Don't Pass the Buck

As many of you know I just “completed” (still living out of boxes and working through a wireless internet card on my laptop) a move to Charlotte, NC.  Between selling one house in California, arranging the transport of all our belongings and starting all the services necessary for a digital life on the other end, I have encountered enough vendors to fuel a ton of blog posts- mostly in the “what not to do” category.  Top on my list is one of the most infuriating and idiotic customer support blunders out there: when the person that is “helping” you doesn’t take ownership of your problem.

The company that moved my cars provided the most glaring (and shameless) example of “passing the buck.” I knew going in that I wasn’t going to get W hotel style service (“hello Mr. Moulton, what is your wish”) from any of these guys. That’s why I thought I was wise in choosing Company A. [I’m so tempted to call those f^ckers out by name! ] They are a small, local, very well-referred company that were up front about being the “most expensive because we don’t cut corners.”  While every other large national transport company had an advanced phone tree that landed me with a different operator from God-knows-where each time I called, this company had one location and a very friendly person (who I will call Wendy) that insisted I speak only with her through the process. Everyone else was squirrelly about when my cars would be delivered; Wendy ensured me that my cars would be delivered on or before my date of arrival in NC (I had a friend who would have taken the delivery).  I called back twice after scheduling the order to test the customer service and got my personal assistant each time. When I dropped off the cars July 21st, Wendy wasn’t around, but the two people in the office were nice as pie and again confirmed that my cars would be there on July 30th. Nothing to worry about, right?

Fast forward to July 29th, when my wife called the company to check up on the progress of the truck.  She was connected to an equally sweet sounding voice that told her that Wendy was no longer with the company, but that everything was fine with our cars – they would be loaded onto a truck that day! My wife, picturing our family at the Charlotte airport the next afternoon with 15 bags trying to rent a minivan in the 90-degree humidity to replace our SUV, naturally blew a gasket. I immediately called the number back and barked my way through to the person “in charge.” She sounded like one of Marge Simpson’s sisters (the nicotine fiends that work at the DMV) and was actually condescending to me as I attempted to describe why receiving my car “no later than the industry standard 14 days from drop off [August 6]” was not going to work for me. Not only did she start every sentence with “again, Mr. Moulton, I didn’t take your order,” but she completely brushed aside any mention of Wendy and all the guarantees that I had factored in while actually choosing the company in the first place. She had been in the business for 20 years, “honey,” and nobody can deliver a car on a certain day - and my contract says that they have to get it there in 14 days.  I escalated to the owner (Danny DeVito’s character from Taxi) and got the same contract talk, but no ownership of the guarantees that an actual employee of the very small company had given only two weeks prior. Louie even took the extra “up yours” step of promising to cover a few days of the rental car and then reneging!

Contrast this with Jigsaw’s response to our biggest customer support nightmare that happened in 2004. A marketing consultant sent an email to all 1200 of our top members with everyone’s email address visible in the “To:” field.  It unleashed an unbelievable viral (perfect descriptor in all ways) sh^t storm of “reply to alls” from furious recipients.  After a brief panic session, we decided that Fowler would jump on the grenade and take personal responsibility for the error. It immediately extinguished the angry flames and Jigsaw even gained some lifetime members that day.  We still make mistakes all the time, but we coach our people to never say “not my department.”

Simple lesson: no matter what you sell, regardless of whose fault it might be, don’t ever pass the buck when a customer is angry. Acknowledge the issue and get the customer to a person who can do the best job possible of correcting the problem.