The Lost Art of Customer Service

Now That's Customer Service - Kinda

Today I received a letter from the PikePass Customer Service Center in Oklahoma city. It informed me that my PikePass (A nifty device that makes it really convenient for the State of Oklahoma to tax its citezens for driving on roads that they paid to build) was being deactivated since I hadn't used it in over 3 years. They also notified me that they were charging me $30 for not returning the PikePass back to them. I must confess, I was a little perplexed by this (since I sent the pikepasses back to them almost 4 years ago) and called the customer service number to let them know this was a mistake.

The nice lady that answered the phone listened to my story and told me that it was no problem and she would remove the $30 charge. She then informed me that I had another PikePass on my account that was still active and would be deactivated in a year. I asked her why it was going to be another year before that one was deactivated and she told me that it had been used in 2002. Well, needless to say, I was shocked :-). The post office must be out using my PikePass to run up and down the turnpike.

So, I asked her where it was used. She told me that it had one "bad" scan in Stroud Oklahoma in 2002. I asked her what that meant and she told me that it mean that they had been unable to read the entire account number. I asked her if by any chance that meant it wasn't my PikePass and she said that she'd have to get a supervisor. This seemed to puzzle her so she asked me to hold while she got a supervisor.

Dennis, the supervisor, was a nice enough guy. He made me tell my whole story again and then had the gall to ask me if I had my receipt from the Post Office when I mailed it (Dennis, it was 3 years ago!!!!). I told him I didn't, and didn't think that was reasonable request so he went to talk to his supervisor. He then came back and told me that they would "research" it and call me back.

At this point I had already been on the phone for almost 20 minutes, so, much to Dennis' surprise, I said, "No, that isn't going to work." Dennis was shocked and I then told him I needed to talk to his supervisor. To his credit, he went and got his supervisor (rather than using the normal hang up on the customer approach), and Jim Steglich came on the line.

Now Jim is pretty good at what he does, becuase he had actually found out from Dennis the details of the situation. But, to my dismay, he then told me the same thing, he'd do some research and call me back. At this point I was 22 minutes into the phone call. I decided I had nothing to lose and went on a little rant about customer service. And here's the amazing part, he paused for a second, and said "You're right, I'm going to take your advice." He then proceeded to do what the first lady should have been empowered to do, he fixed the problem. So after 24 minutes, my little problem was solved, and for the first time in my recent memory, a supervisor in a custormer service department, did the right thing and admitted the folly of the policies and fixed a customers problem. You see, usually, a supervisor has this huge thing that stops him from doing a good job, its called an ego. And it gets in the way and prevents him from admitting a mistake. Jim, however, took the time to think before he spoke. Bravo, Jim. PikePass should give you a raise.

If you'd like to find out more about PikePass visit www.pikepass.com. If you're wondering if some teenager built their website in his bedroom one evening, I thought the same thing. You'd think with all those $30 cancellation fees they could afford to use something other than Microsoft Frontpage, and yes that is free clip art that their using as graphics. Gotta love the government.  (Editors Note: PikePass has since updated their website)

Today I received a letter from the PikePass Customer Service Center in Oklahoma city. It informed me that my PikePass (A nifty device that makes it really convenient for the State of Oklahoma to tax its citezens for driving on roads that they paid to build) was being deactivated since I hadn't used it in over 3 years. They also notified me that they were charging me $30 for not returning the PikePass back to them. I must confess, I was a little perplexed by this (since I sent the pikepasses back to them almost 4 years ago) and called the customer service number to let them know this was a mistake.

The nice lady that answered the phone listened to my story and told me that it was no problem and she would remove the $30 charge. She then informed me that I had another PikePass on my account that was still active and would be deactivated in a year. I asked her why it was going to be another year before that one was deactivated and she told me that it had been used in 2002. Well, needless to say, I was shocked :-). The post office must be out using my PikePass to run up and down the turnpike.

So, I asked her where it was used. She told me that it had one "bad" scan in Stroud Oklahoma in 2002. I asked her what that meant and she told me that it mean that they had been unable to read the entire account number. I asked her if by any chance that meant it wasn't my PikePass and she said that she'd have to get a supervisor. This seemed to puzzle her so she asked me to hold while she got a supervisor.

Dennis, the supervisor, was a nice enough guy. He made me tell my whole story again and then had the gall to ask me if I had my receipt from the Post Office when I mailed it (Dennis, it was 3 years ago!!!!). I told him I didn't, and didn't think that was reasonable request so he went to talk to his supervisor. He then came back and told me that they would "research" it and call me back.

At this point I had already been on the phone for almost 20 minutes, so, much to Dennis' surprise, I said, "No, that isn't going to work." Dennis was shocked and I then told him I needed to talk to his supervisor. To his credit, he went and got his supervisor (rather than using the normal hang up on the customer approach), and Jim Steglich came on the line.

Now Jim is pretty good at what he does, becuase he had actually found out from Dennis the details of the situation. But, to my dismay, he then told me the same thing, he'd do some research and call me back. At this point I was 22 minutes into the phone call. I decided I had nothing to lose and went on a little rant about customer service. And here's the amazing part, he paused for a second, and said "You're right, I'm going to take your advice." He then proceeded to do what the first lady should have been empowered to do, he fixed the problem. So after 24 minutes, my little problem was solved, and for the first time in my recent memory, a supervisor in a custormer service department, did the right thing and admitted the folly of the policies and fixed a customers problem. You see, usually, a supervisor has this huge thing that stops him from doing a good job, its called an ego. And it gets in the way and prevents him from admitting a mistake. Jim, however, took the time to think before he spoke. Bravo, Jim. PikePass should give you a raise.

