eCommerce: Are we valued as a customer? Latest Update

I have made a couple of posts about the good and bad service I have received from varying companies over the past month.  I was getting really disheartened by just how shockingly poor the level of service was and I had the impression that customers just weren't that important to companies these days.

I put this down to companies working in a niche market knowing that their customers were just coming back to them as they didn't really have anywhere else to go.  The example I gave was Game, where I had got my product 5 days after its release and didn't really get a satisfactory response from their customer service team.

Well after posting my last blog, I was contacted directly by someone in their customer service team.  She was really apologetic and explained that they did care about their customers, and to make up for the level of service I had received that I could chose a game from their website and I could have it for free.

Its a shame that it got to the stage of having to use social media before a company reacts to a problem, however the fact that they did respond is a big plus on my part as I do have that feeling of being a valued customer, and in the end that's all we want.

With regards to Carphone Warehouse on the other hand, we have a completely different outcome.  They clearly don't care about their customers and I've had no response what-so-ever.  My complaint with them is ongoing.  All I would say is that if you're tempted on one of their cash back offers on Quidco, then don't be.  You probably will receive cash back, however it will be considerably lower than you were thinking.  Its a shame as the Quidco idea is great.  I will certainly think twice before entering into a deal on Quidco, and I certainly wont be entering into anything involving Carphone Warehouse.  They have conned me out of my money.

Dont use Carphone Warehouse, go direct to the phone companies you'll get a better level of service anyway.

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Hope Restored!

Over the last couple of days I have posted about some negative experiences and some pretty bad service from some retailers.  I'd pretty much given up hope that companies valued us as customers, and therefore didn't care about the service they offered.  That is until last night, all hope has now been restored.  Thanks to Pizza Express.

I know Pizza Express isnt an Online Retailer, however they do offer a service, and an exceptional one at that.

I was visiting the Albion Place Pizza Express in Leeds last night with my girlfriend Laura and it has to be one of the best experiences I have had with regards to service.

We made our order, Dough balls to share for starter, and we were discussing with waiter about the different types of chillies on an American Hot, as my girlfriend didnt want anything that would burn her mouth out.  The waiter was quite knowledgeable and discussed each.  Laura didnt want to take a risk and so decided to play it safe and order a Sloppy Giuseppe and I went with a Pollo ad Astra.

Our order came extremely quickly, however there wasnt any dough balls as they had brought our pizzas and instead of Laura's choice, they had an American Hot.  We explained that we had ordered dough balls and the one of the pizzas wasnt right, the waitress was extremely apologetic and said that she would go and get them to rectify the order and remake the pizzas.  Now as this was clearly an honest mistake, as we had been discussing the American Hot with the waiter, we just assumed he'd accidentally written it down.

We would have been happy with them just remaking the pizzas and bringing our dough balls.  What happened afterwards was extremely unexpected and shocked both myself and Laura.

The manager came over to us and apologised for the mix up, he handed us a plate of dough balls each and said that they wouldn't be charged.  He then said that we should save room for dessert as that would be on Pizza Express as well, and he was really sorry.

Now in my eyes, this went above and beyond what he needed to do.  We didn't see this as a big mistake, it was a simple error.  Laura and I left that restaurant feeling like we were really appreciated and valued as customers, and can honestly say we have never been made to feel like that anywhere else.  That was my first time visiting that Pizza Express, however I can guarantee it certainly wont be the last.

If anyone else is fed up with poor service, or you're a business that wants to see how its done, I couldnt recommend the Pizza Express on Albion Place highly enough.  Its second to none, and the staff are amazing.

Well done Pizza Express!

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eCommerce: Are we valued as a customer? Part 2

Yesterday I wrote about the shocking service I'd received from an Online retailer, and it got me thinking about another incident that happened to me when I used Quidco to get cash back on a mobile phone.

The offer I saw was £80 cash back when I ordered an HTC Incredible S through Carphone Warehouse on a contract with Vodafone.  I thought this was a great deal as I was looking to get a new contract anyway and so thought I might as well earn some money back for doing it.

