Image by laffy4k via Flickr

Warning, rant ahead!

A weeks ago, I asked “When Will It Come?” I’d ordered a hard drive (for backup). Then I waited. And waited. And waited. After three weeks, I contacted the company. They said they’d look into it.

Then they said the card was declined.

What?!

I called Amex. No decline. Not even any record of the request.

Contacted the company again. I was told that they’d contacted me (nope). Then, while I was on the line, they cancelled my order! (Probably because the price was now considerably higher). More back and forth. I told them I wanted it reinstated, a discount, an apology…

What did I get? A $15 gift certificate.

Sorry, not good enough.

I’m never buying from Buy.com again. Ever.

I finally bought a bigger drive from Amazon instead. I ordered it on a Saturday, and it arrived on Tuesday. Now, that’s service!

Things go wrong. It’s a fact of life and business. But if something does go wrong, don’t keep it to yourself, or try to hide the problem.  And if the customer complains (legitimately), be respectful.  Even better, help them.  Fix whatever is broken.  If you promise to get back to them, do it.  Make them feel better about you, your company, your service, and the whole experience.

Got any stories of horrible service?  Or, even better, a bad experience that got turned around?  I’d love to read them.