Customer service outsourcing

[jasperjacko]

I had a new manager at the Zone argue with me for 5 min. when I brought in a fan relay for my sons 85 turismo. I had the old part in my hand and he kept telling me it was a dimmer for the lights. I said no its a fan relay and I need another one. He said look, I have an electrical engineering degree and I know a dimmer when I see one! Oh really?! I said. SOOOOO this must be your 2nd job? He then turns away to talk to someone else. Finally someone looks it up and voila....its a fan relay! He gets informed by his underling, to which he says.."whatEVER!"

 

[Jack Meoff]

What an a$$hat.....
You're nicer than me....I'd lose my s**t in that store.
A little chat with the store manager.
Even if he doesn't really care he's gotta pretend which will piss him off.
Sh!t rolls downhill.

 

[NoCar340]

...reminded him about how I've spent at least 500 bucks there in the past 8 months...

You didn't really say that, did you?

I really don't mean to insult you, but I've worked in auto parts most of my adult life. Believe me, spending $65/month at parts store doesn't qualify you as some kind of heavy hitter. That may seem a lot to you, but most people spend more than that at McDonald's. It's not even a blip on the financial radar to them, especially if you're the guy always harping about getting better prices. Most parts stores' price-matching policy is the same: if Store A has it on hand, and Store B is local and has it on hand, they'll match it. If you have to wait (overnight or online ordering) to get it at the lower price elsewhere, they won't. It costs money to keep that part on the shelf, and the other place gambled that it wasn't worth keeping in inventory but a lower price might still get the sale. Do you behave the same way at the grocery store? Hotels? The gas station? "I realize your stated price is $3.39/gallon. It's $3.35/gallon across town, but they won't have any gas until tomorrow and I really need to get home. Will you match their price?" Ridiculous, right? You'd never consider asking such a thing, but for some reason it's apparently a perfectly reasonable request at a parts store.

 

[My imp]

Working in Customer Service, I tend to feel "slightly" bad for the people I call. All while ripping them on the phone for requiring me to call them anyway, because the company they work for makes junk. The second time my brand new washer went out, I lucked out and got a "southern" lady..thick accent, but at least English was the natural language. It would've been alright, had she not continuously interrupted me, and practically questioned my intelligence.

As far as the service at the parts stores..I go in and half the time get on the computer for their part numbers, and see if its in stock anyway. There are the fools that cant think past the screen..I refuse to have them wait on me. I've let 4 people go before me at one time, just so I got someone who at least thought outside of what the computer said.

The next time any of you run into the rude types, the ones that continually interrupt you; try saying this, "I'm talking, you're listening!". It will flabbergast & embarrass all but the biggest of a-holes. 99% of them will be soooo embarrassed! that they won't be able to talk. 1/2% of them will continue to interrupt! to which you reply in a more forceful voice, "I'M TALKING, YOU'RE LISTENING. WHEN I'M DONE, YOU'LL BE TALKING, I'LL BE LISTENING, IT'S CALLED CONVERSATION. WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS CALLED RUDE!" If that doesn't work, they'll join the last 1/2% will tell you to F off! But, I've found it most effective!

 

[brotherGood]

No, that was the shorthand version for here. I basically told him that I pretty much take all of my business there since I work next to them, and its the neighborly thing to do. I've spent gobs of dollars and time in here, and while I know Im not keeping it a float, I wont have any problem taking my business elsewhere if youre going to talk to me like Im an idiot. When 80% of the staff there know me by name, by car, and its not because Im annoying, that should tell you Im a good customer. And you don't want to lose good customers if youre a smart enough manager. Plus, Dad is good friends with a guy who runs his own shop, and whenever that guy hears about something stupid, or is given the runaround, he quits ordering from them for a while. They get a little upset when a commercial account as big as his isn't ordering from them. Sure, that's not "right", but neither is disrespecting a customer..whether its deserved or not. That's customer service 101.

You didn't insult me btw, I understand that my point wasn't brought across in the way I wanted it to. I understand what youre saying. The only "price matching" I do is on big stuff that they've usually gotta order anyway..like starters, etc. So, either way, Im waiting, but I'll keep my money at the local store, rather than send it off. And even then, its like a very once in a while thing. He's just got a thumb up his butt because its his first store he's ever managed, and is trying to make an impression. Well, the guys that are the better employees, who've been there for years are getting tired of him. I wouldn't be surprised if half of them quit by the end of the year. And its too bad too, cause they're the ones that know a little bit about cars...and don't stay glued to the computer.

