Poor Service – Industry Standard?

More Trouble Canceling HP Orders by Bob Sutton:

I wrote a post a couple months ago about how difficult it was to cancel an order I had JUST made for an HP computer, and how when I complained on the phone to the HP salesperson, his justification was that it was “industry standard,” which really pushed my buttons — as the logic is “I am going to treat my customers badly just because everyone does.”

How true. One good example, one bad example from: Ritz Carlton and Home Depot. I find it very frustrating how poor the service is most everywhere these days. Have you shopped in a Trader Joe’s? The contrast is amazing. I am used to most employees, on the phone, or in person, seeing the customer as a bother. I have been in Trader Joe’s maybe 10 times and the staff always seems happy to have customers. Which seems like a good indication that management is doing a number of things right. That with almost everyplace else that I interact the service is the opposite, does not speak well for management.

Related: Companies in Need of Customer FocusCustomer Service is ImportantWhat Could we do Better?No Customer FocusStarbucks: Respect for Workers – Great old lean thinking at HP: Eliminating Complexity from Work: Improving Productivity by Enhancing Quality by Tim Fuller, 1986 – More recent HP

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