I haven't told you about my friend H's husband, have I? Well, like me he's a bit of an expert on customer service issues, and told me about an absolute humdinger he had with his car dealer ... one of those bury-your-face-in-your-hands ones, the sort that could've been solved so easily with just the odd phone call or two. So I thought I'd relay it to you lot. Take a comfortable Seat and read on...
There are two cars in H's family, During 'er indoors' pregnancy he had one of those blinding flashes of insight: heyheyhey, kid on the way, I might just need a bigger car! (Dunno what he had before - probably a Smart or something.) So off he went round the dealer to see what was on the forecourts.
Well, when you visit a dealer they take your phone number. And after several months of basically nuisance phone calls from the dealer asking if he's had made his mind up, the addition to the family arrived - and confirmed his worst fears.
The baby was a ginger.
Sorry. That was my joke. (I hope Scottish people have a sense of humour.)
What his worst fear really was, was that his car was too small. This realisation may not have been unprompted by his lady wife, who also decided that his car was now too small to transport the precious cargo of their little boy and his belongings (it's amazing how much stuff a baby can accumulate before even getting a credit card, eh?) and that we (meaning "he") should replace it for a larger one. Dutifully he agreed and on a hot sunny Sunday afternoon in June, off they went to the dealer.
The baby was a ginger.
Sorry. That was my joke. (I hope Scottish people have a sense of humour.)
What his worst fear really was, was that his car was too small. This realisation may not have been unprompted by his lady wife, who also decided that his car was now too small to transport the precious cargo of their little boy and his belongings (it's amazing how much stuff a baby can accumulate before even getting a credit card, eh?) and that we (meaning "he") should replace it for a larger one. Dutifully he agreed and on a hot sunny Sunday afternoon in June, off they went to the dealer.
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| With some cars you expect trouble. Not others... |
My mate explained that he ("she") had decided what car he ("she") would like, and sat back to let said wife do the remaining complicated stuff. (Including, but not limited to: choosing the colour, and deciding which optional extras she wanted. Heated seats were Exhibit A here.) The salesman’s face lit up as you'd expect.
A delivery date for the new car was confirmed as 8 weeks. So off they went, thinking all was good. During the 8 weeks he sold his existing car and prepared for the new arrival... or, I suppose, the second new arrival.
As you'd expect from this blog, the delivery date came and went, without any communication from the dealer. The family waited.
And waited.
And - well, you get the idea.
Eventually at week 13 his missus decided that enough was enough, and contacted the dealer herself. She kindly offered to collect hubby from work (remember, he'd sold his own car at this point) and take him home, but on the way home she made a detour to the dealer to have a "wee discussion".
They sat in front of a selection of salesmen and managers while they ("she") talked and explained that annoying her any further would, in the Great Scheme of Things, not be advisable. In the meantime he sat quietly ("with a sort of quiet authority", I believe) letting her get on with trying to get to the bottom of the problem.
Eventually they were told that the dealer did not want to provide them with bad news ... so didn't contact them at all.
PAAARPPPP!!!! Airhorn blunder! (Sorry - that's a Rapide thing. One of the management team blows an airhorn when a major event happens, and it's loud enough to make a vuvuzela go home in tears.) When you have bad news and you don't contact the customer, the perception of the problem doubles in size every day. Ask Forrester.
As some kind of apology the dealer offered a free MOT on her car when it was due, which was welcomed by H's husband. (He spent the money and she got the freebie. Go figure.)
And waited.
And - well, you get the idea.
Eventually at week 13 his missus decided that enough was enough, and contacted the dealer herself. She kindly offered to collect hubby from work (remember, he'd sold his own car at this point) and take him home, but on the way home she made a detour to the dealer to have a "wee discussion".
Eventually they were told that the dealer did not want to provide them with bad news ... so didn't contact them at all.
PAAARPPPP!!!! Airhorn blunder! (Sorry - that's a Rapide thing. One of the management team blows an airhorn when a major event happens, and it's loud enough to make a vuvuzela go home in tears.) When you have bad news and you don't contact the customer, the perception of the problem doubles in size every day. Ask Forrester.
As some kind of apology the dealer offered a free MOT on her car when it was due, which was welcomed by H's husband. (He spent the money and she got the freebie. Go figure.)
H's husband reports it was "the fastest handover he'd ever experienced".. and think what the viewing conditions are on a garage forecourt in late October. He signed the paperwork clearly stating the car was collected in the dark and that he was unable to clearly check everything for damage.
So he whizzes round to the dealer to "inform" them. First the dealer welcomed him with open arms, but after he explained the problems everything changed as they tried to apportion the responsibility for the damage back to him. (Rule Two of customer service: give your customer the benefit of the doubt.) C'mon Mr Dealer, this is a car that took three months to arrive... isn't there a fair chance that something could've happened in those months?
He managed to stay calm as the dealer booked the car in to get the parts replaced. But the replacement parts were also damaged (his life's sort of a comedy show by now) and the car needed to be booked in again later. Eventually the second batch of replacement parts turned up at the dealer, so the car visits the dealer again.
The car was dropped off in the morning and handed over with an agreement that if there was any problems he would be contacted.
That evening after work he walks to the dealer with the fond hope of collecting his car. Only to be told (by a individual needing to attend an anger management course) that it was not finished and that he shouldn't have expected a phone call informing him of the delay.
So - and this is where it gets truly sitcom-ish - he had to walk 4 miles home in the cold (where’s the lady wife at THIS moment, eh?)
The problem (a broken wire on some test equipment at the dealer) resulted in the car being held captive for 5 days. On checking it over (in daylight this time) he found the paintwork on the door had been damaged by the dealer. Once again, the dealer promised to make good the damage, which consisted of sending him a couple of touch-up sticks in the post.
The car was dropped off in the morning and handed over with an agreement that if there was any problems he would be contacted.
That evening after work he walks to the dealer with the fond hope of collecting his car. Only to be told (by a individual needing to attend an anger management course) that it was not finished and that he shouldn't have expected a phone call informing him of the delay.
The problem (a broken wire on some test equipment at the dealer) resulted in the car being held captive for 5 days. On checking it over (in daylight this time) he found the paintwork on the door had been damaged by the dealer. Once again, the dealer promised to make good the damage, which consisted of sending him a couple of touch-up sticks in the post.
H's husband does not like the car anymore and wants to sell it.
I'm not going to mention the carmaker or the dealer here, because it's irrelevant: this little story is illustrative. On at least nine occasions, the dealer had every opportunity to make things right, and it could have been very simple - as simple as a phone call, or even a text message. Maybe the customer wouldn't have been entirely happy, but at least they might have been mollified. Cover up a problem and you just make it worse.
And there's the lesson: no matter how bad the situation is, you've got to, got to, got to, stay in contact with your customer. Rapide's put together one of its Thought Bubbles on this very subject - drop them a line.
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