 

[ramenth]

I can say with some pride, that customer service is priority to me. One of the reasons the last shop I owned had a lot of female customers. They realized that they weren't being treated like know nothing idiots, I wouldn't pile the bill up on 'em, I'd warn 'em if something needed attention soon, and I took the time to educate my customers as to what was going on. They trusted me and as such referred friends and family. Best advertisement is word of mouth: absolutely free and it's earned, not bought.

There's a balance to customer service. The customer is always right, most of the time they are unreasonable. It's easy to get around that when you build a rapport with your customers. It never hurts to smile, never hurts to laugh a little, it helps to be extremely professional and confident. Take the time to talk a bit, get to know the customer a bit while still keeping the professional relationship at the forefront. Four and a half years in business at my last shop and I only had to be a hard ass once, telling a person, thanks to his wife's attitude, I didn't want them back as customers. The coolant in their Mustang looked like motor oil and she thought I was ripping her off when I told her I wasn't going to put in new coolant without replacing the thermostat (something I do anytime the system is flushed and coolant replaced). What's funny is after I told him this I became his "best friend." He recognized my honesty, even if his wife couldn't. I started repairing his daughter's and son-in-law's cars as well as continuing to work on his Mustang when he told his wife to sit down and shut up.

There are sales techniques I use, of course. An LOF brought with it a free rotation (and I mean free as my oil changes were priced to be competitive which meant, at the most, I'd make a dime off the service). Legally, it gave me an excuse to pull the tires so I could check out the brakes as part of the courtesy check. If the car didn't need brakes I was able to assure the customer that everything was good. If the brakes were getting low, then I could give the customer a head's up that in a certain period of time they would be looking at having to do brakes. I was able to sell the job ahead of time. My customers appreciated the fact that I was able to tell them early if something was wrong, allowing them time for a more costly repair. Most shops in the area would kick into high gear with the high pressure sales to get the brakes done that day to be able pad the totals of the day's sales.

 

[My imp]

Yeah, unfortunately there are far too many shops out there that only care about that one & done attitude. Get a customer through the door, then gouge as much as you can out of them, with little to no regard for repeat business. Many moons ago, I worked for a guy who held this belief. A man came one hot Sunday morning with 4 flat factory GTO wheels that he had R/R the tires, BY HAND, in his driveway. He said that no matter what he did, he couldn't get the beads to seat, & could I seat them for him with the " tire machine". I threw me up on the old Coates & poof 4 beads seated. When he asked how much he owed, I told him "on the house". Anyone that took that much time & effort to hand mount 4 tires with tire spoons deserved a reward. I wouldn't accept a tip from the guy, because the boss mounted cameras all over the shop, & it would've been theft if I had. The next day, I was called in the office. There was no doubt what this little talk was going to be about. " I'm not running a F'n charity clinic here!" true. Telling him that the guy was so happy, going to start bringing his work there because we weren't interested in gouging the little guy, telling his friends the same thing, & to start bringing their business there didn't mean squat to this guy. He looked at it as theft, plain & simple. "I'm not going to fire you this time, but don't let it happen again!" that guy & his friends DID start coming in, & we sold bread, & milk, scratch offs, & stuff like that. All that business that he NEVER would've had, had it not been for less than 5 minutes of compassion to help a brother out! But that jack-hole never saw it that way. Eventually, he sold the station to his competitor. That same guy came in one day while I was working, & offered me a job on the spot. He runs his business the way you should. Customer service is job 1! What really slays me, is there are so many people who KNOW how to run a business, yet they don't. People I talk to are constantly telling me how the younger generation, he'll, people in general don't want to work for their money. "That's not my job, I'm not going to do that, you do it," my sister-in-law is a supervisor that's semi-retired, wants to be retired, but can't A)Find ANYONE to replace her at the firm. B)Can't find people do even do the work required in their job description. C)Get anyone above her in management to discipline these people, saying that if they do, they'll just quit. And then what'll we do? WTF? For so many people supposedly not being able to find a job, fire the lot of them, & FIND somebody willing to earn there wages! They have to be out there. Both my kids have a great work ethic. Both have been promoted numerous times. You can't tell me that no one else raised their kids that way. There has to be people out there willing to work for a living. Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs fame) has been on a book tour touting 3 million blue collar jobs out there that nobody wants. Everyone wants to start out as CEO. Sorry to burst your bubble, but most places already have one. And if they don't, I doubt if they're looking for a 17 yr. old with no experience to fill the position.