Lack of Customer Service in the USA

[gemini5362]

Maybe it is just me but I think one of the biggest problems I see today is lack of customer service. I can remember when companies worried about a customers buisness. Today I feel that they could care less even if they are going broke. I bought a new cook stove at sears three weeks ago. It was pretty expensive as in the thousands of dollars bracket. I told them at that time it had to be a morning delivery because no one would be home in the afternoon. They called me 4 days prior to the delivery and told me it would be delivered in the evening. I told them at the time that would not be acceptable and it had to be a morning delivery. They said they would call me in two days with the delivery time and they would send along my request for a morning delivery. Two days later they called and told me my stove would be delivered between 5 and 7 pm I told them they could not deliver it then I would not be home. I was told that they could not change the delivery time it was already locked in but they could give me a new date. I asked if I could get it in the morning and was told they could request that but not guarantee it. All I asked for is to have it delivered before 1am to me that is not a very hard request to make considering I made it 17 days before the delivery date and again 4 days before the delivery date. This attitude is not only at sears. I bought a new front door at home depot again a purchase that was in the thousands of dollars bracket. I had a 36 inch door and was replacing it with a new leaded glass door with leaded glass sidelights. the new door was 60 inches wide. The new door was purchased in december and I was told it would be delivered in 12 weeks. Because of the cost of the door I paid for it to be installed. Home depot told me that they could not order it until someone had come by and measured the whole it was going into to make sure it was the right size. I pointed out there was not a 60 inch wide hole in the living room wall yet I would have it there after the door was delivered and they were ready to install it. They refused to order the door until the hole was there. I pointed out that it was december and that they wanted me to have a 60 inch wide hole in my wall for three months. It might get a touch cold in my house with that big a hole in the wall. Home depot insisted that they wanted to make sure the door was the right size and did not seem to understand the concept I was making the hole to match the door it would be the right size. We finally ordered the door without the installation package and got it that way ( My wife loved the door and could not find anyone else that made one similar to it) These are not isolated instances unfortuneatly.
The airline industry is so much worse than it used to be and other services are the same. I find that a lot of companies forget that I am the customer and are paying them. They expect me to take a day off of work or do whatever they need done to purchase their products from them. There is another thread on here about Harbor Freight tools but everyone seems to agree their tools might not be the best but when you go in with one that is broke or call them to order parts they do whatever they can to help you. I have gone to buy something and the part had the wrong price on it. They sold me one at that price then after i bought it they put the correct price on it. Some of the companies going out of buisness needs to take lessons from HF

 

[N80]

I wonder where the problem lies? Probably two places. First, we want everything cheap. One of the easiest ways to lower prices is to cut human resources. American workers are expensive. For some unknown and unnatural reason we've tied healthcare to employers in this country. That (among many other things) makes hiring a worker a very expensive. Which leads to problem number two which is that businesses are trying to get by with fewer employees. For this to work, the existing employees are often overworked. Overworked employees and understaffed businesses do not provide good customer service. And they don't do good work either.

Over the last few years I've seen more and more people in my office complaining of various illnesses and problems that are either due to excessive work loads or in order to miss work. Henry Ford saw this phenomenon a hundred years ago when he tried to over work employees.

Kind of odd that we're having to learn this lesson all over again. Especially in a country that, for the most part, doesn't make anything. Service is all we really produce anymore. And now we can't even get that right.

I wonder if it would be beneficial to learn to speak Chinese? I think so.

 

[Ductape]

I wonder if it would be beneficial to learn to speak Chinese? I think so.

I would agree...... their military is going through a massive build-up for a reason. The US will no longer have the ficilities to to produce what we need to defend ourselves anymore. Interesting the position we have gotten ourselves into.

 

[Sigarms]

I wonder where the problem lies? Probably two places. First, we want everything cheap.

Think you hit the nail on the head.

Just the other week I was in a customers office. He told me one service I was selling was too high (he was going off a 5 year old price book from a "national service" which was technically a competitor of mine). I asked him to call that office because of the date of the book he had in his hand (being old, I knew they had a price increase at the beginning of this year). He called twice while I was there. He was on hold each time for over 20 minutes and still didn't get an answer (and I spent three hours with him that day).

I told him right there he'd never have that problem in dealing with me.

I'm not the lowest price in town, however, if I get a call, it's answered. If a customer wants something at 10 PM at night and he does business with me, he gets it at 10 PM.

That's not to say that I "bend people over", I treat them fair. However, I tell people I'm not the lowest price in town, nor do I want to be.

Funny because this afternoon I'm going out to a jobsite with a new customer. He asked me to go because I've gained his loyalty on a previous job, and I intend to keep working for that loyalty.

