Customer service - the good and the bad

I've ranted a bit about episodes of bad customer service and thought maybe I should have a bit of an overview of various episodes, but not forgetting those GOOD moments. The times when you really feel 'Yes, I'll come back here'.




I got a bit carried away and started almost doing reviews of various establishments - restaurants, B & Bs, shops, car service places etc. But that made me think - what is it that makes good service and what makes the very very bad.

A lot of this is SO obvious that I then wonder why we see so much of the bad and so little of the really good. I'll start with the obvious and the simple.............

• Smiling - not silly false plastic smiling, but smiling like it's really meant. Smiling like you really want these customers to come into your establishment.





• Acknowledging - busy, on the phone? Easy enough to smile, maybe indicate in some way that the person has been seen and that you will deal with them as quickly as possible




• Doing what has been promised - whether it's calling back at a specified time/day, delivering when agreed - the clue here is don't promise unless you're sure it can be achieved.




• The old old one - the customer is always right. That doesn't mean rudeness, verbal abuse or worse should be tolerated from any customer of course.




• Don't pass the buck. Even if it's not your responsibility, do what you can and if you have to pass the customer on to someone else, explain why and what the other person can do.



• Really listen to what the customer is saying and make sure the customer knows you've heard.


• Little things can mean a lot: maybe remembering something a customer has mentioned on a previous visit. This shows you've really listened (see above) and shows you're interested and that the customer isn't just a number, or worse, an inconvenience!

What's been good just lately?

Premier Inns - yes a budget hotel chain. We stayed at one near Carlisle for 2 nights when attending a wedding. The facilities were much as expected but the customer service was outstanding. Every member of staff smiled - a genuine smile. We were, on every occasion we entered either through reception or into the separate restaurant, greeted quickly. Service was efficient as well as friendly. But there were also the little extras - at our first breakfast, the person greeting us and showing us to a table discovered we were going to a wedding. Later when going to our car to head off to the ceremony, she was crossing the car park and called out 'enjoy the wedding'. A small touch but it showed she'd listened and was interested enough to remember and comment despite the number of guests she must be greeting every day.We then had a night at a Premier Inn near Dover, on our way to France - same again. The person who checked us in did so in an efficient and friendly way, doing everything she had to do, with a lovely manner. We then found out it was her last shift and she was finishing at 11pm, for good. Yet she'd still done all the extra bits and really seemed to care that we would enjoy our stay.

Low Nest Farm, near Keswick

I really don't know where to start with this one - it's just SO good, in every sense. We found this place just over 2 years ago when I did a search for dog friendly B & Bs in the Lake District. And what a find. As this is about customer service, I won't talk about the wonderful facilities, the beautiful rooms, the fantastic scenery and the absolutely perfect breakfasts...... But if you want to feel cared for, if you want to feel you (and your dog/s) are important, then go to Low Nest Farm. Not that you'll find it easy to book as it's always so full. Mainly with repeat business which says it all. We've been five times so far - twice with other people and would have been more if there had been vacancies when we were free or if we'd had the time and money to go.

Now a few mentions for the poor, the unacceptable and the totally unbelievably bad........... first, you can read, if you're so inclined, a couple that I've already written about under 'B & Q' and 'car insurance'. I may quote odd bits from these and mention others as well. A very recent one is BT Vision and I think as that deserves a post of its own, I'll only mention here that many of their call centre staff appear to be robots, with no sense of humour and can someone explain why a department at BT has "no access to phone lines" so they couldn't transfer me.

Car insurance - why did I lose the second car discount when I added another person onto my insurance and then even in the next year, when there was no-0ne added? Answer from Churchill insurance : because you do.
B & Q - wanting to change a B & Q still sealed tin of wood stain for a different colour (cos it wasn't what it said on the tin - I'd already opened another one). Why wouldn't they let me initially? Answer: because our policy is not to make any changes without the receipt. Further comment - but it's a B & Q product, we couldn't have got it anywhere else. Blank look. But it's our policy.............