Follow the Dancing Tagents
As you may know I am sick with love for Google Maps. Make your own map, find business, look at satellite shots, and if you're lucky enough to live in a city as cool as San Francisco, you can place this happy little dude anywhere in the city and you will see what he sees! It almost takes you all the way to my house! Luckily my fortress of solitude is still hidden from the Information Super Highway. So see if you can keep up:
My parents are visiting in a couple of weeks so I have to see if the Summer House furnished hotel style apartment is free for their visit. I go on line to find their phone number on their website. When I Google Summer House CA it shows the location on the map and says 44 reviews. I click the reviews and people seem to hate living here. I had zero idea about this. So after eating dinner (zuchini pancakes, corn, Quesadilla[sp?] yum!) I get interested. I read all the reviews and comments. Not as friendly a compound as I thought. This got me thinking. Are there reviews for my Hertz locations? So I search Hertz Oakland CA. Viola! 1 review. April 2007, person got quick service but a dirty car and went on complaining about the dirty car.
I wont go into detail about my initial reaction. I mean she was probably in the right. The car might not have been clean (sorry, it happens) and when people return most of the time the reaction is check the mileage and gas when it is parked out front and see if there is any damage to be concerned about. If it can't be noticed with a glance, than no worries. Okay, so I have some issue with the review. I wont tell you how she was wrong but I will say people have ridiculously high expectations for customer service.
This isn't an excuse for lazy ass people. I work hard and I am not in love with my job. My main reason for doing things right the first time is I dont want someone to hassle me for anything. My Boss, my customers, my coworkers. But what I'm trying to say is people (including myself, I blew up at a hotel counter girl at 2am, my eternal shame.) take it out on the person in front of them. When someone starts to yell at the counter I feel bad. I feel so bad I almost feel sick. I didn't personally do this person wrong and I don't want them to be upset with me. I am just the just the guy with the job of selling you something. I (and a thousand other counter people) want to say:
"Why don't we have your item? Well you see corporations don't care about your satisfaction, only your money. So if you complain but we still get your money it's okay. How do these businesses get you to come back? Money off your next visit. It's not just us. Look at the Airlines, hotels, rental cars, and cable companies! hell, AOL invented the tactic. You'll get home, cool down, think maybe it wasn't bad as you thought and return because you have been here before, change is rough (even little changes like choosing Denny's over IHOP), we gave you a big chunk of money off your next visit, and you will come back to us. That's what they hope. I am the last person in a line of thousands. Your complaint over the hotline, email, or one on one with the city manager wont affect change it will only make this store's manager have a little hassle. The company blames the branch, not their inadequate customer service lines, supply of product, or the way in which they guaranteed your reservation.
Ma'am, I want to get you what you want. I wanted you to come through that door, share some laughs with me, and have you walk out with exactly the thing you came thinking you were gonna get. I begged, pleaded, called the other locations, even our distribution! Our local branches don't want to have the image of being under prepared and mistreating of the customers. If you want to wait with us you're my first priority. If not I understand, I can get you something else and change the cost to make up for it. How can I fix this situation?"
This will never happen. Once you hear your item isn't in the shop- boom. Ears shut, teeth grit, fist clenched, take your pick. The whole model of the market is jacked up right now. Hear the demand, make the promise, and let the supply slowly leak out like a shower with no water pressure.
So back to the middle of this tirade. When I read that review I went into reverse complaint mode. I saw their review screenname, went to profile, tracked down her blog, thought about emailing her but realized she was right and I"m not a psycho. This job can't take me down like that.
And it wont get better. Tomorrow or the next day 3pm will and there will be a convertible/extra SUV/Luxury car reservation and we don't have it I'll still feel sick. Because nobodies discontent matters; consumer or employee. Make the bottom line and recover the customer at all cost.
My parents are visiting in a couple of weeks so I have to see if the Summer House furnished hotel style apartment is free for their visit. I go on line to find their phone number on their website. When I Google Summer House CA it shows the location on the map and says 44 reviews. I click the reviews and people seem to hate living here. I had zero idea about this. So after eating dinner (zuchini pancakes, corn, Quesadilla[sp?] yum!) I get interested. I read all the reviews and comments. Not as friendly a compound as I thought. This got me thinking. Are there reviews for my Hertz locations? So I search Hertz Oakland CA. Viola! 1 review. April 2007, person got quick service but a dirty car and went on complaining about the dirty car.
I wont go into detail about my initial reaction. I mean she was probably in the right. The car might not have been clean (sorry, it happens) and when people return most of the time the reaction is check the mileage and gas when it is parked out front and see if there is any damage to be concerned about. If it can't be noticed with a glance, than no worries. Okay, so I have some issue with the review. I wont tell you how she was wrong but I will say people have ridiculously high expectations for customer service.
This isn't an excuse for lazy ass people. I work hard and I am not in love with my job. My main reason for doing things right the first time is I dont want someone to hassle me for anything. My Boss, my customers, my coworkers. But what I'm trying to say is people (including myself, I blew up at a hotel counter girl at 2am, my eternal shame.) take it out on the person in front of them. When someone starts to yell at the counter I feel bad. I feel so bad I almost feel sick. I didn't personally do this person wrong and I don't want them to be upset with me. I am just the just the guy with the job of selling you something. I (and a thousand other counter people) want to say:
"Why don't we have your item? Well you see corporations don't care about your satisfaction, only your money. So if you complain but we still get your money it's okay. How do these businesses get you to come back? Money off your next visit. It's not just us. Look at the Airlines, hotels, rental cars, and cable companies! hell, AOL invented the tactic. You'll get home, cool down, think maybe it wasn't bad as you thought and return because you have been here before, change is rough (even little changes like choosing Denny's over IHOP), we gave you a big chunk of money off your next visit, and you will come back to us. That's what they hope. I am the last person in a line of thousands. Your complaint over the hotline, email, or one on one with the city manager wont affect change it will only make this store's manager have a little hassle. The company blames the branch, not their inadequate customer service lines, supply of product, or the way in which they guaranteed your reservation.
Ma'am, I want to get you what you want. I wanted you to come through that door, share some laughs with me, and have you walk out with exactly the thing you came thinking you were gonna get. I begged, pleaded, called the other locations, even our distribution! Our local branches don't want to have the image of being under prepared and mistreating of the customers. If you want to wait with us you're my first priority. If not I understand, I can get you something else and change the cost to make up for it. How can I fix this situation?"
This will never happen. Once you hear your item isn't in the shop- boom. Ears shut, teeth grit, fist clenched, take your pick. The whole model of the market is jacked up right now. Hear the demand, make the promise, and let the supply slowly leak out like a shower with no water pressure.
So back to the middle of this tirade. When I read that review I went into reverse complaint mode. I saw their review screenname, went to profile, tracked down her blog, thought about emailing her but realized she was right and I"m not a psycho. This job can't take me down like that.
And it wont get better. Tomorrow or the next day 3pm will and there will be a convertible/extra SUV/Luxury car reservation and we don't have it I'll still feel sick. Because nobodies discontent matters; consumer or employee. Make the bottom line and recover the customer at all cost.
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