October 14, 2024

Customer Service

Good Morning,
I’ve been in business now a long time, and before starting my business I was in retail. Growing up I worked (whether I wanted to or not) in my family restaurant. One of the rules during all those years was, when someone has a problem you try to solve it.
I order supplies for my business and they come to me through delivery services. One of my purchases for toner was being delivered by FedEx ground from Houston. The email I got said it would be delivered on Saturday, not a day my business is open. It just so happened that I was in the office last Saturday and had the doors unlocked. I got an email that FedEx could not make the delivery because the “Customer not available or business closed.” I was here as well as a few people who were using my meeting room going in and out the door. The delivery person did not even come around to where my office was to try the door. I was not happy!
They tried again Monday at 4:43 pm and I had left to run to the post office after waiting all day. I should note that my regular FedEx delivery guy comes by around 3 pm. Anyone in business who gets regular deliveries knows what time your UPS and FedEx people come by. Well FedEx sends me another email and tells me the package will be delivered between 10 am and 6 pm Tuesday. Someone is in the office the whole time. I even make sure the person who locks up the building keeps the doors open. I promised him I would lock up. At 6:30 I get an email and check the status page that at 6:18 pm “no attempt made, delivery scheduled for the next business day.”
This was after I had talked to a customer support rep who told me earlier (about 5 pm) that the package would in fact be delivered by 6 pm, but they could be as late as 8 pm!
Well, at 6:30 I called back customer support and gave them a piece of my mind. The rep said she could not do anything and the package was scheduled for delivery between 10 am and 6 pm Wednesday! At this point I asked to speak with her supervisor and thanked her for help and I understood she could not do anything to make me happy.
I talked to the supervisor and explained the whole story and that I was not happy and that I wanted my package by 3 pm the next day. I was given the runaround about the computer system and such stuff and I told her to send a message to the driver to bring it earlier and that this is a business and I’m not going to wait all day and night and they are costing me time and money. I was not nice about it! I also told her I was willing to take it as high up the chain as I needed, all the way to top if I had to. Whatever I said got her to take more action and forward it to another level. She even asked for a contact number. Not that they contacted me.
Wednesday came and around 3 pm my regular FedEx driver came by with my package. I explained what happened, he apologized and looked at the markings on the box and said someone mismarked the box and it was put onto the wrong truck and he apologized again.
Sometimes you just have to yell and make a stink about things to get them corrected. If I hadn’t called and loudly complained, they would have never put my package on the correct truck and would have probably sent it back to the vendor where I would have had to pay to have it reshipped.
If FedEx had better customer service they would have solved my problem before it went to the supervisor amid my threats to take it higher up the chain! How’s your customer service?
Till next time. Phil