Anatomy of a Terrible Customer Service Experience
A friend of mine recently made a last-minute trip to Chicago. He booked a hotel room through a common travel site (for the sake of anonymity, we will call them Schmexpedia), and set off for the Windy City. Upon arrival, he found that the hotel was overbooked and they didn’t actually have a room for him. There must have been a big event going on, because no one had any availability. He called Schmexpedia, and they said they were trying to find him another room, but to no avail. It was midnight, and he was literally wandering the streets of downtown Chicago trying to find a place to stay. In a final phone call with Schmexpedia, he learned that they were unable to find another room and he was essentially on his own. Finally by 1:00 am, he managed to find a hotel with a room, at a significantly higher cost than what he had booked with Schmexpedia.
Later, my friend received an email from Schmexpedia, asking how he enjoyed his stay at the overbooked hotel that he didn’t actually stay at. Icing on the cake. They did refund him the cost of the room he booked, but he wasn’t exactly satisfied with being stranded nor with having to pay more due to their error. So he sent a message to Schmexpedia Customer Service, outlining his disappointing experience. Four days later, they responded. He shared the response with me, and it is a classic lesson in what not to do when it comes to customer service.
They started off strong with this gem: “we are distressed to hear that your travel experience was not a good one.” Now imagine the customer service team sitting around with a distressed look on their faces, wringing their hands because they received this email from my friend.
Next up, “Your trip is the reason we exist, our No. 1 goal is to give our customers superior service. We want to ensure that you feel respected, valued, and cared for from the time you plan the trip to the time you return home, and everything in between. We apologize for letting you down.” They succeeded in stirring up angry feelings (he did NOT feel respected, valued, or cared for), but then smoothed things over with a very thoughtful (very generic) “we apologize.” Picture again the entire customer service team, painstakingly trying to decide how to write this heartfelt apology. Should we all sign it? No, that would be too much. Just use the word “we” and he will surely know how much each one of us cares.
If that were not comforting enough, then they transitioned to, “if one of our customers has an unsatisfactory experience, we take appropriate action to ensure that other customers do not have a similar experience.” What a relief to know that his experience would serve the greater good for all who come behind him – that definitely gives him a warm, fuzzy feeling.
Now that they have him feeling really good, it was time to take it down a notch by letting him know what they cannot do. “Please note we can not provide the following services over email…” What follows is a bulleted list of four things that had nothing to do with the nature of his email.
And now for the big finish: “We appreciate your understanding of the response provided, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.” In other words: Thank you for understanding that we are not really going to help you, and oh by the way…sorry ‘bout that.
The response was signed, “Kind regards” and then the first name of a customer service rep. Kind regards essentially means best wishes. Best wishes out there. You are going to need it.
Giving good customer service should not be rocket science, yet everyone has a story of a time they received a letter or email like this one. Many companies struggle to turn off their knowledge of policies, jargon, and internal processes and instead see their messaging from an outsider’s point of view. This response from Schmexpedia is a classic example, but we have all probably been guilty of this at one point or another. Let’s put this example to good use! Mistakes can be opportunities to win loyalty if they are handled correctly. So when they happen…
Make it timely – Taking four days to respond to an issue is far too long, even if it was over a weekend. Nowadays people expect a response in 24 hours or less. If you need more time, then at least reply quickly to let them know you received the message and when they can expect a response.
Own it – Don’t hide behind a generic “we” apology. You can say “we” messed up (after all, it was likely not the customer service rep who caused the problem), but you should also say “I” am sorry.
Make it right – Empower your people to fix the problem, or if it cannot be undone, then go out of your way to make it right. The Ritz-Carlton, for example, has empowered its employees to spend up to $2,000 per guest in the event that they need to make something right. It rarely needs to get to that point since they provide such great service from the get-go, but it sends a strong message about empowerment to employees when they know that they can make it right with no questions asked.
Make it personal – It is poor form to include a bunch of “standard” verbiage that does not apply to that customer’s issue. But take it a step further: have you expressed empathy for the situation? Have you sincerely apologized? Did you avoid unnecessary content, legalese, or jargon that they might not understand? If you have to say no or provide bad news, is there a next step or alternative you can offer instead? It was a personal experience for the customer, so personalize your response in return.
Avoid canned phrases – Nothing will kill that warm fuzzy feeling faster than “we apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused.” By virtue of the customer complaint, you should know that they were inconvenienced. Don’t make the person feel like they are receiving a template response. Would you close an email to a friend or family member that way? Of course not! Remove generic, uncaring language from your vocabulary.
To be clear, I am not hating on customer service teams. It is not an easy job! Customers rarely call or email to say they love you, so the employees who field questions and problems all day long deserve medals! Customer service is not a department, it is a reflection of your culture and it starts at the top. I’ve heard it said that you can sum up great customer service in one word: care. Care about your employees, and they will care about your customers. Care when a mistake happens or someone has a bad experience – as if it had happened to someone you love. Those moments are your opportunity to prove that you care, and will determine whether your customer comes back or not. So take a look at how you communicate with your customers, with a fresh set of eyes. A few small changes could make a world of difference! Thank you for your kind attention to this matter, and best wishes!