Customer Service, Customer Care, and Customer Delight!

For as long as I can remember the term customer service has annoyed me immensely within quality management systems, because it is designed for the benefit of the organisation and not for the benefit of the customer.I have suffered several annoying experiences of it where I have complained about a product of service only to be offered a gift voucher for the very same store that failed to meet my expectations – so, they don’t meet my needs and expectations and their idea of remedying that is to get me to spend even more money which goes into their coffers – I think not! Whilst it may be a clever business strategy it is definitely not in the best interest of the customer.

Admittedly, there are some who will remedy the product or service by a replacement and then allocate a voucher as an extra and that is not quite so annoying, but all in all they are having a laugh.

Then there are the companies who do have a customer care policy and it expounds how important their customers are to them and that they will always go the extra mile to ensure that their customers get what they want.

My response as I walked out the door was, “no thank you, you have already provided me with such a stunning example of business madness and lack of customer care that will appear in an article - so I thank you for that, good day!”

I am travelling up to Inverness on business one day and come off the main road into a small town to have a break. I enter a small, near-looking café, and study the blackboard of specials. Homemade lentil soup, gosh how I love that! So I order it. The girl serving looks at the clock and states, “we stop serving soup at 2.30”. I look at the clock and it is 2.32 and ask, “do you have soup?” and she gaily replies, “yes”. So, feeling that my logic is bound to prevail, I persevere, “so you have soup and I am a customer who wants soup so please can I have soup?” However, my logic falls flat in the face of “it’s after 2.30, so we don’t serve soup, can I get you anything else?”

My response as I walked out the door was, “no thank you, you have already provided me with such a stunning example of business madness and lack of customer care that will appear in an article - so I thank you for that, good day!”

I have never visited that café again nor will I.

Why is it so difficult to delight a customer?!

Here is another example of loads of effort put in, just to get what a customer should get in the first place. About a year ago, I changed my car. I was in raptures over my new car, I loved it. Then it developed a fault, it wouldn’t start. I had to call out roadside assistance so often that I was on first name terms with Kyle and Wayne. Kyle suggested I got a small jump-starting kit and taught me how to use it so most times I could start it myself, but I still have to call roadside assistance with regular frequency. Those that took the call knew my registration before I said it. Whilst that is all very cosy, it meant that my car was far from fit for purpose.

Rain, hail, snow, I’d be out there under the bonnet getting my car started. Neighbours shoot past me in old Skodas and Fiestas and give me a wave. I phone, I email, I send evidence. I ask politely, I consult a lawyer, I take advice about consumer law and I phone and write again. Eventually, I write to every address that exists for this company and state me case with a simple plea that my car be made fit for purpose or replaced. I write to the head of the motor company, the company president, the head of sales in the UK, the head of engineering... everybody and anybody, because I have had enough and so clearly have a car that is not fit for purpose.

Now I am not claiming that all my letter writing (my letter was 4 pages with lists of evidence) turned things around, but coincidentally, I started to be taken notice of and was asked to bring my car in so that the garage could have the opportunity of assisting me with my issues. Lo and behold, my car was returned to me in working order. But why did I have to fight so hard to make that happen? The law was on my side, it should have been taken care of long before I got to exasperation point. Let me add, though, that when the Regional Manager stepped in, everyone was as helpful as could be and kind and considerate.

And then there is the story of Le Toy Van. Le Toy Van make dolls houses (amongst other things) and I had always wanted a dolls house. Moving closer to retirement I decided I would buy myself one, and with my fascination for minaturism, I would create a Georgian or perhaps Victorian dwelling as a hobby - with the details as precise as I could get them.

My first shock was the price of dolls houses! However, having completed my research, I determined that the only one that was big enough, and had enough rooms for my project, was called Cherry Tree Lodge, made by Le Toy Van. But boy, was it expensive. Then I found a private seller on Amazon who had one a good bit cheaper and it was all in the original packaging. I should have remembered the warning “caveat emptor” because when it arrived it was missing 2 floors and a roof and the seller was uncontactable! Amazon were wonderful and compensated me but I was left with a virtually useless, expensive dolls house.

I tried to track down a joiner who might be able to make me the missing floors but no luck. In the end I wrote to Le Toy Van and explained what had happened (much to my humiliation) after trying to get one more cheaply, and asked it they had any rejected floors and a roof that I might be able to buy.

I didn’t even but the house from them, and this is how they treated me!

I received a prompt reply from Penny Walsh, who asked which model of house I was enquiring about and which floors were missing. I provided the information and it went quiet for a bit. Then Penny asked me for my address and - within days - a box was delivered with 2 floors and a roof and an account showing no cost, not even for the postage!

I didn’t even but the house from them, and this is how they treated me! They provided the missing floors and roof that had made my purchase useless, and created a perfect house for me to build, in which to pursue my new hobby. This is just such an outstanding example of really delighting a customer - who wasn’t actually a customer - that it had to go in an article. So, a huge shout out to Penny Walsh, Operations Manager, at Le Toy Van.

This is taken from their website's “about us” information:

We’re Le Toy Van. A big hearted, honest talking family business with a lifelong passion for creating traditional wooden toys.

Our story began over 25 years ago. Meet Georges Le Van. Founder and creator of the first ever Le Toy Van toy, our beloved wooden Dolls House. 

His vision was simple. To create beautiful, unique toys, lovingly made with intention to stand the test of time.

George’s son Steven was the inspiration behind the brand, testing out and playing with his father’s wonderful creations throughout his childhood. Today he proudly carries on his father’s legacy.

Our toys continue to spark young imaginations through learning-based fun, ready to be cherished and enjoyed for a lifetime of play to life, today and for generations to come. 

And, they can add to that they deliver the most outstanding customer care, nay, delight!

Check them out here:   www.letoyvan.co.uk