I signed up for the deal on the Carphone Warehouse site having been directed there through the Quidco site.  I filled out all the details, and asked for the phone to be sent to my nearest store.  Unknown to me this store was still being built.  This is where all my problems seemed to start.

I got an email from Carphone Warehouse saying that my order was being processed and I would get sent an email once it had been confirmed.  No email ever arrived, so I thought I would go into the store to check if the phone would be arriving.  The store advised that the order was on its way, and even though the store that it was supposed to go to wasn't ready, it should be directed to them.  It hadn't arrived yet though, so asked me to come back.

Eventually it arrived, and I went into the store to pick it up.  I went in on my lunch break and was in there for over an hour as there was a problem with my order.  There was a computer error that didn't allow them to close down my order.  They spent most of the time I was in the store on the phone to head office trying to sort this problem out.  It was left that they would try and sort it out and I should go back after work.

I went back into the store and they said that the only way they could do anything was to cancel my order and then put it through again.  I was obviously concerned about this affecting my deal with Quidco and was advised that it should be ok.

They put the order through and I started using the phone, however as I was checking on Quidco to see how my cash back was tracking, I noticed it was only tracking at £20.  I checked on Quidco to see if this was normal and it said that Carphone Warehouse deals did track at lower rates.  I decided to contact Carphone Warehouse direct by email and they advised that they would give me a complimentary £20 due to the problems I had received.  I wrote back asking if this was £20 instead of the £80 cash back as if this was the case then I didn't agree.

I heard nothing back from Carphone Warehouse.  About 4 months after I saw on Quidco that my cash back had been rejected.  On enquiring with Quidco they advised me that Carphone Warehouse had rejected it.

This is where the situation becomes laughable.  I spoke to Customer Services at Carphone Warehouse and they advised me that Quidco had decided not to pay me as I hadn't passed their T&C's with regards to the deal and I should check it.  I contacted Quidco and they asked me to send the order confirmation, as it had been Carphone Warehouse that had rejected it.

This is just a case of each one blaming the other, however I'm really not happy with Carphone Warehouse.  I feel like I have been conned by them into getting a phone through them.  They have tried to palm me off with £20 when I should have received £80.  They have seriously got off lightly from serious mistakes they have made, and that's not acceptable.  Why should I suffer for receiving poor service?

I hope to continue using Quidco, however this has left a bad taste in my mouth as am I going to go through this with other retailers?

I'm not expecting any response from Carphone Warehouse as they have palmed me off and ignored me all through the process.

If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout.  Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk

eCommerce: Are we valued as a customer?

I have recently been buying lots of things on-line, which I have been doing for quite a number of years.  I'm a typical bloke and I hate shopping.  I really detest the whole experience.  I don't like people when I'm shopping, they get in my way, they infuriate me as they don't seem to know what they want and where they want to be.  I don't like trying things on, as that's time out of my life I'm never going to see again.  Due to the fact that I hate the experience so much means I'm not an enjoyable person to be around when shopping.  My girlfriend will vouch for that.  Anyway, I established many years ago that I would much prefer to purchase as many things as possible on-line, so its something I do regularly.

The reason for this post, is that I recruit for a lot of retailers and I like to understand how they work as a business, so explore their websites and see the comments people have made about them. This helps me understand my clients and enables me to offer advice to my candidates.  I recently had two completely different experiences from two different sites and I wanted to discuss it, to see if anyone else has noticed this worrying trend.  The two sites I used were Game.co.uk and Amazon.co.uk.  One, the service was second to none, the other was absolutely disgusting, followed up with shocking customer service.

Firstly, lets talk about the positive.  Amazon.co.uk.  Admittedly I ordered from Amazon, however the products were dispatched by independent suppliers, but still the service was immense and I was felt to feel appreciated as a customer.  Now the suppliers in question were Areema Limited and PJP Electronics.  Both products I ordered were delivered well within the time stipulated and actually arrived on the first of the five day window they stated.  Both companies deserved the 5 star rating that I gave them.

