With the exception of the Customer Service Person I spoke with on a Sunday, everything was first rate.
Last Lesson:
To me this is the #1 reason to buy from a authorized, reputable dealer, because when I have these problems now, he just takes care of them for me. It took me while for the light to go on above my head, but now I don't have to deal with this garbage, and he has a ton more resources to get those issues resolved for me.
It's easy to tell if someone has been on the receiving end of a tirade aimed at Customer Service- they may be angry, but they will often apologize when they go off the tracks.
Having worked for several retailers and attending Customer Service training sessions held by outside companies, the main points coincide with what you wrote and some of the high points we learned were:
When someone says they have a problem, don't argue with them. They don't want to hear that, it will just make them angry and it never helps the situation.
Acknowledge the fact that they have a problem and make the point that you're going to do your best to rectify whatever is wrong,
within your power. This means "Don't promise what you can't deliver".
If someone is rude, don't fight fire with fire. Let them vent for a few seconds and ask if they're ready to proceed in a more civil tone. If they make it personal, tell them that there's no reason for that and if they continue, you'll have to end the call, saying something like "I want to help you but there's no reason to make these comments".
If you don't know the answer to a question, don't just say "I don't know" and leave it at that- add "...but I'll find out, if you can hold". Offer to call back if they can't wait- it's part of the job of satisfying customers.
Then, there's the issue of "Where's the truth?". Well, it's somewhere between the CS person and what has been described. The event that caused the call created an emotional response by the caller and in many cases, it's not as bad as the description. Sometimes, it is. However, something happened and it's not a time to argue about semantics. If someone caused the problem (an employee of the company that makes the product or offers the service) and it's serious, that person needs correction. That leads to a point that many people don't consider- customers can be external (they come to the company for some reason) or internal (anyone in the company). It sounds very Care Bear-ish, but nobody wants people to yell at them and that goes for people at work, too.
I'm not saying anyone should act like they're reading from a sheet of canned responses the way ATT, Time Warner and many CS reps do- they're infuriating and those companies really need to pay attention to the feedback from PO'd customers.
I worked for a stereo store where the whole company was a bunch of very reactive people who would get into arguments and shouting matches at the drop of a hat. If customers came in, we immediately stopped and let it go- the customers came first. Sometimes, customers would come in and were very angry. They would be ragging before they even walked through the door and in most cases, they just needed to vent. We would calmly grab a pen, reach under the counter for a service work order and after about a minute, they would pause and if we didn't know them, we would ask for their name. That was usually all it took to redirect them and they would calm down. Occasionally, they wouldn't and we'd change our tactics but I don't remember ever calling security or the Police because of it. Sometimes, the ones who were the most angry became very good customers and even friends.
One of the guys who worked there had a great saying when someone was freaking out over something- "Four or five million years from now, who'll know the difference?".
