The Point is... I can't change a lighbulb...

Today’s lesson is CUSTOMER SERVICE. Yes, I am SHOUTING about this topic because, frankly, we live in a competitive era, where we are all picky about the service we get. There are so many options available for the things we need. I can go to the local Target or the local Wal-Mart or the local hardware store to buy lawn fertilizer. There have always been way too many gas stations so that’s always been competitive. On vacations, it turns into “what station type is known for clean bathrooms?” and that’s the one we stop at to get gas, use the bathroom, and purchase snacks.

This came to the forefront of my mind when Julia, a member of a HTML list I’m on, posted the following. I’ve snipped stuff to get to the meat of what I wanted to write about:

Julia wrote,
“Last week I re-signed for another twelve months with my current web host. I've been with them for 3 years and never had any major problems. Two days ago I couldn't get to my site. I can't login to my c/panel, can't login via ftp. I have had to contact the host through the forum because I can't login to open a ticket for support. They asked me to send a trace route which I didn't know how to do. After surfing I found out how to do that and I sent it to the forum over 15 hours ago and nobody from their support team has acknowledged my trace route.
None of this makes sense to me. I am not savvy about any of this kind of stuff. I am wondering if maybe I should give up on my hosts and try another. I am currently using their largest plan, because it has everything I need.

Hello? Julia is the customer! This host doesn’t know what they’re doing to Julia’s opinion of them and they need to quickly make her feel special and appreciated or they will lose her repeat business. Why someone would treat a customer that has been with them for three years in this manner is truly beyond me.

I think Julia needs to get a phone number of the host and use the phrase, “Can I speak to your boss?” if the first person doesn’t have the ability to solve the issue. Personally, I would probably give them the benefit of the doubt, but I typically root for the underdog. Julia has been with them 3 years and had no issues. That’s pretty good. Simply put, if her phone call to them does not resolve this issue, then yes, I think Julia should move on. The fact that Julia was told to send a trace route but wasn’t told how to do so is strike 1 in my book. Did Julia tell them she didn’t know how to do it? I don’t know. Still, the host should have not left her to figure it out on her own what she was expected to send them.

It’s kind of like the local auto supply store I went to two days ago that is in a zone two days ago. My wife told me my brake light was out. I went during my lunch hour. A guy helped me identify the bulb I needed, and then basically wiped his hands clean of me after I had paid for it. I know as much about vehicles as Julia knew about trace routes.

“How do I know what to do next?” I asked.

“You have a 2005 model, that’s too new for me.” He didn’t offer to help me try to figure it out, didn’t offer me any tools to help me do what I needed to do. Nothing.

He lost me as a repeat customer. I had been there with my other car when I needed to get my license plate fastener fixed and to replace a headlight. Those times, I received help. I expected help. This guy, though, was different and unfortunately for his business, I decided right then that I will not return there.

Why not? Frankly, there is another auto supply place about a mile away. I am now willing to drive further, which is less convenient for me, because I know I’ve had good customer service with the other place. The only time I’ve been to this second auto supply store was in an emergency. My wife and I came out of a movie – I’m embarrassed to say the name of it because I don’t think I’d live it down - and when I started the van, a headlight was out. We drove to this second store, arriving close to the store’s closing time. A guy changed it. We were then set to drive home in safety. I will reward good customer service. I gave him $5 for helping us. I even went into the store and talked to his manager and said, “He helped us out and did a very good job. He deserves a raise.”

However, back to a couple of days ago, I was on my lunch hour so I had gone to the auto supply store I went to two days ago that is in a zone store, thinking they’d want to be competitive and retain me as a customer. Instead, this guy lost me.

I ended up going back to work, still with the brake light out. I borrowed a screwdriver from the maintenance guy and tried to figure out what to do. I got a couple of screws off but then I didn’t know what to do. I gave up. I drove to the place that does my oil changes.

I told him I felt stupid for not knowing how to change a light bulb. He didn’t make any degrading comments. He said, “Let’s see what you got.” I showed him how far I had gotten and then he said, “Oh. Here, you just need to pull this that way and it’ll come right out.” I wouldn’t have figured it out on my own. He replaced the bulb I needed and didn’t charge me. I said thank you and he said, “Anytime.” I will return to him for my vehicle service again. He retained me as a customer. He helped me out.

Back to Julia, there’s two sides to every chance for customer service. Julia needs to decide if her host is going to continue to give terrible customer service or if it was a fluke that they expected her to figure out how to find a trace route. I have no idea what a trace route is and would be lost if someone told me to get them one. If I hear back from Julia regarding what she ended up doing, I’ll post it here as well.