How does a customer go from threatening to call the Better Business Bureau, making negative posts on Facebook and doing whatever she can to defame us, to apologizing an hour later?
I think the short answer is to have the facts on your side.
Even though “perception is often reality,” when push comes to shove, the facts usually win out.
Here are the facts:
A customer brings in a down jacket for cleaning.
The customer notices feather(s?) leaking out upon picking up from cleaners.
Customer blames the dry cleaner.
The cleaner states that this not likely to happen in the cleaning process. But offers full credit for the item if the retailer doesn’t take back.
Fabricare recommends taking it back to the retailer who has a “return if not satisfied” policy.
The Customer’s Reaction
The customer did not like this proposal and as a result left the jacket at the cleaners.
Unbeknownst of the situation, the husband picks up the jacket months later, and brings it home.
This aggravates his wife.
So, she returns to the store and goes ballistic on the new employee.
The owner of the cleaning company calls the customer and states that they can no longer do business with her due to her poor behavior despite the cleaner trying to remedy the situation.
To the customer’s credit, she said she was sorry and actually went back to the store to apologize to the employee who was literally in tears after the incident.
The Moral of the Story
Concept: Good customer service requires good customers.
You can’t give a gift to an ungrateful person. It won’t be well received.
It’s the same with service.
Our Customer Service Policy
At Fabricare, any employee can give an unlimited amount of credit to make a customer happy on the spot.
No management approval necessary.
This rule was made to solve problems quickly and empower the employee. It also assumes almost all customers are reasonable – which, typically, they are.
However, sometimes when customers don’t hear what they want, they get frustrated and become unreasonable.
Problems happen in every business in every industry.
Good businesses work to a resolution in a kind compassionate way while understanding the disappointment and feelings of their customers.