Do you complain? [updated]
After recounting to a friend my brief talk with the Pepsi corporation today, I got the impression that some people don’t complain. I’m a sucker for great service, but if I get screwed, you better believe corporate will hear about it. How about you?
A benefit of writing/calling companies like Pepsi or M&M Mars is that they would much rather comping you product than have you recount the offending matter to everyone you know. Pepsi is sending out some coupons, and I’ll continue to purchase their product after the coupons are gone.
Update: The coupons came on the 12th, which was a nice touch. Included was a personal letter, which summed up what was said on the phone. Overall, I’m amazed by the customer service of Pepsi.
On the other hand, Subway never replied/followed up on a complaint. I haven’t been to a Subway since, and don’t see myself going in the near future (I went a few times a week). That’s lost revenue directly attributed to poor service. I didn’t even need/want Subway to send out coupons–I just wanted to know they would follow up on my complaint.
Anytime someone writes me about a problem (maybe with MacMerc or with MobileTracker), I follow up quickly and professionally. Even if it’s a poorly composed letter, I write back with the upmost respect. Most of these people don’t even give me money, so why take so much time? Because I know how it feels to get treated nicely and fairly by an organization that doesn’t have to. I suggest you do the same in your business (although I know a lot of you already do).
Hm, what happened?
I got sliced open on a bottle of Mountain Dew… Freak accident I know. Cut pretty deep on my middle finger–right where the print is at.
So if, in your opinion, the accident happened because of some design flaw in the bottle; then by accepting gifts in exchange for your silence, aren’t you guilty by omission if someone else gets cut?
Or did you just phone them to get free stuff, knowing full well that it wasn’t a design flaw?
It wasn’t a design flaw per se–bottles are die cast. The edge where the two sides of the mold come together makes a seam. This bottle had a sloppy seam, and right under the cap the plastic was jut thin enough to be sharp.
I called because if I was Pepsi, I would want to know if one of our can cut a customer. She took the serial number of the bottle, and alerted the local company that makes Pepsi for Tampa. They take this stuff pretty seriously.
And no, they didn’t pay me off for silence. I am actually covering it here, which is far from silence. The coupons are just a nice gesture. The cut didn’t medical attention. There was no pain and suffering law suit in the works. They just wanted to keep me as a customer.
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