Where’s The Beef?
June 3, 2009 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
Guest article by frequent commenter Scott C. Griffin
Recall the famed Wendy’s commercial in which an elderly lady can’t get any service at the counter of a fast-food restaurant? She looks around and says to her friends, "I don’t think there’s anybody back there!"
In the midst of a recession, has anyone notice the lack of service, if any, from retailers and service providers? One would think that companies vying for business would be all over customers. After all, it is the opening of our wallets that contributes to their paycheck and the ability of the company to remain open.
Last month, with a car lease expiring, a customer made repeated efforts to get some assistance on the best next step from their Saturn dealer. After several non-returned phone calls and some irritated responses when they would finally hear back gave them no other alternative but to go across the street, where a dealer was more than happy to work with them through the available alternatives while giving the customer a good deal. Saturn’s response led to a two-time Saturn owner switching to another GM brand. Rather odd in a recession…
… But there’s more. Over the last two months, a neighbor contacted three landscapers to get advice and an estimate for making their backyard from swampland to habitable land. Two landscapers came out, both promising an estimate, and then both disappeared, never to be heard from again. The third, a local and well-know company, didn’t ever return the initial phone call and message left with the receptionist.
It is my assumption that these companies are doing quite well and do not need or handle any additional business.
And then there’s our drinking water … hard doesn’t even start to describe it! After doing some research, I decided it would be a good idea to contact a national water-softener company regarding an under-sink model that reviewed well in Consumer Reports. Several days have passed without a response.
The theme is how, in such a miserable economy, many companies don’t seem eager for new business. Maybe due to companies have laid-off so many people, they are unable to handle or support any additional business than what they currently have. Has this become a vicious cycle where business is not taking care of the customer, resulting to additional cutbacks in the form of lay-offs and pay cuts? This leaves the customer the only option to take their business elsewhere where they will receive the type of service they are seeking.
Have you seen a lot of this?
The question I have for those businesses and others is the signature line of that same Wendy’s commercial: WHERE’S THE BEEF?
Image taken from the Where’s the Beef? Wendy’s commercial, circa 1984, viewable on YouTube
I could continue this with what has been happening for the past week!
We had Internet issues with the rain in our area. It took the tech a week to come to our house. I had troubleshot the issue to the cable modem (theirs).
When the tech DID come out (took a week to them to get there) he whined that they were backed up and that he was on call number four out of 14 (it was 11am when he finally made it out to the house) and that he had to work until all the calls were complete.
Instead of fixing the issue, he argued for 20 minutes with my wife (I wasn’t there) and blamed everything else but his equipment! Be blamed the cabling, the router (which was disconnected), the line splitter (which they installed upon my request), and the computer.
She had to DEMAND him to change the cable modem. He was rather sharp with my wife and asked her “Are you a computer expert?” She responed to him “No but my husband is!” pointing to my computer certificates lined up on the wall. He looked and with his “tail between his legs” reluctantly replaced the cable modem. Guess what?!? We had Internet connection!!!
The tech would rather argue with a customer for 20 minutes and NOT fix the issue than to fix the issue, have a happy customer and move on to the next call (since they were so back up)!
I had a similar experience. I just returned a leased F-150, and have not chosen a new vehicle. When I got the the dealer and returned the truck, they asked if I had a new vehicle in mind. I said I have not decided what to get yet. Amazingly, the salesperson made no effort at all to show me a new truck or car, and just let me walk out of the dealership. I was amazed that they apparently don’t want to sell any new vehicles. I have since bought a Nissan instead of a ford, and I am very happy with it.
I think it’s called ‘business as usual’, especially the story abot the cable company. (I found it hilarious that for the first time in years Comcast wasn’t voted a Poo Award for the worst company—that honor went to AIG, with Comcast in second place.)
As to Saturn, the dealer may not have know if he would be in business next month.
I find that companies that gave great customer service BEFORE the meltdown give great service now…think Zappos. The ones that treated customers as a necessary evil still treat them as such.
Agree with Miki. I suppose it’s possible it’s gotten worse due to the economy, but I haven’t noticed. Customer service has been on the decline for quite some time.
We can hem and haw about it, but it’s ultimately the consumer that must demand (and in many cases pay for) more. If people demand it, those that fall short will be weeded out. If people accept it, poor service will continue.
I know that it is far cheaper to KEEP your current customers than it is to find new ones. But when a customer walks in your door! Come on! How much easier IS IT to gain a new customer? Yet poor service is what we recieve!
My wife and I have a habit of asking for the manager if we recieve great service or bad service. We express our thoughts to management and reward accordingly. You should see the managers face when we give good feedback!
It is my opinion that we, as customers give feedback to management. And if you recieve BAD service, explain to management why you will NOT return to their place of business! If you DON’T give feedback then it is YOU that is allowing this poor service become the status quo.
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Customer service? That’s a diasaur now. Service in general has changed,and for the worse. I can remember a time when you could call the telephone, gas company, or the electric company to do repairs. Now, every day I get the mail there’s always a “scare message”. It goes along the lines of “Did you know that if something happens to your outside lines that you could be liable for the repair costs?” Then they list all these different costs, and yes, sticker shock sets in. Every industry is saving money at the expense of the consumer. The airlines don’t even include meals anymore. “For an additional cost…” is main streamed into almost all services. And, worse, the customers’ time is not of value or considered.
Try calling a company now, you will get caught up in automated telephone hell.
I used to be able to just hit “o” and get a person. Now the systems out there are smarter. Yeah, I hit “o” to avoid listening to the numberous options, and it took me back to the beginning of the recording. Who do you complain to… a manager doesn’t care; it’s all someone’s great idea of cutting costs.