If you'd like to find out more about PikePass visit www.pikepass.com. If you're wondering if some teenager built their website in his bedroom one evening, I thought the same thing. You'd think with all those $30 cancellation fees they could afford to use something other than Microsoft Frontpage, and yes that is free clip art that their using as graphics. Gotta love the government.  (Editors Note: PikePass has since updated their website)

The Tale of Two Dollars

Here's the story of two very different dollars. One is a good dollar, the other is a bad dollar.

First the bad dollar. Yesterday, I visited my local Wells Fargo Bank branch, to make a deposit. While I was there I requested that they refund a $1 fee that had been charged to my account for printing a statement at an ATM (I didn't print a statement at an ATM, you see). To my surprise, the friendly clerk insisted on a 5 minute search for a brochure outlining the ATM fee schedule. I told him that I didn't doubt the existence of a $1 fee for printing out a statement, I wanted the refund because I hadn't printed out the statement. After failing to find the aforementioned brochure, he told me there was nothing he could do about it. I asked him who could help me, and he told me that the only person authorized to refund my buck was the branch manager, who just happened to be busy on the phone. I said, no problem, please have him call me and we finished my original deposit transaction. As I was walking away from the counter, the manager walked out of his office and the helpful clerk went up to him to give him my number and explained the situation. Here's what the manager said (with eyes rolling), "Give him his dollar back." I haven't checked yet, but I assume they have refunded my buck. So that's the bad dollar . . . the lesson, give your employees the power to make small decisions to keep your customers happy and don't require manager approval for $1 transactions.

That's me driving the coach as I race away to another bank.

Now for the good dollar. After my visit to the bank, I headed to the mall to drop off some clothes at the tailor. While trying to exit the mall without being tempted to make a purchase I saw an offer I couldn't refuse. 50% OFF ALL LORD OF THE RINGS MERCHANDISE. Like I said, I just couldn't refuse, so I went into SunCoast store #3062 and picked out about $30 worth of stuff for my wife (a poster, a shirt and an action figure), who is an avid LOTR's fan. When Lewis, the friendly cashier rang up my purchase it came to $15.75. Unfortunately I only had $15 in cash. Realizing this, Lewis, the friendly cashier, pulled a buck out of his pocket and said, "I'll take care of that for you." I, of course, protested and told him I'd just put something back. To which he replied, "It's no problem, I've had lunch already, I don't need this buck." I said thanks and we completed the transaction and he even gave me the 25 cents change (which I gave back to him). Here's the moral of the story . . . find people like Lewis and hire them. They will make your customers happy, and happy customers spend lots of money!!!!

Some of you may be wondering why I stay with Wells Fargo. There's only one reason, I haven't taken the time to switch yet. I've had lots of similar experiences with them. As for SunCoast, I'll go out of my way to go back, and of course will write a letter to the corporate office commending Lewis' actions.

P.S. Some of you may be wondering if I ever heard back from Sprint PCS (click here for that rant), I didn't, and now I'm an AT&T customer.

Here's the story of two very different dollars. One is a good dollar, the other is a bad dollar.

First the bad dollar. Yesterday, I visited my local Wells Fargo Bank branch, to make a deposit. While I was there I requested that they refund a $1 fee that had been charged to my account for printing a statement at an ATM (I didn't print a statement at an ATM, you see). To my surprise, the friendly clerk insisted on a 5 minute search for a brochure outlining the ATM fee schedule. I told him that I didn't doubt the existence of a $1 fee for printing out a statement, I wanted the refund because I hadn't printed out the statement. After failing to find the aforementioned brochure, he told me there was nothing he could do about it. I asked him who could help me, and he told me that the only person authorized to refund my buck was the branch manager, who just happened to be busy on the phone. I said, no problem, please have him call me and we finished my original deposit transaction. As I was walking away from the counter, the manager walked out of his office and the helpful clerk went up to him to give him my number and explained the situation. Here's what the manager said (with eyes rolling), "Give him his dollar back." I haven't checked yet, but I assume they have refunded my buck. So that's the bad dollar . . . the lesson, give your employees the power to make small decisions to keep your customers happy and don't require manager approval for $1 transactions.

That's me driving the coach as I race away to another bank.

Now for the good dollar. After my visit to the bank, I headed to the mall to drop off some clothes at the tailor. While trying to exit the mall without being tempted to make a purchase I saw an offer I couldn't refuse. 50% OFF ALL LORD OF THE RINGS MERCHANDISE. Like I said, I just couldn't refuse, so I went into SunCoast store #3062 and picked out about $30 worth of stuff for my wife (a poster, a shirt and an action figure), who is an avid LOTR's fan. When Lewis, the friendly cashier rang up my purchase it came to $15.75. Unfortunately I only had $15 in cash. Realizing this, Lewis, the friendly cashier, pulled a buck out of his pocket and said, "I'll take care of that for you." I, of course, protested and told him I'd just put something back. To which he replied, "It's no problem, I've had lunch already, I don't need this buck." I said thanks and we completed the transaction and he even gave me the 25 cents change (which I gave back to him). Here's the moral of the story . . . find people like Lewis and hire them. They will make your customers happy, and happy customers spend lots of money!!!!

Some of you may be wondering why I stay with Wells Fargo. There's only one reason, I haven't taken the time to switch yet. I've had lots of similar experiences with them. As for SunCoast, I'll go out of my way to go back, and of course will write a letter to the corporate office commending Lewis' actions.

P.S. Some of you may be wondering if I ever heard back from Sprint PCS (click here for that rant), I didn't, and now I'm an AT&T customer.