Good Technology Does Not Guarantee Good Customer Service

June 2, 2009

I recently took my car in to the dealership for a warranty issue. The service rep greeted me when I arrived, made sure I had a loaner car, and my car repair was completed when promised. So a successful visit, right? Wrong. As I was driving home, the same problem developed. I called the service rep, he apologized, and arranged for me to return at a later date.  But then it got interesting. Two days later I got an email from the dealership. Take a look:

Dear Stephen, First of all, thank you for bringing your vehicle in for service at xxx. As a preferred xxx customer, our goal is to provide you with outstanding customer treatment that extends beyond the purchase of your vehicle.  If for some reason you were not completely satisfied with your service experience, please contact us immediately by calling 972-xxx-xxxx. Again, we appreciate your business and look forward to seeing you on your next service visit.  Please be sure to logon to our website to obtain special sales, service, parts and accessory offers and information. Feel free to contact our Service Department at 972-xxx-xxxx with any questions or concerns regarding your service experience. Sincerely, xxxx Service Director

 Not a bad email. Pretty typical of many service providers. But what got my attention was the “Click here for an immediate return call.” Now, that’s Customer Service Done Right I thought to myself. I was planning to ignore the whole feedback thing until I saw that button. With one click of the button I was going to get connected directly to the Service Director. So now I decided to participate.

I clicked on the button, and a menu came up with 2 phone numbers to contact me with. Neat, it was all integrated and they had my contact numbers. I chose my cell phone number and about 10 seconds later my cell phone rang. Wow, this was impressive! I expected to pick up the phone and someone would be on the line to handle my situation. Oops. Customer Service gone bad. I was connected to a switchboard operator who had no clue how I got to her; it was as if I had initiated the call. I asked for the Service Director and ended up in his voicemail. I hung up without leaving a message and had a further bad taste in my mouth. It was bad enough that the service was not performed properly, but it was worse to tease me as if they truly cared about customer satisfaction, only to learn otherwise. Why the dealership didn’t have the “Click Here” button connect you to a person who knew why you were calling is a mystery to me. If you are going to make like you care, finish the process.

The net – Good technology does not guarantee a good customer experience.

Until Next Time,

Stephen