One of the things that I noticed last week while my wife and I were at Disneyland, was the attention to detail.
Sure everything is really well done, that's pretty well known about Disney, but the things that really impressed me were the little things.
Never did I see a light bulb that was burned out (trust me I looked for one), nor did I see any maintenance workers working on anything, repairing anything, or anything that appeared to be closed for maintenance reasons, though I'm sure that it existed, it just didn't appear to be that way.
The other thing that kept going through my head was just the pure logistics that must go into keeping that place up and running everyday. With all of the food that the serve up each day, never did I see vehicles driving through the either park delivering it, nor was I told that they were out of a particular item. Figuring out and managing all of that has to fall to a staff of people somewhere.
For a person that thinks in very logical patterns that would be a dream job and one that would also likely put me in the grave early, but I'd probably love every minute of it.
I took one of my guns in for some repairs. When I took it in, I was told that it would be 10 days. That was 16 days ago. Since then I've heard nothing.
So today I called them and asked about it. It hadn't been returned to their store yet (it had to be shipped out for repairs) but they told me that I could call the place that they shipped it to and find out the status.
So I called (a long distance call for me and no 1.800 number). I was on hold for 20 minutes just trying to get to the point to talk with someone about it. Once I finally did get someone on the phone I had their attention for all of about 17 seconds and they passed me on to someone else (the Gunsmith) and instead of speaking with him I ended up getting his voice mail.
He called me back a couple of hours later and told me that he had just received the gun today, but that he would start looking at it and get back to me soon. Today!? They've had it for over two weeks and I know that they don't ship the guns out, they hand deliver them. Frustrating.
He seems like a nice guy and it sounds like he knows what he's talking about but what a pain. After this experience, I already know that I'm not going back to them for anything.
I had a Doctor's appointment first thing this morning. I had a raging headache, so even the smallest thing, especially noise, was causing additional stress and frustration levels for me.
As we (my wife went with me) were sitting there, once of the Medical Assistants and one of the Receptionists were arguing about what I can only assume was an issue with one of them.
From what I could tell the MA was telling the receptionist that she had messed up and that it had lead to a problem with a patient. I think that the receptionist had caused the patient to wait an extra long period of time while at the clinic.
Sadly, they were arguing about this out in the open and it sounded as if the receptionist was making up excuses as to why it wasn't her fault. From my perspective it's tough to judge who, if anyone, was at fault because I was simply a patient (customer) there, but I can tell you that after hearing them argue the way that they were, I have less confidence in the office staff at this particular clinic.
Combine that with the fact that I only started going to this clinic in the last couple of years and have not real tie to it, it will make me think twice about going back. For the moment, I'll consider this the "First Strike". I'll likely be going back a few times over the next little while, so let's hope that they don't get the second and third strike anytime soon.
In this economy, any business is at risk and Customer Service is always a must. How difficult would it have been to have held the conversation until another time or to have gone into a different area of the office? My guess is that it would have been quite simple and it would have certainly been more professional.
If you pull into a parking space at a restaurant with a sign that says "15 minute parking - Take Out Orders Only" are they then obligated to get your food to you within the 15 minute time limit? Also, what happens if they don't get your food to you in time? Do you get a ticket? Does your car get towed? If so, does the restaurant become responsible for any of the towing and impound fees? Is it false advertising?
So many question and so few answers.
Technology can make your business boom, or it can really hurt it.
For example, I went to lunch today and pulled up to the drive through at a specific location that will remain nameless. Let's just say I was having a craving for something red and creamy. I had gone out of my way to get to this location and was pleasantly surprised that there was nobody in line in front of me and hardly anyone in the parking lot.
I was greeted by the following "Hello, welcome to XXXXXXXX's. Currently our credit and debit system is not functioning, so if have cash we'll go ahead and take your order". I rarely carry cash, so I politely thanked them and continued on my way. I was grateful that they were up front and honest with me and very matter of fact, but they lost my business today. Some may argue that it was my fault that I don't carry cash, and to some degree I would agree with them, but when businesses are only accepting one type of payment (cash, because Personal Checks are not accepted either) during the busy lunch rush it can really hurt business.
I simply went around the corner and ordered something from the KFC, which wasn't very good by the way.
Now me taking my business to a competitor for a single meal is not going to make or break either of these two companies, but for small companies things like this can be the final nail in the coffin.
