I for one am a fickle customer, and if I don't like the treatment
at one place I just go to another next time (as long as that choice
is there). I haven't bought anything at Sears for 5.5 years, and
there are a few stores around here I won't walk into. And certainly
the next time I buy a new car ($10 000 to $25 000!) I won't go back
to Bank Street Mazda.
I think a salesman is a certain kind of person, and they often don't
realize there are other kinds of people who won't complain, but just
won't return if they don't like the service or the product. This
stuff seems so obvious, so why don't they get it?
But I like to be fair. When Dell took 10 days and a dozen phone calls
to fix my brand new computer (which has worked perfectly for two years
plus since then) I wrote them a letter, explaining my story and my
dissatisfaction with the way things were handled. I also pointed out
that I was in my twenties and working in the computer industry, and
that I would surely be buying many, many more computers in my lifetime.
This gives Dell a number of options (opportunities even!):
1. Completely ignore the letter.
2. Write back and apologize, saying it will never happen again.
3. Write back and apologize, saying it will never happen again, and
here's a small piece of hardware/software or a coupon for such
as a token our regret.
They chose 1., so I'll never buy a Dell again. So simple.
I think I'll forward a copy of this to Dell, just for fun.
Mike
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J. Michael New Michael.New@NRC.Ca
Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Institute (613)991-4371
National Research Council of Canada home: (613)230-7783
"Star Trek transporter: the ultimate Cut and Paste"
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