We say “thank you” automatically, but shouldn’t we apologize too when we don’t meet reasonable expectations?
I posted last week about my weather.com app fail. Basically, I set-up a “pro subscription” and paid, but the app was still serving up ads and I didn’t have access to the pro version’s frequent updates. I sent an email outlining the challenge. I then received an auto response stating they’d get back to me within 90 days.
90 days to respond was the first failure.
If you can’t respond to a paying customer’s complaint within 24-hours, you suck. 90-days is unacceptable for any business. There’s not a company on earth that will give you an additional 90-days to pay them what you owe. They shouldn’t expect to give less than they receive.
So I cancelled. They are not getting my money when I can’t access their product.
Today I got an answer to my email request — it took them 6 days to respond.
Their email was long and involved. It said, “I believe you were impacted by a problem we were encountering with receipts for the subscription system.” Ok… you BELIEVE my challenge with your product was YOUR fault. Next was a list of 4 things I needed to do to fix their issue — followed by 3 more line items I needed to complete to again fix their issue.
Not one time did they say, “We’re sorry you’re experiencing a challenge while using our product.” Not once did they say, “We are so sorry for the inconvenience we’ve caused.” They didn’t even say, “We understand your frustration and are here to help.” Nope. Just a list of steps I had to complete to get what I paid for.
And it wouldn’t have cost them anything. Saying you’re sorry is free. Apologizing doesn’t cost a dime. Having empathy for your customers when you screw up should be automatic.
Just like weather.com, Mother Nature is unapologetic.
Mother Nature doesn’t understand or share our feelings regarding the product she delivers. Matter of fact, from what I understand from “My Radar,” the app I paid for and actually got (Mac version / Windows version), she’s going to be delivering even more product in the days to come that we also won’t be happy with. 🙂
TIL (Today I Learned): Dogs use their sense of smell to perceive events and substances across intervals of time. Each day, even in the same place, smells help dogs understand the passage of time.
Yesterday, I received an email from Adobe with a link to download a PDF file about putting yourself in your customers’ shoes. They talk about serving with empathy and creating loyal customers. It’s like they took a chapter directly from my favorite brother’s book that was written 10+ years ago.
Did you know that Google has an Empathy Lab? They do! The lab’s focus is to make voice assistants sound less creepy. If I were unemployed with a career ahead of me, becoming an empathy scientist dedicated to creating caring virtual assistants would be a perfect fit!
Merida would like that job too.
Here’s one more “did you know” fact:
83% of US customers would rather talk to a live person as opposed to a digital customer service agent.
Accenture
Well duh! I can only speculate that the other 17% are tired of trying to understand that person in India – or they’ve been through the endless loop of digital Hell trying desperately to actually GET a real person to talk to.
Serving the Pesky’s with empathy…
Since a good portion of the corn field to the west of here was harvested yesterday, I could almost stretch a string with cans tied to the ends and talk to my Momma. Those pesky neighbors live in the barndo with a green roof in the photo below.
I’ll admit, I ride the struggle bus when it comes to serving their digital needs (multiple iPhones and iPads, an Apple watch, and Alexa) with empathy. I try to put myself in their shoes, Adobe… but it ain’t easy. 😉
TIL (Today I Learned): In the 1960’s people used to drink Dr Pepper as a HOT drink in wintertime.
Planning a trip to Disney World in a few short weeks and I need assistance with purchases and changes to my reservation. The first number I call (listed on the reservation page), provides a “all circuits are busy now, please try your call again later” response. The second number I call (also on the reservation page) winds me through 1,000 automated questions only to tell me my on-hold wait time will be over 60-minutes.
This is not exceptional service!
Next, because my reservation was booked by a client using my maiden name, I can’t do anything online. It shows me as a guest of myself. Every single time we’ve been to Disney — that’s several — it’s a $10K money dump. Still, I have to wait AT LEAST one hour to talk to a human?
Next, I call the number provided to my client as their “special” contact person. I left a voice message and 1-hour later, I have not received a call-back. Note this client is reserving room blocks for over 1000 guests, booking their A/V team and a ballroom, and one of their inside speakers. That’s a huge expense! You’d think there would be some response, wouldn’t you? Next, I send an email to that same person. Again, over 1-hour later and I’ve not gotten a reply.
With all the other changes I’m not crazy about already, I’m tempted to just forget the whole trip. If not for the fact that my son and granddaughter are looking forward to it and the resort costs are covered, I would. I still may.
Customers base the experience you provide on ALL the experiences they receive as customers. I’ve gotten better service from every single transaction I’ve had within the past year than Disney is affording to me today. Amazon is better. Zappos is better. And even Walmart is better than you, Disney! The only experience I’ve had where I felt the level was about the same was COVID vaccine reporting.
I’m disappointed. This ride has started out pretty bumpy and I’m not sure where it will end…
A couple weeks ago I ordered a new kind of shampoo and conditioner (Moroccanoil). It was EXPENSIVE. Although it smells amazing, it made my hair feel gummy and I simply hate it. My friend, Julie, recommended her favorite, (Davines). I thought I’d give it a whirl and I ordered it on Amazon.
The second I opened the mailbox and the fragrance hit me I knew there was a problem. It was shipped with no bubble wrap or anything in the box besides the product. The shampoo lid wasn’t tight.
Back to Amazon.com I went to initiate a return! But no… no returns on this product. There was an option to chat with a representative so I clicked. Into the chat came Naman.
Now I don’t know of anyone in my neck of the woods with that name so I assume (and I could be wrong!) that this dude doesn’t live around here. The name is of Hindi and Hebrew origin and means “salutations; be kind.” His first comment to me was:
“I’m going to make you smile today!”
No photo proof needed to prove my claim and my card was credited immediately. Naman also credited an additional $10.70 for my inconvenience — and I don’t have to return anything.
Yes, Naman lived up to his name and made me smile. Pretty cool, Amazon. 🙂
TIL (Today I Learned): Ever heard of Beirut’s Grudge House? After disputes with his brother over land inherited from their father, a man built a thin, three-story building just to hide his brother’s view of the sea.
It depends! Because my job is all about the Ultimate Customer Experience®, a term trademarked by my favorite brother and business, I SHOULD say the experience. But what if you still REALLY want the product?
When you walk a bajillion miles a day (like me), or spend a bajillion hours standing on concrete for your job (like Perry), shoes are pretty darned important. After much research, we narrowed our choice to Kuru Footwear and we both chose the pair we thought best fit our needs. Perry’s treat (yay!), his CC was hit for $332.00. Kuru’s shipping info page promises “most all shoes are shipped within one business day.” I guess we didn’t order “most all shoes.” 🙄
A week later, our shoes are still “processing” although the credit card payment isn’t.
I sent an email to Kuru that’s been unanswered for 3 days; I sent a form through their website that’s also unanswered; and I left a public comment about my dissatisfaction on their Facebook page that they deleted. The customer experience they’re providing is about as bad as it gets. The only way it could get worse is if we never get the shoes and a chargeback is required.
But I STILL want the shoes!
The bunny that walks and poops jelly beans is cool and all that… but it doesn’t help me grind out my steps or Perry as he puts in around 20k steps a day on concrete. So what’s more important — the experience or the product? It really does depend…
Happy Easter, everyone!
1 Peter 1:3 ” Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
