Let's Call Customer Service Counters What They Are: Damage Control

Let's Call Customer Service Counters What They Are: Damage Control
Tags: Customer Experience, Customer Service, Specialty Stores, Supermarkets & Grocery Stores
May 10, 2010

OK so let me just say I know I was an ass when I managed a retail store back in the early 80’s. That's because I wouldn’t return things unless it met all the criteria because any return was money off of my bonus plan. So if I did that to you, mea culpa. As a matter of fact, a manager I took over from one January had held all of his refunds from Christmas in the bottom of the till so they wouldn't count against his end of the year bonus.  You can't do that nowadays.<a href="http://www.retaildoc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/StopThief-1024x943.jpg"><img class="wp-image-4676 size-medium alignright" style="float: right; border: 0px initial initial;" title="StopThief-1024x943" src="http://www.retaildoc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/StopThief-1024x943-300x276.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="276" /></a> I went into the Price chopper grocery store a few weeks ago with two bottles of fiber pills. My hound Hallie Mae’s vet prescribed them for her to help with digestion. I had purchased these two to six weeks ago and hadn’t noticed they were actually laxatives with fiber – not what was needed.  (Think the chili scene from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=solr1W5idNY&feature=related" target="_self">Mr. Mom</a>. )My goal was a simple exchange but they didn’t have any so I went to the "Customer Service" counter where three employees were waiting. Why don’t they just call it a "Damage Control" counter? Customer service happens prior to the sale. Damage control is what happens after. In this case, it was "Cost Control" counter. I was surprised when the guy told me he had to look through every day of the week for the past month to try to find the transaction.  He suggested I go do my shopping and come back. OK Turns out he couldn't find my transaction in the past month. Because of that they couldn't give me a refund. I suggested since I was one of their loyalty card members, could he find it that way he replied, “No.” I suggested just a credit towards my purchase. One of the three proudly pointed to their return policy that anything over $10 needed manager approval so they called over an older guy with Manager on his name tag.  He said, “Can't do it without receipt. I don’t make the policies I just have to enforce them. You can call the number on the register tape if you want.” OK, lets back up; I was buying about $160 worth of the groceries again. I live about ½ hour away from this place.   They do a lot of advertising on Yankees games and other networks. Could this have been your store? A manager so tightly wrapped that all he could see was what they were losing or what the policy was.  He was an Analytical personality that couldn’t see it from the shopper’s standpoint. The likelihood of me having picked up two of the exact same thing to try to take from them was probably not the right way to look at it; especially if you're a manager. <a href="http://www.retaildoc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Chopper-Shopper-and-kids.jpg"><img class="wp-image-4678 size-full alignleft" style="float: left; border: 0px initial initial;" title="Chopper-Shopper-and-kids" src="http://www.retaildoc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Chopper-Shopper-and-kids.jpg" alt="" width="223" height="392" /></a>I told him, “Look, I’m going to call that number and complain. You don't have to do this, you could just make this go away and give me a credit,” but he refused. I was nice, not screaming or making a scene. It surprises me that 30 years later we have a dis-empowered manager looking at what they are losing.  In this case, it means they’ve hired people they don't trust. Or they’re hiring them for a different reason than customer service, which is to follow the letter of the law and limit damages. A few more points about this encounter with Price Chopper: <ul> <li>They were making an employee physically look up a transaction, which a simple scan could have confirmed.</li> <li>Even if I did steal it, which I'm telling you I didn't, giving the customer a store credit means they minimized any potential loss by at least half than if refunding a purchase.</li> <li>This was a loyal customer doing a return, which they could see by reviewing their loyalty card records.</li> </ul> Why wouldn't a manager just start from thinking maybe this is the one in a million who is trying to take advantage of us but at least he’s coming back. But no the “manager” locked his horns and set the customer up to feel like a jerk.  The 3 people at the customer service counter also were made to see how stupid the customer looked or worse given the message that customers are out to screw us over and we need to hold firm. But it’s 2010. Isn’t it time we realized that customers generally are not out to get us and we can get more bees with honey instead of giving them the stinger? PS-  I finally got a call from the store manager apologizing after I received a letter from corporate restating company policy.

Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor®, has helped hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses in every major industry, including hospitality, manufacturing, service, restaurant and retail. He is a nationally recognized expert on retail business strategy, customer service, sales, and marketing. With over thirty years experience beginning in the trenches of retail and extending to senior management positions, he has been a corporate officer, franchisor and entrepreneur.

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