I am an advocate of customer service.
I worked the phones handling customer service for years in my previous job, later on I was promoted to quality assurance analyst, and in the end of my almost five years of service, I was a quality assurance analyst for the escalations team. Even as a quality assurance analyst, we were still tasked to work the phones a few times a month to make sure we could walk the talk. Modesty aside, I walked my talk
As a consumer, I know that I cannot expect the same exceptional customer service that I gave, but there is no excuse for lack or absence of customer service. And when I have a great customer service experience, I guarantee you my repeat business.
We were at Bonifacio High Street this evening. Without any immediate need, we were checking out shoes for our soon-to-be one year old son. There's a Crocs shop there and I like their footwear, so we decided to check if they came in baby sizes. We went in and baby daddy found baby Crocs. I took them out of the box and tried them on. They were just the right size, which wasn't a good thing because he'd probably outgrow them in two weeks. I was returning the baby Crocs in their box when one of the store employees approached me and said he would do it. As he packed the shoes, I asked 'do you have it in a bigger size?' No. As he walked back to the rack, 'how about a different color?' No. As he hanged the box, 'how about another style?' They only had one. Then, he walked away. If his actions were words, this is what I heard, 'Leave the product alone before you damage it or get it dirty or something. We don't have anything for you. Please leave.' We left. Not my loss.
We walked on, and found ourselves inside R.O.X. We walked around the shop - all three floors! None of the staff bothered us as we went from shoes, kid's scooters to baby shoes on the first floor, from slippers to camping cutlery on the second floor, and as they checked our the bikes while I sat on a sofa on the third floor. When we went back to the second floor to take a second look at potential shoes for Monch, we needed some assistance, and someone was readily available. He answered our questions politely. He allowed me to man-handle the shoes when I squeezed in Monch's foot, only to decide that I wanted the next bigger size. He got the size we requested promptly. He escorted me to the cashier. R.O.X. rocks! I'm going back there later this month to get the sandals I was eying.
As an after thought, maybe, I wasn't supposed to remove the baby Crocs from the box. I know from experience how flawed the expression 'the customer is not always right' is, but that's not an excuse to deny customer service.
