R.I.P Customer Service?
- March 11th, 2010
- chris
It happened. I don’t know when it happened, but it did. Customer Service, as we knew it, died.
Maybe it’s just me. Could be just me. You tell me. What happened to it? Where did it go? Is there a new way doing business? Is the customer now a problem instead of the driving force she once was? I remember what customer service use to be like. I remember walking into a store and getting a genuine “Hello. How are you today?”. When I asked where something was I was taken directly too it and not shoved aside while being told “Sorry. Not my department.” I remember when the question “Did you find everything you were looking for?” wasn’t followed by a look of “Oh god. I hope he says yes so I don’t have to work any harder.” I remember. I. Remember.
Last weekend, my friend Jesseline and I decided we wanted to see Alice in Wonderland. Not just Alice in Wonderland, but Alice in Wonderland in 3D. Silver City in Burlington was the best option for us, so we went early and bought tickets for the 10:20 show, 6.5 hours in advice. We assumed arriving at 9:00, 1.5 hours before the show, that we would get us some sweet seats. WRONG!
We walked in the theatre and stood in a line for about 10 min. I decided to make sure this was the correct line so I ask the the Silver City “Team Player” if we were in fact in the right line. To my horror, we were not. The line for the show that began in 1.5 hours, started outside. OUTSIDE!!!??? It was cold. I was wearing a spring jacket, in hopes it would give winter a big old hint, and I had no desire to wait in a line circling the theatre. I asked the “Player” what if I just wait inside? She told me that “there was a good chance I wouldn’t get a seat.” “But I have a ticket,” I replied. “A ticket doesn’t guarantee you a seat.” she stated.
I bought a ticket. How could this ticket not hold a seat for me. Any seat?
So into the outside line we went.
After about 30 min we finally were let into the theatre. We found some seats very close to the front (my neck still kinda hurts), and got comfy. Another young “Player” headed to the front of the screen. He hollered to the crowd, “Make sure you have your tickets. If you don’t have your ticket and you leave the theatre you won’t be let back in. This is your final warning.”
Final Warning? I didn’t get a first waring. Plus, who uses the word “warning”. This isn’t basketball camp. I didn’t light-up a smoke in my seat. I wasn’t speeding. Warning? Really?
We sat through the show and once over, like always, I had to “go” really bad! So I hit the bathroom. The next part is a little too gruesome to describe, but the PG version goes like this; Wet. Gross. Wet. Gross.Wet, wet, wet. Gross, gross, gross.
I decided to hold it.
When it comes to horrible Customer service, I’m not one to hold my tongue. If service stinks, someone is going to know about it. Luckily for Famous Players though, once a late movie is out, everyone seems to hit the road faster than I can say “you stink”. I looked around the theatre for 30 min, and for 30 min I found no one. No one to share my disapproval with.
Famous Player is a big boy. Not an overweight brunette in checkered pants holding a hamburger. But one of the big players. You know. Right up there with it’s big box sisters, Chapters and Costco. Little me, you know the one spending $50 for 2 tickets and a peanut, has become the least of their worries apparently. After all, who am I? Just one person, who could after all, just go somewhere else.
Not true.
I wasn’t the only person unhappy that day. My friends watching with me: Not happy. 200 people standing in line outside: Not happy. The possible 14oo people reading my tweets after my Customer Service experience: Not happy. You reading this blog post: Not Happy.
For a consumer, bad customer service isn’t that great. And everywhere you go it just seems to be getting worse. For a business owner though, not so bad. As Customer Service deteriorates it becomes less of a norm. This gives you the opportunity to stand out. People are used to being treated like a big pain in the butt.
A bad experience = a bad brand interaction.
I don’t think Customer Service is completely dead. I think it just doesn’t show it’s face as much anymore. Provide your client with a positive customer brand experience and you’ll be surprised how happy that will make them. Stand out and treat your client like gold. It’s easier to keep a client then find a new one.
I doubt anyone from Famous Players is reading, but if they are, hear me now; You stink.
*Famous Players was absorbed by Cineplex a few years back.- Thanks Keith for letting us know. : )
These are the musings about a business brainchild contained within a creative confectionery of a mind. His blog entries often look at how making friends and building your brand online is a lot like making it on the playground.
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9 Responses to “R.I.P Customer Service?”
