Today I went to a Café Coffee Day (CCD) for a cup of coffee with a friend. On entering, I saw a customer shouting at cashier. Being a customer service person, curiosity of what happened and how cashier is going to handle the whole situation, I went straight to the billing counter. As the story unfolds, there were two reasons why customer was irate:
- Customer ordered coffee and he was not given any bill.
- Customer waited for over an hour for his order but he was not served. Reason – service people forgot to process his order.
Customer wanted to speak to someone senior. Cashier reluctantly provided number but he was not picking up the phone. Customer wanted to register a complaint but there was not complaint register. After observing the whole episode, I thought CCD has failed to implement some basic steps of customer service.
According to a study, 96% of the customers do not complain at all and they simply shift to another service provider. And customers who complains they actually committed to the brand. CCD should make it easier for the customers to complain or give feedback. This can be done
According to a study, 96% of the customers do not complain at all and they simply shift to another service provider. And customers who complains they actually committed to the brand. CCD should make it easier for the customers to complain or give feedback. This can be done
- By providing complaint/feedback book at the café
- Phone numbers of customer service/senior managers should be displayed
- Feedback/suggestion forms should be available
- Email address where customer can register his concerns
It is not necessary to implement all the above mentioned steps but make sure what ever steps are put in place, they should be followed religiously. Acting on the feedback is also important and that will be discussed in some other post.
Regarding my coffee, CCD forgot to process my order as well. I guess it was a bad day for them.
Regarding my coffee, CCD forgot to process my order as well. I guess it was a bad day for them.
by soulsez , on April 17, 2009 6:16 AM
Well, I guess my CCD experiences in Chennai have not been all that bad.
But I've encountered the same problems in several other well established restaurants!
My friend a strict vegetarian and she was served Chicken Pasta! No apologies, nothin!
by Adesh Sidhu , on April 17, 2009 9:06 AM
Even I always have a decent experience in CCD. I guess we as a nation are never impatient to bad service. But hopefully things will change in future.
by Ramesh , on April 17, 2009 3:40 PM
Very often a company can earn enormous goodwill even when a bad incident has taken place if they respond well. An apology phone call from a senior manager and an offer to waive the bill the next time the customer came around, will hook him for a long time. He'll also tell umpteen others.
Some companies just don't get it - go any length to keep the customer happy.