my package the next day. It was totally unexpected, but greatly appreciated. When I'm asked to find something we need at work, they are toward the top of my list.

Four of us ordered cobb salads only to get back to work and see there was no chicken in 2 of them at all. Called and they apologized and seemed genuinely upset that the kitchen messed up, said come back and they'd make it right. They gave us one container and when I politely asked if that was for both salads the owner replied kinda in a snarky tone. So I've never gone back. Maybe I read too much into it but that rubbed me wrong.

Zappos... I ordered a pair of shoes, my feet are wide so shoes are prob something I shouldn't be trying my luck at online but nobody locally sold them. They arrived, didn't fit. Called late, like 8pm or 9pm, might have been a weekend at that. Two rings and a live, english speaking, courteous and helpful rep picked up, processed my exchange/return and even upgraded me to VIP account status with free upgraded shipping for all my future orders for my inconvenience. It wasn't even their fault! Def earned my business and I've spread plenty of love for them.

There's a Toyota dealership that sponsors a couple of Lexus forums I frequent, used to be great service, then they grew and brought in other folks to help with the volume, now it reeks of arrogance and attitude, poor service, friends who I recommended go there in the past have reported the same. I want to support them for supporting my forums but I have such a bad taste from recent experiences, even the prices + the fact that they're semi-local aren't enough to get me to purchase from them unless I absolutely have to. Pity.

BAMF wrote: On the flip side, the first I ordered something from McMaster-Carr for myself, I put my work zip code rather than home. This was a Sunday evening. I called the number on the website, someone answered, fixed the zip code in the computer, and I still had my package the next day. It was totally unexpected, but greatly appreciated. When I'm asked to find something we need at work, they are toward the top of my list.

I tried to order from McMaster Carr a few days ago. They promise an answer in 2 hours. The next day I get an email, also sent to other Canadian addresses saying that due to the ever increasing complexity of United States export regulations, McMaster-Carr will only process orders from a few long-established customers in Canada.

That's BS and I know it. If they don't want my business, they should just tell me.

There's a Toyota dealership that sponsors a couple of Lexus forums I frequent, used to be great service, then they grew and brought in other folks to help with the volume, now it reeks of arrogance and attitude, poor service

I think that's a corporate mandate. Every Toyota dealership I've ever been in has been like that.

I can totally understand why companies wouldn't want to deal with the border hassles. It's a pain in the butt if you try to do it legally. It's quite different for individuals.

And, with regards to all the "dealer satisfaction" surveys...

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/07/20/ford-kills-off-blue-oval-certified-dealer-program/

I don't know. I ship hundreds of packages worldwide every year, and have never had a hassle.

Do you do all the proper paperwork, identifying the tariff codes for everything? It's not easy to follow all the rules.

Keith's comment's about businesses being different is of interest, as I've ordered parts from England with no problem as an individual.

The only companies I've had big time customer service with are Comcast and the IRS. One is a PITA, the other can be "hello Agent, I hope you're having a nice day!"

Comcast is a mixed bag; their customer service is usually better than their ability to provide servics.

On two consecutive nights this week, I had to call and report an internet outage - tv was fine. The wait time for the first call was 10min but the rep was friendly and helpful. He checked all his data and claimed there was no "reported" interruption but quickly changed that when his info was updated during the call.

The second night, same problem so another call. Again the rep was helpful and again claimed no "reported" outage and that only 13% of customers were having issues. By the time the call ended (>5min), 26% of customers were having problems. She also noted that no one from C/S can call the dispatch center to report outages. Hmmmm.........

So, the call center reps have to take the heat from customers while the dispatch crew just waits for some kind of data-update before issuing a fix order. Something's wrong with the scenario.

Ugh - comcast. Interwebz and cable has been out for 4 days. Had a tech scheduled yesterday - received an e-mail yesterday letting me know I had cancelled the service call - wtf - no I didn't. Turns out the CS rep entered my phone number wrong (even after going over it 3x with her). Tech calls, no answer - on to next call. Grrr. Rescheduled. 2nd tech doesn't call, just shows up. Nice guy, too bad the problem is a level up - so a different crew has to deal with it.

OTOH, the local dry cleaner walks out to your car - picks up your clothes for you and brings them in. He also puts them in you car for you. If you've been there more than once he knows you. Usually the clothes and ticket are ready before I reach his front door. I don't even know what he charges - don't really care. He's somebody I want to have my business.