The worst customer service I’ve ever had
Who’d have thought getting new glasses could be this complicated? I’ve had a customer experience that I am still finding hard to grasp. I’ll make this short, but writing about it is a bit therapeutic too, I guess. I got an eye exam a few weeks ago with my normal optometrist, who also runs a small optical store in the same office. It’s close to home and convenient. However, I also find it difficult to find frames I like, so I did a bit of shopping around before settling on a pair at my optometrist’s office about a week and a half ago.
I paid $308 in full upfront for glasses that were to arrive this past Tuesday (after the $85 it cost me for my exam). When I went in to pick up the glasses and tried them on, I could see nothing clearly past about 12 feet, though they were great for anything within six feet. They originally gave me two prescriptions; an extended wear one and a close-up one, with an option for progressive lenses. My eyes are still pretty good so we opted to ‘tweak’ the extended wear prescription to make it a little stronger to aid in reading and computer use.
The owner does all the fitting and purchasing recommendations and, when I told the receptionist that the glasses were not acceptable and left them there, the owner called me back within about a day and we arranged that I’d come in yesterday to look at options. He indicated that his notes suggested I had decided not to use them for extended wear and only for close-up, while my recollection was that they were for extended wear but would be adjusted to make them a bit stronger. If not, why would we make adjustments and not just use the close-up prescription?
Yesterday was a day off work that I arranged specifically so that I’d be in between 12:30 and 1:30, when he committed he’d also be there. Arriving at almost exactly 12:30, he’d apparently forgotten the appointment altogether because he’d just left to do some errands. I was pretty unhappy and indicated to the receptionist that it would probably be a couple of weeks before I could get into the store again and that I simply wanted a refund (I’m not good when a business stands me up, and has my money to boot). I was informed that he’d have to cut the cheque, so I said I wanted to be called.
I heard nothing the rest of the day yesterday and left a voicemail for them this morning, recounting my issue, providing two phone numbers and asking for a call again. When I hadn’t heard anything by 2pm, I called them. The receptionist said that he was with a customer and would call me back. When I asked why no one had called me, she said that the dial tone hadn’t indicated there was a message so she hadn’t checked their voicemail.
Fast-forward to 4pm:
Me: Hello, is Derek there?
Receptionist: Is this Mr. Wanless?
Me: Yes …
Receptionist: I’m sorry, but he had to go out to his other clinic. He said a cheque will be available for pick-up some time next week.
Me: But I asked to have him call back.
Receptionist: Yeah, he’s sorry but he had to leave.
Me: You mean he’s had three opportunities to return a requested call and he couldn’t even be bothered? Hmmm, is he aware that he’ll be losing four customers by this treatment?
Receptionist: Why?
Me: Because my whole family are patients/customers and none of us will be spending another dime there. Please tell him that.
She also confirmed that she had, indeed, got the earlier voicemail. After a long pause of stunned silence, we had a bit of back and forth and I assured her that while I was annoyed, it was not with her. She understood my frustration, however, I was also getting a lot of vagaries with regard to when a cheque would be available and it took a bit of work to make her understand that I wanted to be called Monday and told exactly when my refund would be there. Given that I was previously told that he writes the cheques, I’m not sure why he couldn’t have simply done it today.
I fully expect he’ll make me wait and also try and deduct some kind of fee. All the while I get to keep hunting for frames and go through the whole process again. I guess it’s the lack of foresight that gets me here. Even as late as yesterday afternoon, a simple apology and assurance that he would fix the issue probably would have saved my business. That he couldn’t bother calling, apologizing for missing the appointment, or simply had the guts to deal with an unsatisfied customer is inexcusable.
May 24th, 2009 at 1:20 am
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May 24th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
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