Funny to, you're a doctor, correct? Honestly, I would never want your job. You have to have all that schooling, work God who knows how many hours before you get "established", pay insurance and to top it off, you have to be a "people person" to to keep people happy. I find it really had to find a good MD who's good with people and still a GREAT doctor. And I'm sure dealing with the general public can be so much fun JMO

 

[LMTC]

I think there are myriad reasons, many of them simply the result of a declining (IMO) culture, the result of lower education standards and lower ethical standards. I firmly believe that: 1. you virtually never get more than you pay for, and 2. you don't even always get all you pay for. The resulting corollaries have to do with service, etc., i.e. there ain't no free lunch.

We are not the biggest in our market (grey tractors, exclusively yanmar for us), but our reputation is top shelf, you don't find our customers wandering about the yanmar forum here with problems, and we do an incredible word-of-mouth volume. Why? Because we make every effort to attend to our customers' needs. I answer email 7 days a week, answer the phone 6 days, probably available by phone about 12 hours/day, run parts orders 6 days a week (ship 5), and so on. Our customers usually know before they buy (from references) what they are paying for and are happy to do so. We lose a fair amount of sales on price, but I don't care. I have found that customers who shop solely, or even primarily on price end up being the most unreasonably demanding people anyway. I mean come on, who really believes the seller advertising "Free Shipping" isn't tacking it on to the price of the tractor? Maybe it just comes down to greed, though that would spin off from my belief in declining ethics.

As far as health care being tied to employment, I completely agree that it is contrived. Most people have no clue what they actually cost their employer.

 

[Sigarms]

We lose a fair amount of sales on price, but I don't care. I have found that customers who shop solely, or even primarily on price end up being the most unreasonably demanding people anyway.

I might add that even if you get their business because you're $1.25 cheaper, you'll also lose their business for a dime.

As my superior tells me, you get it on price, you'll lose it on price.

 

[N80]

I would agree...... their military is going through a massive build-up for a reason. The US will no longer have the ficilities to to produce what we need to defend ourselves anymore. Interesting the position we have gotten ourselves into.

I think the gravity of the situation can be summed up in a simple fact:

The barrels (tubes) for the most advanced tank in the world, our Abrams tank, are made in Germany.

Now, I'm not saying the Germans don't make good artillery, in fact, history would suggest that they make the very best. But when you can't make the weapons that defend you then you are dependant on someone else, who may not have your best interest at heart, for your own freedom. That's a problem folks, and while this example might be trivial in its practical implications, it is not trivial in the picture it paints.

I'm as patriotic as the next guy, I served in the armed services and I love this country. But I personally believe we are watching its decline. The process will be so slow as to be imperceptable to any single generation. But I'm afraid we've peaked. This is not to say that we won't have another peak. I'm not saying we're doomed. But I don't think we are going to be the country we learned about in the 5th grade.

 

[toy]

I don't think an employer paying an employee's health insurance is a problem I think making that employer that pays' his employee's health insurance compete with slave labor or oppressed labor from a free trading partner country is the problem. I think our leaders being bribed by lobyists for campaign contributions is a problem. When Bill Gates was testifying in DC for more visas for high tec workers it was sickening seeing the politicians acting like street walkers advertising that they were for sale. I remember a time when America prospered and it wasn't because employers never paid for their employees health insurance. I remember a time when America prospered and it wasn't because unions had been beat down and broken, no the unions were strong. I remember a time when America prospered it was a time when forced labor and child labor was prohibited and not when the decider beleived it was ok to have free trade with nations that exploited their workers and disregarded safety standards.

 

[Skyco]

Sears began losing my business 30+ years ago. Bought our first house- needed a washer, dryer and a refrigerator right away. Sears said they could deliver in a week or so..not acceptable so they lost the sale. Local outfit followed us home from their store with all 3 appliances. Doubt even they do that nowadays though. At the very least I'd expect next day delivery.

Health insurance- I receive a yearly "total compensation" report from my employer of 20+ years- my health care costs me a little over $3k per year for the wife and I. They kick in an additional $9k a year *Holy Cow*
I have two sons in their 20's- one makes 30K a year and simply cannot afford health insurance for himself or his partner, he does manage to buy health care for his 2 yr old with a very high deductable, BTW there is NO assistance from his employer. The system stinks- he works his rear off 6 days a week and makes "too much" to get assistance but yet can simply not afford some necessities like health care.

 

[Sigarms]

I remember a time when America prospered and it wasn't because unions had been beat down and broken, no the unions were strong.

I remember the day a long time ago when I worked in a union out of college. Three ring circus, no teamwork, all about "me", and in all honestly, overpaid for the market for the simple labor being provided by the employees.

I stayed for a short time then left because the rules made absolutely no sense, and I had pride in whatever job I was given and did it better and faster than anyone else there (one reason for getting my butt reamed out by "union people" at this company).

Guess what happened to the company?

JMO