Other Customer Service Tangent

[willcastner]

I didn't want to post my thoughts in a specific thread but over the years I have seen alot of posts about bad customer service in the jet ski community. I just want to take a minute to express my feelings.
I am fustrated to see what I see. I am currently a sales rep and customer service is my job.

Everytime someone posts a negative response of a company there are a bunch of people sticking up for them. If a customer says they had a bad experience they had a bad experience, period. I sometimes even see reps from the companies calling customers out on these forums. This is rediculous. You should be doing everything possible to put out the fire not to pour gas on it. Even if the mistake truely isn't your fault.

Most of the companies I see peopole complain about I have had negative experiences with even if it is something as little as shipping delays. My point here is likely these complaints are not isolated events and others do not comment because their issue was small or they don't sweat the small things enough to comment. If a company provides top notch service they should be able to prevent problems or resolve the issue prior to someone posting on a forum. People want communication and answers even if the answer you have isn't what they want to hear.

This is caused by our niche market and specialty parts. These companies either feel customer serivice is not important because people "have" to buy their stuff or theyare so oblivious to the importance of customer serivce they think they are good at it. This is obvious when I see people complaining about how much people praise jet maniac. If you worked your ass off and took pride in your customer service how would you like to see people complain about the amount of compliments you get for your hard work! He is building a reputaiton! He doesn't have a BBB rating system!

In summary there are many companies that try to make a tough living in this niche market. Some have succeded and lots have failed. Alot of marketing is through this and other forums. By taking part in forum marketing you run the risk of easy negative feedback. This is your fault. Don't market here, provide subpar customer service and then complain about the result. No matter how great your parts are you are still taking peoples money and in return they want more than just product. Like any buisness other than government and oil, if you don't keep your customers happy you will fail no matter what.

Consumers, be selective as our sport gets bigger and keep your expectations high. If we lower our expectations then all companies involved in this sport will no longer be required to provide the serivice we deserve.

Tangent done. Apologize for wasting time.

 

[N3vrSat1sfied]

I agree to some extent. On the other side, people jump on here and post a negative thread or a "Call out" thread because they haven't got a phone call back within an hour (I am not exaggerating, someone called out rad dudes and there was a 12hour ish time zone difference). If there is a legit problem like someone lying to you and/or not shipping your stuff for X amount of time then yes it should be brought out so others are aware and the company/person can make it right.
I am just tired of the garbage complaints, most of these companies are very busy and are a one man show, I agree we shouldn't allow weeks to go on, and the companies need to do their best to respond promptly, but we have to cut them some slack. They are not muliti million dollar companies with answering services and multiple phones lines, most have their cell phone. However, that is no excuses for some of the stuff that goes on here; and I do agree with OP that the standards seem to be getting lower and lower.

 

[Bobert540]

I didn't want to post my thoughts in a specific thread but over the years I have seen alot of posts about bad customer service in the jet ski community. I just want to take a minute to express my feelings.
I am fustrated to see what I see. I am currently a sales rep and customer service is my job.

Everytime someone posts a negative response of a company there are a bunch of people sticking up for them. If a customer says they had a bad experience they had a bad experience, period. I sometimes even see reps from the companies calling customers out on these forums. This is rediculous. You should be doing everything possible to put out the fire not to pour gas on it. Even if the mistake truely isn't your fault.

Most of the companies I see peopole complain about I have had negative experiences with even if it is something as little as shipping delays. My point here is likely these complaints are not isolated events and others do not comment because their issue was small or they don't sweat the small things enough to comment. If a company provides top notch service they should be able to prevent problems or resolve the issue prior to someone posting on a forum. People want communication and answers even if the answer you have isn't what they want to hear.

This is caused by our niche market and specialty parts. These companies either feel customer serivice is not important because people "have" to buy their stuff or theyare so oblivious to the importance of customer serivce they think they are good at it. This is obvious when I see people complaining about how much people praise jet maniac. If you worked your ass off and took pride in your customer service how would you like to see people complain about the amount of compliments you get for your hard work! He is building a reputaiton! He doesn't have a BBB rating system!

In summary there are many companies that try to make a tough living in this niche market. Some have succeded and lots have failed. Alot of marketing is through this and other forums. By taking part in forum marketing you run the risk of easy negative feedback. This is your fault. Don't market here, provide subpar customer service and then complain about the result. No matter how great your parts are you are still taking peoples money and in return they want more than just product. Like any buisness other than government and oil, if you don't keep your customers happy you will fail no matter what.

Consumers, be selective as our sport gets bigger and keep your expectations high. If we lower our expectations then all companies involved in this sport will no longer be required to provide the serivice we deserve.

Tangent done. Apologize for wasting time.

I couldn't agree more. I have seen a shift in this industry since I got into it. A lot of good has come from it but there are also a few bad apples that people will defend no matter what. We are all human, we make mistakes, but when you pay for something you should receive your item in a timely manner.

I know this is a niche market and not a zappos/amazon where you see your product the next day but I agree with holding higher expectations. Is it really that hard to be upfront about things? I see too many things over promised and underperform.

The petty complaints are frustrating but there are very legitimate complaints that should be held to hire standards.

With being a niche community, we should all be helping each other, not hurting the sport. There are new members that come on here for the education and to be part of a unique community.

Just educate yourself before you give someone your hard earned dollars. Pick up the phone and call the companies. It's a more rewarding experience be able to talk to the owner/sales rep vs typing emails/pm's all day.

Don't be afraid to be selective as wilcastner said, but also don't draw attention when it is not necessary.

The weather is warming up.... now let's get those skis ready, fill the fridge with your drink of choice and be happy you are fortunate enough to afford to be in such a unique and thrilling sport!

 

[willcastner]

I couldn't agree more. I have seen a shift in this industry since I got into it. A lot of good has come from it but there are also a few bad apples that people will defend no matter what. We are all human, we make mistakes, but when you pay for something you should receive your item in a timely manner.

I know this is a niche market and not a zappos/amazon where you see your product the next day but I agree with holding higher expectations. Is it really that hard to be upfront about things? I see too many things over promised and underperform.

The petty complaints are frustrating but there are very legitimate complaints that should be held to hire standards.

With being a niche community, we should all be helping each other, not hurting the sport. There are new members that come on here for the education and to be part of a unique community.

Just educate yourself before you give someone your hard earned dollars. Pick up the phone and call the companies. It's a more rewarding experience be able to talk to the owner/sales rep vs typing emails/pm's all day.

Don't be afraid to be selective as wilcastner said, but also don't draw attention when it is not necessary.

The weather is warming up.... now let's get those skis ready, fill the fridge with your drink of choice and be happy you are fortunate enough to afford to be in such a unique and thrilling sport!

Well Said. I know that I am held to a very high standard on a daily basis by my customers so I expect the same. I know as said before by n3vrsat1sfied some guys selling parts are running out of their garages using cell phones. I understand the concept of not jumping on them but don't start a buisness if you can not keep up with the demand and provide good service. I made hood straps for awhile and once I realized I could not keep up with the demand and provide good customer service while working my full time job I stopped making them. There are basic requirements in customer service.

Return phone calls and emails with in 24hrs
Always keep the customer informed even if the answer you have for them is unsatisfactory
Fix problems swiftly and use open dialogue compromising while solving problems (not "sorry but deal with it" approach)

These are not hard things to do and customers should expect them in my opinion. Obviously there are exceptions (vactions, ect.) with returning call and emails but any company or rep should be able to perform those tasks regularly.