Tribeca Treats

Everyone recognizes that customer service is an important part of any business. Your emotional experience with a product or service is fundamental to your overall satisfaction with that product or service. Occasionally, your need or desire for a certain product can outweigh your customer service issues. (ie, I would rather throw my MacBook out the window and buy a new one than spend 20 minutes at the "Genius" Bar.) Sometimes even being mistreated is a part of the whole product/service experience. (ie, waiting outside a nightclub and getting looked up and down by a bouncer, only to feel THAT much cooler when you finally get into the club.) But in these instances where bad customer service is bearable, consumer relationships are fickle.

While I am not 100% in the "the customer is always right" camp (let's face it, many customers aren't), I do believe that nothing builds brand loyalty more than consistently treating your customers with kindness. Even if and when they are not right, just treating them with understanding and trying to come up with a solution can go a long way. I was reminded of that today, when I was on the receiving end of AWFUL customer service, thanks to a one John Reese King of Intuit/Quickbooks.

Here's what happened: around the end of our after-lunch rush, our Quickbooks Point of Sales system decided it would refuse to take credit cards. This isn't a completely uncommon problem--usually it just requires the standard techie solution of "shutdown/restart". But after several attempts, the problem got worse, and I found myself locked out of our cash register all together. Great.

I called my IT guy--voicemail. So I went to the Intuit website and dialed the first number I could find, which happened to be a sales desk. John Reese King answered the phone.

Me: "Hi. I know I called the wrong number--I'm having a software problem. Can you please transfer me to your help desk?"
John Reese King: "Can I please have your name and your company name?"
Me (exasperated and hurried): "Rachel with Tribeca Treats. I'm having an emergency with my POS system."
JRK: "I see we have Tribeca Treats here, but I'm not showing you have help desk support, so there's nothing we can do."
Me: "What are you talking about? I've been a customer for over two years, and all of a sudden I can't log into my POS system. I have a line of customers that I can't help--I just want to fix this ASAP."
JRK: "Well, I can't do that for you. You can purchase the help desk support plan, and once that processes you can call back to speak with someone and see if they can help you."
Me (begging): "But this is an emergency--isn't there anyone who can help me now???"
JRK: "No."
Me: "So you sold me a POS system that's a p.o.s." [hee, hee] "and you're telling me there's nothing you can do about it??"
JRK (smugly...SO full of smug): "When you installed the software two years ago, did it work?" [yes] "And did it work for the last two years?" [yes] "And then when you improperly shutdown your computer, it stopped working?"
Me: "I didn't shut it down improperly!!!!!" (then begging, pleading) "isn't there anyone who can just help me?"
JRK: "Lady, what don't you understand? Are we even speaking the same language?"
Me (screaming): "No! Because you're speaking the language of asshole!" (Not my finest moment. Or comeback.)

When I asked for his name, John Reese King gave it to me easily, because I'm sure he knew there was nothing I could do to him. When I asked for his manager he told me "he's too busy to talk to you--I can see him across the room coaching people." Obviously John Reese King hasn't received much coaching. Fortunately, at this point, my IT guy was calling on the other line, and, frustrated and desperate, I just hung up.

I was so upset with this experience that, as soon as my system was working again, I immediately went online to find alternative POS systems to switch to. Unfortunately for me, this was a cost prohibitive way to vent my anger. So I became determined to launch a smear campaign against John Reese King and any other nitwits at Quickbooks who behave similarly. Until my anger subsides, I'll be searching for him on Facebook, Match.com, and anywhere I can possibly tarnish his reputation. Oh, yeah, it's personal now.

A little bad customer service can really go a long way.

At Tribeca Treats, we inscribe A LOT of cakes. So it's not often that a particular inscription really grabs our attention. But, about a year ago, we had an order for a cake that read, "To [Linda], New Beginnings." Immediately, we were conjecturing as to what this meant. Was it and engagement party? A divorce? Did she start a new job? Or get fired/laid off? Did she come out of the closet? There were so many possibilities as to how [Linda] could begin anew, that we were talking about it for days.

I guess the concept of celebrating some kind of new beginning is not novel, but I appreciate the optimism in celebrating "new beginnings" in general. With 2009 just underway, it seems like an opportune time to celebrate new beginnings, especially in light of the economic climate, because every ending (the loss of a job, for example) also represents the opportunity for a new beginning. From the little resolutions we make to start fresh each year, to our longer-term ultimate goals, now is the time to celebrate what we have ahead of ourselves.

Over the last two years, I have received dozens of emails looking for advice in changing careers or starting a business. I have responded to many, but, apologetically, not all. I am hoping to use this blog as a forum to answer your questions (on career changes and more!) So please email or comment so that I (and other readers) can help support your new beginnings.

And, whatever you do, just be sure to celebrate the opportunities you have ahead--treat yourself!