How important is customer service to you?

[PMC]

G'day lounge lizards!

How important is customer service to you?

I personally farken firmly believe, that good customer service is the lifeblood of any business!

My opinion again, great customer service is all about bringing customers back. About sending them away happy, happy enough to pass on positive feedback about your personal experience with that business along to friends or forum members.

They then might try the product or service themselves and hopefully experienced the same effect and they too might offer that to their friends and in their turn they become repeat customers!

The essence of good customer service is forming a relationship with customers, a relationship that that individual customer feels that he/she would like to pursue again and also share with others!

Thats my farken take on the subject.

However, lately i have experienced disgraceful customer service and even though the product was good the service was woeful. The bad experience (poor customer service) has now made me rethink my business to another supplier for the same product!

What do you think and have you suffered a similar experience?

Regards,

RLI

[BigRAWesty]

Absolutely. Even if they are the cheapest, if they don't look after me I walk out.. Miter 10 down here hired what seemed the retirement home.
Now nothing wrong with the age, but they showed no interest in helping, or when they did it was like your questioning a statue..

So I always go to the little local guy. They need all the help they can get atm..

Sent from my C6603 using Motorculture mobile app

[Hodge]

There is nothing worse, than walking into a shop or service centre of some sort and get greeted by some drongo, who clearly has no intention and/or knowledge and/or ambition to help you out. We all at some stage bumped into those types. You walk into a shop and there he/she is standing, barely alive, clearly just there because they're getting paid, and hating life because now that you've walked in they may have to do something or look something up for you. But then there are those stores where you actually get approached and assisted with the right attitude.

Several examples from my end. Having an IT background, shopping at computer stores, place called MSY is by far the cheapest. However, their service is absolutely woeful. If it involves anything more than paying for an item and walking out, such as warranty issues and product availability, they just do not want to know you. They've been fined by the ACCC few years ago for exactly that.

Another one is a local turbo business, where I will never walk into again. Unless I was in there to buy/get a brand new turbo fitted, the bloke didn't ' want to know me. He just was not interested in me explaining the story of my potential turbo issue to him. Before I even mentioned what's wrong, he was straight onto the quotes for a brand new turbo fitted for about $2.5k. They advertise turbo rebuilding, repairs, etc. Mate you lost me...

On a positive note, my local arb store I've yet to have troubles with even after shopping there for years. Few blokes in there much better than others but you get that. Walk in have a friendly chat, they suggested things outside the square, done things they normally would not like help out with 3rd party parts fitting, delivery, removal etc etc... I don't see why I wouldn't want to keep shopping there.

Anyways I'm with RLI on this one. Good customer relation sells the business. Word of mouth, especially during this internet and forums era, travels very far. Unfortunately we're more likely to hear negatives rather than positives. But that's embedded into human DNA.

[paulyg]

I don't mind paying a little more if I get good customer service.
Something I really hate is when they say I will ring you by a certain time and never ring at all.

[Avo]

rant on
I totally believe in customer service.In reality I don't give a rats arse if you want to charge more.i'll pay more 9 times out of 10 just because I know I have back up.whats the point of getting the bargin of the century if the store is a sh!theap and no one cares once you walk out.I have a bad habbit of walking out of shops that do not offer helping hand.What I mean is if I can't find something I make a point of hey I need help,don't offer it stick ya shop up ya ersa.Like trying to find a brakes atm.Rang the rda mob for the closest local dealer as it couldn't tell me on the pc.they said they'd get back to me with more info and they haven't so now my car aint getting that brand.how hard is it to actually follow up.Now I wanted these brake after a thread I posted last week and some one had said they are good,maybe but there service i sh!t.
Rant off.

[paulyg]

wa 489 that was probably me that said rda a good, but I got them of ebay.

[89gqpatrol4x4]

example of bad service, BUNNINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We call the employees in there red shirts blood clots as they hang around in groups talking amongst themselves. I went there last night to get some timber etc for a Saturday job, went to the "trade counter" and she was so busy on the phone she couldn't even acknowledge me, the other employee was also on the phone! I then went to the trade shop and got a hand saw then back to the timber rack, cut up the hardwood I needed and left without so much as a can I help you! I have done this so many times I can't remember! If they hadn't killed off all the small guys that's where I would go in a hart beat!!!!!!!!

[MEGOMONSTER]

Even with bad products, good customer service should bring you back.

[TPC]

For me it depends on what I am buying, when buying stuff like hardware good service is required and as 89gqpatrol4x4 said you cannot get that from Bunnings.
I used to shop at a Mitre 10 store close to home and the guys in there new every item they sold and what its use was but they unfortunately they could not compete with Bunnings and closed down.

If I am getting computer parts I go to MSY because they are cheap, there service is non existent but I go in there knowing the part no of what I want, for people who need assistance I would never recommend they go there.

[P4trol]

I think there's two types of shopping for me.

1) I know exactly what I want, and what is a good price.

2) I don't know what I need.

3) It it isn't available anywhere else or on the net.


1 gets sourced on the interwebby thing.

2 & 3 get sourced locally.

I agree with RLI that the employees are the face of your business. Some go out of their way to help. I love this and like others, often pay more just because going in there is a pleasure. If I needed them to tell me what I want, I pay for it.

The unhelpful ones. I take extra effort to not go there. I have developed new patience and wait for evilbay items from china, or do without until I travel. No rewards for poor or rude service.

(the attitude here is: take it (the rude service and high prices) or leave it. We're the only people that sell/do this, so we know you will be back)