CUSTOMER SERVICE AT IWAN RIES? (UPDATE)

[jefe1037]

Kevin, Cart, Fly: It may be interesting to know that the phone that rings when you call IRC is the one behind the counter in the shop. I'm not saying that they shouldn't be taking better care of the customers who are making phone orders or internet orders, but when you have a guy standing in front of you, the habit is to take care of him first (this is mostly in response to Kev using the term "phone rep"). Ron, next time I stop by the shop, I will tell my guy about a few things I heard rattling around on the internet. I have had success in my line of work reaching out to upset guests who have sworn off return business. If they do anything with that info, then good for them. In the end, I feel a mutual responsibility to my brothers here and my guys at IRC.

Full disclosure: I visit the shop often enough to be recognized, and some of the guys at the shop come in and eat dinner at my restaurant. We have a mutual relationship, but I do not represent them in any way.

 

[RDPipes]

Sorry to hear of your travail. In my last IR order one item was omitted -- A cheap, clear plastic breast pocket tobacco carrier with a built-in sifter. Old style and better alternatives available, sure, but a nostalgic item for me. I phoned IR and was told by a polite, informed woman that they were in stock, but had stains on them that had bled from the packaging ink.  She promised to send one as soon as the replacement shipment arrived. A couple of days later a blemished one arrived in a #10 envelope with a note explaining that this was the pick of the damaged litter and there would be no charge. As promised, the replacement arrived a week or so later. So IR made nothing on that transaction, but I was favorably impressed with their willingness to make good effort to correct my minor problem. My .02 -- Training telephone reps is a constant battle. That's why we've all heard the message -- "This call may be recorded for training purposes." Phone reps can be clueless how they come across to callers when they try to be folksy or funny.  It's a job that requires training and frequent refreshers. Screwing up can have major consequences since customers are quick to take their business elsewhere these days, and internet message boards are readily available to broadcast customer dissatisfaction. I agree that a note to IR may at least turn this into a learning experience for someone there.  I think this problem could have happened anywhere, except possibly Nordstrom, which doesn't cater to pipers, unfortunately. I hope you're shown more respect next time, Brother.

A letter to Chuck Levi went out a few days ago and I'll let ya all know when or if I get a reply. But I seriously doubt they'll reply. Sadly when it comes to people I know all too well what most will do, just the nature of the creature so to speak. No, I don't like them much because they seem to just make others lives miserable without even having the foresight to see past there own ego's how there actions effect others and, then there's those who do know and enjoy it for the most part. Am I leaning again?

 

[RDPipes]

Kevin, Cart, Fly: It may be interesting to know that the phone that rings when you call IRC is the one behind the counter in the shop. I'm not saying that they shouldn't be taking better care of the customers who are making phone orders or internet orders, but when you have a guy standing in front of you, the habit is to take care of him first (this is mostly in response to Kev using the term "phone rep"). Ron, next time I stop by the shop, I will tell my guy about a few things I heard rattling around on the internet. I have had success in my line of work reaching out to upset guests who have sworn off return business. If they do anything with that info, then good for them. In the end, I feel a mutual responsibility to my brothers here and my guys at IRC.

Full disclosure: I visit the shop often enough to be recognized, and some of the guys at the shop come in and eat dinner at my restaurant. We have a mutual relationship, but I do not represent them in any way.

Thank you sir, let us know if they have anything to say.

 

[RDPipes]

Well, I received a call from Mr.Chuck Levi today and he told me that he was refunding me the $4 overcharge for shipping and if I have any questions or business to do to call and ask for him directly. He told me he didn't know how this happened but that he is looking into it.
I'm pretty sure he was being honest and didn't know what had gone on but, will try and get the bottom of it and try to stop this from happening again.

 

[Smokey-smokey]

You know, I'm right there with you regarding customer service... I don't know what it is, but people seem to tolerate insulting behavior. I don't mind if I go to a store and maybe the cashier is having a bad day, what I do mind is the "I don't give a XXXX" attitude. Extra irritating when I get it from someone who's barely a teenager.

You know who lost my business forever? Best Buy. I know they won't go out of business by me not shopping there, but I'm still not OK with being treated like they are doing me a favor by talking to me. I treat a store employee like a lady/gentleman, and I expect to be treated like a gentleman.

The last few times I've gone I have someone harass me about my phone service, my cable service, etc. OK, fine, I'll put up with that I suppose, but not when I say "I'm not interested" and the person keeps asking... Also, it irritates me when I Ask "do you have X Item" and the response is "I don't know, I don't think so." Now, that would be an acceptable response followed up by "let's look in the system," instead I get these children walking away. In all the times I've been there, only ONE guy has had the sense to say "let's check in my system."

I contacted Best Buy Corporate and told them of my last few experiences, of how someone at the store told me they don't have X and I found it at the same store on my way out... etc... how people just walk away, how they don't know what they have unless it is an iPhone or something for it (in that case they know all about it and can tell you where to find each color and model)
Their solution to this problem? They apologized and offered me a 25 dollar gift card... Yeah, that's cool, treat the customer like a bum too...

The internet is full of places with better prices that deliver to my door for me to bother with Best Buy.

 

[RDPipes]

I'm not a Best Buy customer either. I use to purchase my car stereo equipment from them till I bought a system for my daughter B-Day and wanted it installed and they quoted a decent price. When we went to have it installed they wanted to charge me $25 for a $5 wiring harness adapter so they could just plug everything in without doing any real wiring. I told them to go *@%$! themselves and then they decided to take the charge off and finish the install. It really peeved me off that they tried to treat me like I didn't know Shirt from Shineola and charge me an outrageous cost for a pigtail adapter.

 

[MichaelM]

Cart, I'm glad you got some satisfaction from IR. If nothing else, you might have saved someone down the road from the same frustration.
We might need another thread about Best Buy. I had an incident there that started with me telling a passing employee that I wanted to purchase a particular TV, and ended with my wife dragging me from the store as I explained how a flat screen could indeed be inserted in the employee's...
Mike.

 

[RDPipes]

Cart, I'm glad you got some satisfaction from IR. If nothing else, you might have saved someone down the road from the same frustration.
We might need another thread about Best Buy.  I had an incident there that started with me telling a passing employee that I wanted to purchase a particular TV, and ended with my wife dragging me from the store as I explained how a flat screen could indeed be inserted in the employee's...
Mike.

You could call it "Worst Buys" and it be a place for everyone to post there stories of
customer service nightmares.

 

[Smokey-smokey]

Cart, I'm glad you got some satisfaction from IR. If nothing else, you might have saved someone down the road from the same frustration.
We might need another thread about Best Buy.  I had an incident there that started with me telling a passing employee that I wanted to purchase a particular TV, and ended with my wife dragging me from the store as I explained how a flat screen could indeed be inserted in the employee's...
Mike.

You could call it "Worst Buys" and it be a place for everyone to post there stories of
customer service nightmares.

I still can't get over the sunglasses. I think an Iwan Ries Zippo pipe lighter would be a good accessory that would match your glasses. A hat maybe?

 

[RDPipes]

Cart, I'm glad you got some satisfaction from IR. If nothing else, you might have saved someone down the road from the same frustration.
We might need another thread about Best Buy.  I had an incident there that started with me telling a passing employee that I wanted to purchase a particular TV, and ended with my wife dragging me from the store as I explained how a flat screen could indeed be inserted in the employee's...
Mike.

You could call it "Worst Buys" and it be a place for everyone to post there stories of
customer service nightmares.

I still can't get over the sunglasses. I think an Iwan Ries Zippo pipe lighter would be a good accessory that would match your glasses. A hat maybe?

Hey! It's summertime and I've to protect what's left of my pretty blues.

 

[Rad Davis]

My favorite employee response when I ask if their store carries an item: "If you don't see it, then we don't have it." :evil:

Rad

 

[i.keenum]

I've had the if you can't find it we don't have it one a lot at Lowes. I was looking for a buffing wheel a few weeks back and got that one, found buffing wheels after a while but they weren't the correct size.:x

 

[RDPipes]

"If it aint on the selves, we're out of them!" Is the ultimate of laziness and I run into it
all the time when I go to most stores. Most everyone wants to do the minimum of work nowadays for there pay, God forbid they had to really work for a living. :suspect:

 

[jefe1037]

Counterpoint: customers asking me if I had anything in the "back room" when I worked at costco. There is no back room. That is why there are giant racks all around the store.

Ignorance and poor manners exist on both sides in retail. The difference between someone who can hack it and those who can't in such fields is the ability to "reset" yourself every day. (For me, it is every time I have a new table sit down in my station when waiting tables). I have to hit the standards that are expected of me, to provide an experience that makes a customer want to come back.

Coming closer to the point here, since we are picking on Best Buy, is that there is no way they pay enough money to retain the people that actually are able to hit these standards day in and day out. Anyone with that sort of charisma is out of there, onward and upward (better job, school, however it happens). The employers of those that are complacent with the sub $10 an hour pay are in a catch 22. Anyone that is willing to work for that rate has no business interacting with the public, but to keep overhead low, please the stockholders, whatever, there is no way that a wage will be paid to retain the kind of people you need to keep more customers happy. I am not saying pay these jerks more money and they start performing better, but if you offer better pay, you receive more applications, and you can be more selective in filling a specific number of positions, and the people you do hire are more likely to be retained (with proper advancement/ raises/ bonuses, however you have to make it work). Now if this process was sustained, then you would end up with more pleased customers, thus more return business, then you are working at a higher volume and making more money over time.

It is hard to convince a public company that this can work, because they always look at margins.
It is tough to say we did x in sales at this margin, or we would have to increase to 2x at a higher margin to make the same money, and the higher sales would be going to the employees rather than the execs or the stockholders.

Even further delving into the issues in our society, most people are no longer taught how to interact with other human beings face to face in real life, so the labor pool for customer service jobs is going to be in a tough spot as the generation that never had to live without cellphones is now finishing college. The Iphone was released in 2007. In 2023, the 16 year olds that will be getting summer jobs have had a mobile smart device shoved in their face since the day they were born.