Tweet
At my store, when a customer is returning certain items from Car Audio, Customer Service sends the customer out to the car installation department so that we can check the item out. There are several reasons why we do this. I have test equipment available in the bay that isn't available at the service desk; often the only "problem" with returned equipment is improper installation. Also, it can be difficult for an untrained person to tell if the equipment being returned is what's supposed to be in the box. One speaker looks pretty much like another of the same size, decks contain lots of extra installation parts that need to be returned with them, and so on.
So a customer comes out to the bay with a deck he wants to return:
SC: Why do they make me come all the way out here just so you can look at it?
Me: Well, I just have to make sure everything that came with it is still here, and that nothing is broken.
SC: They can't do that up at Customer Service?
Me: Not really. The Customer Service reps have enough things to deal with; we don't make them try to memorize what's supposed to be in every box, too. It just works out easier for everyone to have us take a look, since we know exactly what's supposed to be in there.
So I okay the return, write a note, staple it to the box, and send him back up front. A few minutes later I get a call from the Customer Service supervisor:
CS: KaeZoo, did you tell that last customer that the CS girls were lazy and didn't know what they were doing, and that's why you have to check their returns?
Me:
What? Of course not! I just told him that you guys had enough to deal with, and that it makes more sense for us to check the products, since we work with them all the time.
CS: Oh, okay. He was saying, "you should talk to that guy out there, he was really bad-mouthing you girls". It made N (the rep) really mad, and she wanted me to call and yell at you.
Now, I have plenty of respect for the customer service counter reps, just as I do for all the other people who do a job that would drive me nuts in under a day. Even if I do have a problem with a co-worker, I'm not going to share that with a customer. It's not any of their business, and it's unprofessional to air dirty laundry in front of a customer.
I don't think the customer misunderstood what I was saying; I think the customer just felt like starting trouble.
So a customer comes out to the bay with a deck he wants to return:
SC: Why do they make me come all the way out here just so you can look at it?
Me: Well, I just have to make sure everything that came with it is still here, and that nothing is broken.
SC: They can't do that up at Customer Service?
Me: Not really. The Customer Service reps have enough things to deal with; we don't make them try to memorize what's supposed to be in every box, too. It just works out easier for everyone to have us take a look, since we know exactly what's supposed to be in there.
So I okay the return, write a note, staple it to the box, and send him back up front. A few minutes later I get a call from the Customer Service supervisor:
CS: KaeZoo, did you tell that last customer that the CS girls were lazy and didn't know what they were doing, and that's why you have to check their returns?
Me:
What? Of course not! I just told him that you guys had enough to deal with, and that it makes more sense for us to check the products, since we work with them all the time.CS: Oh, okay. He was saying, "you should talk to that guy out there, he was really bad-mouthing you girls". It made N (the rep) really mad, and she wanted me to call and yell at you.
Now, I have plenty of respect for the customer service counter reps, just as I do for all the other people who do a job that would drive me nuts in under a day. Even if I do have a problem with a co-worker, I'm not going to share that with a customer. It's not any of their business, and it's unprofessional to air dirty laundry in front of a customer.
I don't think the customer misunderstood what I was saying; I think the customer just felt like starting trouble.
are lazy."
Comment