Now here is the reason that you'll find the service so good on Amazon.  There is so much competition on Amazon from competing suppliers that there is a fear amongst them.  If they do a bad job then they wont get any more business.  Customer feedback is the key to getting better service.  Its the best form of marketing for these companies, and its free.  All they have to do is do a good job.  This is how business used to be, and its how business should be.  What happened to the customer is always right?

If we look at Game.co.uk on the other hand, this definitely doesn't apply.  They clearly feel that they don't really have much competition, and therefore if they don't do what they say, it doesn't matter as the customers don't have anywhere else to go.  This was made clear by the service that I received.

I pre-ordered a product well in advance of the release date, it was a massive release and was going to be in high demand.  Game contacted me to advise that due to the amount of pre-orders they were going to take money from my account early, not a problem I thought.  All I'll say is that the product eventually arrived 5 days after the release date, although I'd had to go out and buy it on the day of its release when it hadn't arrived.  This is bad service in itself, but when you mix this with the fact that they were updating their website, and their phone system, so there was no way of contacting them, it makes it atrocious.

I eventually managed to find an email address on-line and contacted someone.  A few days later I got an email from their customer service department with attached terms & conditions with regards to when a product doesn't arrive.  Not the response I was expecting, no apology.  I wrote back to advise that I have spent a lot of money with them in the past, and threatened to take my business elsewhere.  I eventually got a response over a week later, from this I gathered they didn't actually care as they had enough customers even if they lost my custom.

When you look at these two examples it just goes to show that competition clearly leads to a better service.  Game.co.uk clearly feels it can treat its customers any way it likes, as there isn't enough competition for them to go elsewhere.  If this is the case, then someone needs to step up to the mark and show them how its done. I'm sure I'm not the only one that's been made to feel like this by Game.co.uk

I'm not saying the Amazon way will work for everyone, but if it means that retailers are scared into offering a good service then I'm all for it.  Too long we have suffered from poor service.  We're the customers and we're always right.  Remember that!

If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout.  Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk

Stereotypical Recruitment Agencies.

I just read an interesting article by my colleague Simon Halkyard on how Social Media has changed the recruitment industry.  If you havent had a chance to read it, its definitely worth a read (http://simonhalkyard.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-social-media-has-changed.html).  Anyway, on reading Simon's blog, it got me thinking about the image candidates and clients have about recruitment agencies and whether their feelings were justified.  Lets be honest, I'm sure most of you don't have a favourable image about them.

I have been in the recruitment industry for over 11 years and have mainly worked in the IT & Marketing sectors for varying sized agencies, from start-ups to larger more established organisations and I have seen the way that they work and also I've listened to my clients and candidates feedback on other agencies.

Why does Recruitment have such a bad reputation?

Recruitment agencies don't exactly endear themselves to either clients or candidates alike as it seems like the relationship is all about money.  Now don't get me wrong, recruitment is a business so of course its about making money.  Its just most recruitment companies act as though that's all that matters.  How are clients & candidates ever going to have anything other than a negative opinion if they're just seen as money.

Recruitment is about service.  We're offering a client a recruitment service, enabling them to save time and evidently money on getting the ideal candidate into their organisation.  From a candidate perspective, again its a service.  We're supposed to help them find their ideal job, by offering advice with regards to their CV and recommending clients we feel they would be suitable for, and then approaching that client on their behalf.  It's not all about KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) including number of CV's sent to clients, number of interviews, number of vacancies you can get in a week.

I know I'm simplifying the recruitment process, and of course its more involved than this, however I'm not writing this for recruitment agencies.  I believe for most its a lost cause, and they'll continue to work the same way and give candidates and clients the same opinion of them.  I feel that the recruitment industry has to change and adapt the same way that all companies have to change or they will get left behind and become obsolete.  How about offering Quality, not Quantity?  There's a novel idea that could improve peoples opinions.

If there are any candidates or clients out there reading this blog, and you're dealing with agencies that aren't offering you a service, then know that there are companies out there that appreciate you as more than just a pound sign.  If you would like to find out more about the SERVICE we offer then get in touch, I'd be more than happy to run through how we can help you.

If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout.  Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk