I\u2019m guessing that the time after Christmas is when more goods are returned as faulty or not wanted than at any other time of the year? Perhaps this is linked to a post I recently saw on a forum from a trainer asking about what they should train in relation to dealing with customers who complain \u2013 in short, should an apology be given or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My first thought was that this appears to highlight one of the key signs of an immature organisation when it comes to defining the training need. This question should be decided by the business \u2013 the operational management \u2013 not the trainer. It is a fundamental business decision as to how to respond to customer complaints. And it shouldn\u2019t be too difficult. But it appears that it is based on interactions I have had over the past couple of months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My first experience related to going to buy \u2013 or trying to buy \u2013 a rail ticket at our local railway station. Knowing the ticket office closed at 7pm, I arrived at 6.45pm. As I walked towards the ticket office, I could see the person was serving another customer. As he saw me, he turned his sign around to read \u2018Closed\u2019. I wasn\u2019t impressed. I went to see the Station Master to express my frustration. He said I must be wrong, and so went over to the ticket office. The man behind the counter said he was now closed, and the Station Master shrugged his shoulders at me and walked off. Was he really the \u2018Station Master\u2019? Sir Topham Hat (aka The Fat Controller) wouldn\u2019t have allowed such happenings on the island of Sodor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I emailed Northern Rail <\/a>with my concerns. The response explained that the Ticket Office, \u201c \u2026 is open until 1900 however because advance purchase tickets can be quite involved and can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes per transaction we try and ask customers to come in before 18.45 if you are purchasing advance purchase tickets\u201d. The respondent added their, \u201c\u2026 sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 20 minutes to buy a rail ticket! I\u2019ve bought a few in my time, but they have never taken that long. Red rag to a bull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I responded asking (1) where they publicise how they ask customers to come in before 18.45 and (2) their evidence for suggesting the average length of a ticket purchasing transaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The response I received was from the Customer Service Duty Manager this time \u2013 it had been an Officer on the first occasion. They didn\u2019t answer either question directly, but said that they had to open to their advertised times and that on the day I visited the Ticket Officer was dealing with a particularly complicated ticket purchase to Swansea (a wonderful level of detail \u2013 remember to allow extra time the next time you buy a rail ticket to Swansea \u2013 or perhaps it could be anywhere in Wales \u2026 perhaps I should have clarified further, but I didn\u2019t). I was also offered \u00a330 for my inconvenience. Was the \u00a330 for the inconvenience of my initial attempted purchase or for the inconvenience of highlighting the blatantly false information in the initial email?<\/p>\n\n\n\n My second experience relates to my son\u2019s electric under-blanket. He is rather fond of this piece of electrical equipment. Only his iphone rates more highly, I suspect. When the under-blanket\u2019s switch broke in late November (when it was particularly cold) he wasn\u2019t too happy. Particularly as it was less than two years old (and with a three year guarantee). I emailed Morphy Richards <\/a>explaining the issue, the fact it was within the guarantee period and asking what I needed to do to get a replacement switch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The automated reply explained, \u201cYour enquiry has been forwarded to a member of our Consumer Care Team. We are currently experiencing an extremely high volume of email enquiries and therefore the time taken for us to respond to your enquiry will be longer than usual\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t receive any further word from them, and so I emailed them again 21 days later (perhaps they could reduce by 50% the amount of emails they receive by responding to the first email?). The content of the email was the same as the first, with one addition \u2013 I explained I would start proceedings in the Small Claims Court if I didn\u2019t hear from them within the next seven days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two days later I received an email and a phone call. Within the five-paragraph email, three were devoted to explaining the robustness of their engineering processes and apologising for the malfunction. There was no reference to having ignored my first email. The purpose of the phone call was to tell me that a new blanket was being put in the post that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the phone call I explained to my Customer Engagement Officer (CEO) that I accepted things unexpectedly break and that I didn\u2019t have an issue with that. I thought it would have been more relevant to offer an apology for not responding to my initial email. <\/p>\n\n\n\n