Good Customer Service makes a Happy Amanda

Eyes Open...

If any business wants me to be their number one advocate all they need is to acquiesce to my simple requests for good customer service. If you've known me for any significant time period in my life you know its in my blood to argue with customer service for any company until I feel that my point has been made. If I bitch a lot at a company I typically give fair warning to the Customer Service Representative if my previous experiences have been less than pleasant. I'll even apologize before I know a conversation will get heated. Some of my favorite examples were; HP when I had my laptop was still under warranty and I was talking to a computer program to try and get my point across and Dustin yelled out "FLUFFY" in the parking lot like in the Credit Card commercials, Time Warner Cable when we moved to our house we couldn't transfer the cable because they didn't service our new area, I had to pay a cancellation fee even though they didn't provide service where my house was - I still believe they were wrong in charging me but the $150 fee I paid was well worth the time I wasted of the Time Warner Customer Service representatives that had to hunt down Dustin's "phone confirmation - contract of service" recording and conference me in on a phone call that they could explain it all to me. At least 3 hours on the phone with at least 5 different people including upper level managers that had to authorize the "phone confirmation" playback. I even told the lady that although I had to pay them money it was worth the many hours I wasted of their time.

Since many of my responsibilities at my job are oriented to customer service at least now I have a true appreciation for being the person that fields an angry person's call. I'd like to think that I'm not always angry right away, I give the company or representative the benefit of the doubt before I go ape-sh** on them over the phone. Especially now that I'm a yogi...breathing normal helps a lot.
I can even get through the phone calls at work of late that I'm on the receiving end of the bitch call. It's kind of refreshing to field a call and when someone asks for a supervisor or a manager I can say "you are talking to them; if you call today or tomorrow i'll be the one to answer your call" if I can't help you solve the issue than you've got bigger issues than your travel agency website people. Oh travel agents, how i love thee...

So Dustin recently lost some weight and apparently in his fingers as well. His wedding band is super loose and we've been considering what to do. Turns out the jeweler that we purchased the ring from and the designer who manufactures it offers a lifetime size exchange on his ring since it cannot be resized because of the metal. I just found out today that we can go resize him and send the original ring back to the company for an exact replacement in the appropriate size. We will only have to pay shipping for the exchange. Go Calvin's! We loved you when we went searching for an engagement ring after such a horrifying experience at the mall stores and we continually get reconfirmation about our choice to go local with you for our wedding jewelry during every interaction since we first walked in your door. Calvin's has replaced missing stones in my ring and adjusted the prongs on my ring before, free cleanings and stone checks everytime we stop by!

Every experience, in person or over the phone that you have with a place of business is not memorable. The memorable moments are always on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Really Great Experience or Really Bad Experience. Some experiences are so awful that you actually don't reflect on it and realize the absurdity until much later. Its amazing what speaking up and telling your story can do - good or bad. It means your alive, your eyes are open and your breathing through.

In June my Emergency Vet experience broke the mold on customer service and my actions and reflections post-experience. By standing up and saying something about it (via story/letter), letting someone with influence know what I experienced, I single handedly created an Emergency Care training manual, got my vet's cell phone for my next emergency and shared a lot of laughs. See letter here.

When you hold the cash and the weight of you as a consumer and your circle of influence bears down on any vendor you work with you have the choice to do business with who you choose. Many of the purchase decisions we make are based on customer service stories and recommendations from our friends. With the introduction of local restaurant ratings online and online lists of service providers its more important then ever for local business especially to treat their customers as gold. In a down market, we're holding on to our money but when we're ready to spend it again we want to spend it with your business. Customer Service is King!