...Customer Complaints

Customer Complaints

I have to make a lot of keys for our building here at BizWorks.  I have been using a local hardware company not a big box company.  I was hoping that by using a small shop I would get better service and the keys might actually work most of the time.  

What I’ve found is the service was good, not great but good and the keys for the most part had to be taken back (one set three times). So I took the last set back today and the manager had to ring in the refund to help the cashier.  She neither acknowledged me as a customer nor apologized to me for having to come back in to make the return for a faulty set of keys. 

This was disturbing on many levels.  First, I go in there regularly to have keys made.  Second, as a manager she should have been concerned about the fact that I brought in keys that would not work.  And third, she should have at least acknowledged me. 

So when you have a complaint or a return, are you and your staff handling customers correctly?  Are they leaving you knowing that whatever the issue, things were handled with care and you and your staff were concerned about their experience?   Do customers come back to you time and time again? If not, have you tried to figure out why?  

We all know it’s a lot easier and cheaper to keep a customer than to try to gain a new one. So, why don’t business owners try harder to make sure their current customers are happy? 

The next time you have a customer with a complaint or a return, listen to how your employee treats them and be aware of how you respond. It could be the difference between coming back to you or moving on to another business.    

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Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

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