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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

All I Want For Christmas

This year, rather than follow my usual practice of waiting until the very last minute, I decided to do the bulk of my Christmas shopping early (which from the average male's perspective, means any time prior to 5:00pm on the 24th).

To be honest, this break in behavior was not so much a function of any new found organizational skills, or strange awakening of my more feminine side, but rather driven by two basic needs, those being:


1. The need to save time and money - The Bay (a large Canadian department store where those of us who dislike shopping can get most of the things on our list in relatively short order) was having a '2 Day Only Storewide Sale'

2. The need to gather some fresh material for what has become a long overdue service experience related blog article. Where did the last month go?

So this past Saturday I left the house early, list in hand and fully expecting to gather most of what was on it as well as at least one or two less than positive customer experiences to rant about. I knew, what with the sale and all, the customer service staff at The Bay would be under a great deal of pressure. Surely, someone would slip up and give me the story I needed.

After only an hour or two, I had managed to get just about everything on my list, but try as I may, I could not come up with a single negative service experience. I had dealt with at least 10 different employees and much to my dismay, every single one of them was annoyingly friendly and helpful, even when I played the role of the difficult, if not stupid male shopper. This by-the-way is something I do very well.

Knowing I was getting absolutely nowhere on the blog material gathering front, I eventually left The Bay and ventured into the adjacent mall where multiple high end specialty stores were competing viciously for the attention and dollars of the far more discriminating and knowledgeable than I, female shoppers. Like most of its kind, this mall is anything but a male friendly environment.

Desperately, I spent the next hour wandering through several shops where I clearly did not belong, asking silly questions and generally being a pain. But even there, I came up short. In fact, one shop owner, when asked one of my particularly silly questions, went as far as to cheerfully educate me on the proper use and care of a product she had on hand, even though I'd admitted to having bought mine elsewhere.

I suspect most people would consider what I went through a pretty good day of shopping, but given that I take great pleasure in spotting, writing about and addressing customer service issues (not to mention the fact that this is part of what I do for a living) I found the whole experience very disconcerting.

Could it be the world has at long last awakened to the magic of friendly service? Is this the end for Wavemaker Blogs?

I dare not go back out and face the mobs to get my answer; so in case you haven't already guessed, all I want for Christmas is some assurance this is not the case. Please, please do tell us about your Christmas shopping experiences, be they good or bad (albeit those of latter variety would be far more comforting).

Here’s wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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We Want You Be Happy: The following photo was submitted as part of a comment on this article from Steve Tait (see comment 2 below) but for technical reasons could not be included in the comment.


Gotta love it!

13 comments:

  1. Don't tell me that Christmas is bringing out the best in people / service!!! It can't be true. Has the world gone mad???

    Maybe some to add to your "good guy" list? (I like it by the way - great idea.)

    Maybe your retailers have been visited by the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future and seen that to attract customers and to make them spend, especially in these still relatively austere times, service, good service that is, might well be the differentiator. Maybe they have been reading your blogs?!!!

    Sorry I can't grant you your wish to add to your list of bad and uglies for now as I am currently (as you know), in a beautiful island in the almost official middle of nowhere where people are very friendly and eager to help. I was even waiting at a bus stop the other day when a kind gentleman stopped and offered to give us a ride. Not feasible really, as there were 4 adults and 2 kids and he only had a standard saloon car, but very nice of him to offer nevertheless.

    There is a general sense of "niceness" here and it permeates in shops, restaurants etc. The usual greeting here is a polite "good morning/afternoon" with the almost obligatory "how are you?" added. If you start your interaction with abrupt questioning and omit the opener (e.g. "where's the shoe department in this store?" or "when's the next bus?" ) there will be a pause, a smile, and a "Good morning/afternoon; how are you today?"

    It reminds one of the importance of some of the smaller things in life like courtesy and mutual respect.

    I will now embark on my search for bad service and will report back forthwith!

    All the best for Christmas and the rest of the festive season.

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  2. I just read your latest blog (most enjoyable - and well done with your early Christmas shopping binge!) and it sparked me to send you the attached picture (posted at the bottom of the blog article above) that we took while visiting Luang Prabang, a small UNESCO site in Laos. Even there the focus on customer service is being taken seriously. The picture was taken in the airport at the one and only Duty Free shop.

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  3. Great blog Jim!

    All the best over the holidays

    Barb

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  4. Thanks, Jim!

    Merry Christmas to you and yours

    Shauna

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  5. I'm still glad I'm avoiding the malls--I find the other shoppers good enough reason to stay home. Maybe you could write about customer service from the other perspective, i.e. how to be a good customer, or the challenge of dealing with rude customers.

    Otherwise, maybe this little malapropism will give you a chuckle: "I'm not happy until you're not happy."

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  6. I think you should test the customer service at Tiffany's...hint, hint!!!

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  7. Hi Jim, great article as usual. My contribution is not related to a store, but to an airline, one where they really do know how to deliver good service. Cebu Pacific Air, from The Philippines, is one of the regions fastest growing low-cost carriers, and already in its 14 years, has developed a great reputation. You might have seen their attendants' terrific flight safety demo - done as a song and dance so EVERYONE actually watches and listens!

    But that was not the point I wanted to make. A close friend of mine was flying back home to The Philippines (from here in Kuala Lumpur) and needed some special assistance, a wheelchair for a temporary disablement. As required, we called the airline's call center in Manila to make arrangements, which were confirmed to us, that the wheelchair and a CSR would accompany her through immigration, the boarding gate and onto the plane, and similar upon arrival in Manila, including retrieving her baggage.

    Problem, the guy in the Cebu Pacific check-in desk at KLIA said they had no record of the arrangement. My friend's temp disablement is not that obvious, but without asking any questions he proceeded to organise the wheelchair and a CSR to go with my friend. All at no charge, I might add.

    That is great service and was really appreciated.

    Interestingly, as soon as I got home, some two hours before she was due to land in Manila, I called to the call center to check that the arrangements would at least work upon her arrival, and yes, said the call center op, no problem, the record of the booking for it was in her computer. And, yes, the help was waiting for her when she arrived (at 5am I might add!).

    Good recovery Cebu Pacific, the big airlines should take note!

    Cheers, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family.

    Mike

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  8. Hi Jim,

    Thanks! I have always enjoyed reading your posts!

    All the best!

    Al

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  9. Good one Jim! Glad you had so many positive experiences.

    However, I don't think you will be lacking for "bad service" stories. Just talk to anyone who is unfortunate enough to own a BMW. You could make a good living teaching them just the basics!

    Merry Christmas to you and your family.

    jeff

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  10. Oh Jim, memories of THE BAY. Wonderful! However when I went there they were good ''servants'' even then.

    You really must return to UK, especially Slough to find the usual standard of SHONET service which is the norm. I have just managed to get a £50 cheque from British Gas, for their last ''friendly efficient service level for us''.

    Keep the blogs coming. Hi to family Francis too.

    Bestest Ray

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  11. Great article. You must have been at the Bay on the right day because I cannot get any customer service in that store! Or maybe it is the location, the suburban stores seem to be lacking.

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