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Hi Chris,
Interesting blog.
You might try the Encore Oakville Mews on Speers Rd.
Better price, 3D, and way better customer service. Worth the drive.
Oh, and by the way, Famous Players was absorbed by Cineplex a few years back.
Since we moved to Hamilton we’ve been amazed at the “extra” customer service we are given. Toronto was rampant with terrible service. From the city to the chain stores, to even the independent bistros.
Large chains think and act like they are a monopoly, because they are. I miss the days of my youth where cinemas had pride in the people they employed and wanted to make the movies exciting for people. Now you can liken them to the massive poultry farms… big business, beholden to the shareholders and not the consumers. They want you in and out as fast as possible, and just spare any extra time simply to play a few car ads at you.
Independent industries will always trump the conglomerates for customer service, but only if they can compete with them. These days it is becoming more and more apparent they can’t.
and it’s a shame.
thanks for the article.
I agree with you Chris, and you too Alistair. If you guys want to see bad service, come on over to Brantford, I think it has Toronto levels of crappy customer service. There are probably two or three places that I can claim actually care about customers anymore, the rest, just don’t give two…
Have you ever tried going into a Canadian Tire and getting honest to goodness help from someone? Those people, for the most part have no clue, or just don’t care enough to help you.
Home Depot has all but eliminated any personal contact or assistance. Their new motto seems to be: Find it yourself, pay for it yourself, and do something else to yourself…
Now, that being said, like Chris mentioned, when you do get good customer service, it makes that much more of an impact these days. For example, if I buy meat or BBQ supplies at anywhere other than Strodes BBQ & Deli(www.strodes.ca) in Brantford, I feel like I’m cheating on my butcher. There was another place in town that I tried, but they are trying to expand and franchise out, and it shows in their customer service. I will never shop at the other place again.
Customer service is definitely a dying art, but people put up with it, because either the prices are lower, or they beat out all the independents.
Great post Chris!
Keith – I’ll have to check that theatre out. I usually go to Jackson, but they don’t have 3D. Not that Alice in Wonderland needed to be in 3D. Would have been just fine in regularD.
I added a bit to the end to reflect your comment. Thanks!
Thanks everyone! Has anyone been to a Futureshop recently. SWEET MARY! No customer service at all.
I thought having someone come upto you at future shop meant that someone was going to pressure you into a sales situation?
Commission or earning a living is a bad thing these days…
There is no customer or “team player” service because of the policy makers.
Hey… if they could replace humans with robots, they would. Silver City 2110? jmo…
The locals and mom and pops give the best experience because their pride is on the line. There is nothing on the line when you work for policy. jmo…
IN other words… I’ll drop a few bucks eating Vietnamese over Mac Donalds anyday… Sure… they might both franchises. But one has a certain pride to it that the other doesn’t have.
I just went to Future Shop today and had a good customer service experience from two seperate employees in one visit. Both of them went out of their way to be extra helpful with zero sales pressure. So what is the difference? Maybe i went to a different store with better management? The point is, customer service is delivered by people, people are hired and motivated by management. It is simplistic and erroneous to say Big Company = Bad Service. Bad Management + bad people = bad service. Sad thing is, it is these same people that provide bad service that will make themselves increasingly irrelevant. I buy my music online, I buy my movies online and rent them right thru my tv box, computer games via steam and impulse and I usually use the self checkout at the supermarket. At the end of the day, the person most responsible for bad service is the one who doesn’t complain about it, so kudos to people like Chris who demand value and service for their money.
Hey Mat!
I agree. I don’t think it’s just Big Business with bad customer service. it’s everywhere. It has a lot to do with the way management treats an employee. You hit a dog too many times and you wonder why it bites the mailman.
Sometimes I feel like a total jerk when I voice my opinion, but when i spend cash I expect to be treated with just a little respect. At least a little. Everyone deserves this and everyone should speak up.
Thanks for reading! Stop into kitestring soon so we can chat! : )
Need I share my story about my latest computer purchase?
45 minutes of interrogation as to why “lil’ old me would need a computer like the one I was requesting”. They wouldn’t even entertain the idea of bringing the computer out of storage (let alone out of the box for me to see).
Customer service has definitely gone by the way side. However, the companies that make it a priority come shining through and win me as a customer for life!