This article is copyrighted by neenmachine.com
This week, my experiences with customer service have been less than stellar. And it appears that I am not alone.

I needed a new thermostat. The old one was broken. The electrician was due to arrive in an hour, so I stopped by a local hardware store - let’s call it XYZ Hardware.

Good news - they had the exact same model that I was looking to replace. Bad news - it turned out to be a lemon.

Once the electrician got our heat up and running (with yet another thermostat), I took the lemon back to XYZ Hardware. I showed the salesman the original broken one and the lemon I just purchased, just so he would know that I wasn’t pulling a switch.

“Well,” he said, “the problem is, I can’t resell this with the package torn open like this.” (don’t get me started on plastic packaging)

“Well,” I replied, “you probably shouldn’t resell this since it doesn’t work.”

“I have no way of knowing that.” he responded. (He may as well have said “I don’t believe you.” But I got the message loud and clear.) “I’ll have to check with the manager.”

OK.

Now, I really hate it when the manager is within earshot of ME - the customer and he is saying “Tell her this …” and “Tell her that…” Why not just come and tell me yourself?

The salesman returned and said they were looking up the warranty info.

Fine.

Then the manager comes to me waving the package saying “This is not mine! This is not mine! It is different!” Implying that I did not buy the thermostat in his store.

This was too much!

Me - “Um, sir, I bought this here 2 hours ago from that (pointing) salesman over there. He actually assisted me in choosing the product and had to unlock a case to retrieve it. Here is the receipt.”

Hello, remember customer service or common courtesy? Or how about just being nice? You don’t have to believe me, but you can be kind.

In the end, they did take the item back and give me a refund because according to the manufacturer - the seller (XYZ Hardware) was supposed to service the one year warranty on the product. And surprisingly, no heated words were exchanged throughout this incident.

But you know, I will NEVER shop there again. And neither will anyone who hears this story.

I know that everyone has a bad customer service experience once in a while. But in the past few days I have been hearing more and more stories of dissatisfied customers.

• Problogger’s Darren Rowse, who has 35,000+ subscribers to his blog and what seems like zillions of daily page views, can no longer recommend his email provider. In a post called Zookoda - I Don’t Recommend Them Anymore Darren writes that the primary reasons that he cannot recommend Zookoda are poor customer service and technical issues. Why any company wouldn’t want to keep a high profile customer like Darren happy is a mystery to me.

• Another popular blogger Armen Thomassian has been having customer service issues with a site called Design Vitality. Design Vitality is running a WordPress template design contest but they keep pushing back the submission deadline. Armen has emailed them with some questions and concerns but never gets a reply.

• A friend of mine volunteers for a local sports organization. This organization sells thousands of dollars of grocery cards (from local grocery stores) as a fundraiser. One of the local grocery stores is unfamiliar with the process of selling such a large quantity of gift cards. (Huh?) They say they will get back to her but they never do. Do tell me - why are they not jumping all over the opportunity to make a sale of a few thousand dollars?

Is customer service dead?

Just when I was ready to give up hope, I read this inspiring story by Tamara:

Tamara and her family went to her local Red Robin restaurant on her daughter’s birthday. Tamara asked the staff to sing “Happy Birthday” to her daughter. The staff sang to other tables with birthdays but neglected Tamara’s table. Tamara left the restaurant with a disappointed daughter and a resolution to never return to that Red Robin.

The next day Tamara called the manager to complain. (Good for her!)

The manager apologized and offered to hand deliver a gift card in consolation. Not only did the manager show up on Tamara’s doorstep but she brought Red (the Red Robin mascot), a gift pack of presents for Tamara’s daughter, cupcakes, and the gift card.

Tamara’s family was overjoyed!

By providing excellent customer service Red Robin has converted Tamara, her friends and family, and her blog readers into loyal, lifelong customers.

Good customer service is the backbone of good business.