Don MacAskill writes of his great service from Ritz-Carlton and horrible service from Home Depot. Neither result is surprising, see related posts below. On the Ritz:
The next day, Ritz employees were still greeting us in the halls by our name and wishing us “Happy Anniversary”. The bottom line: We felt special. We felt pampered. We felt like the Ladies and Gentlemen of the Ritz-Carlton knew us personally and really cared about making sure we were happy. They’ve earned a customer for life.
Ritz-Carlton’s motto is “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.” And they actually turn those words into reality. They are not platitudes with no action. The system is guided toward achieving that vision.
Worst. Service. Ever: Home Depot & HOMExperts (which includes videos of NBC investigation of customer service problems):
As the CEO of a company that strives to provide top-notch customer service, this has been incredible to watch. At no time during the process, other than the design and purchasing phase, have we felt taken care of, or even like our satisfaction was even a consideration. I wish I could say that the experience has been highly educational, like my visit to the Ritz-Carlton, but I have to imagine that any human being would realize that this is ludicrously bad customer service. The two companies involved, The Home Depot and their contractors, HOMExperts, must have some serious problems internally.
Related: Customer Focus at the Ritz – Effective Leadership Strategies are Driven by Total Quality Management (TQM) Principles – 1999 Ritz Baldrige Application Summary – Not Lean Retailing – More on Obscene CEO Pay
July 7th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
After going around on that for awhile and them assuring me it was their policy and it was not possible for it to be done any other way by them or anyone else I asked what happened if someone died. Oh then the account is closed and we pay the money we owe on the cashback bonus. So obviously it isn’t that the account being closed makes it impossible…
September 4th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
So true about Ritz-Carlton. The most demanding customers in the world return again and again to Ritz-Carlton and recommend it to their friends, because the people within every Ritz-Carlton deeply “get it.” Every day, all staff members at every hotel meet to discuss their company values, and collectively choose one on which they will all focus; but no value surpasses the tradition of treating each guest (and each other) with considerate, genuine interest and care.
December 18th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Shopping at Trader Joe’s is odd. The workers actually seem like they like that they have customers. And seem as though they want to do what they can to please customers…