Way cool Extreme Pita register!

The other day I went to lunch with my sister to a place I’d never been before – Extreme Pita (oh, cool – they’re on Twitter and Facebook!). Now, normally I’d have a bit of ordering anxiety at a place like this (kinda like Chris Reaburn explains about Starbucks), especially when I hadn’t been before. I didn’t have it here, and I’ll tell you what else: I wasn’t only impressed by the customer service I received, but I was really wowed by the entire customer experience they provided me with!

Stuff Extreme Pita did right:

• We were greeted with a smile when we walked in the door.
• I got a tour of the menu and how to order when they found out it was my first visit.
• The entire staff (including the manager-possibly-owner) worked together and seemed wonderfully happy about it.
• They have a nutrition guide for their entire menu – a huge one hanging on the wall, as well as a handy little booklet that I took with me.
• I got a helpful tutorial on the special nifty way in which to unwrap your pita for optimal eating. (I should have taken a picture.)
• They have a really cool register – I can watch what’s being rung up! (I did take a picture of this. Yes, I’m easily amused. No, I can’t explain exactly why this makes for a better customer experience; it just does.)
• The manager-possibly-owner asked how our meal was and cheerfully answered our questions about Extreme Pita even though he was clearly on a break.
• They offer free Wi-Fi – no purchase necessary!
• My sister and I got a friendly send off when we were finished.

Stuff Extreme Pita did wrong:

• No name tags! How am I supposed to compliment the wonderful staff who were working if I don’t know their names?

All in all, it was a superb customer experience and I can’t wait to go again!

For some reason, though, Disney didn’t tell Paul that they’d remedied his concerns. I’m not sure why they would choose to let that opportunity pass them by. In my opinion, it’d turn an unsatisfactory customer experience into a much better one. Who wouldn’t want that? Instead, it just makes them look as though they don’t want to admit to their small error in judgment.

You're telling me THIS is a plus-sized model?!

I’m following @LaneBryant on Twitter. I’m not sure they’re following me, but that’s hardly the point since they should be monitoring their name on Twitter anyway; they should notice when I mention them, right? Well, they didn’t. But that’s okay, because I know it’s a busy world out there and businesses don’t have time to respond to every single complaint. Even if I complain about the same thing a second time. Really, it’s okay.

Before I get started on the rant, though, I did want to give Lane Bryant the props they deserve. They hire GREAT people. I’ve never walked into a Lane Bryant store and not been greeted with a friendly smile and offer of help. Even better, they are not the type to hover! And when you do have a question, they’re knowledgeable and un-intimidating. Also, they’re always sure to let me know the current deals and promotions to help me get the most for my money.

Now. The rant.

The other day, I found a tweet from Lane Bryant asking for my opinion on ads. Well, I have a lot to say about Lane Bryant and their catalog and ads, and I’m going to say it here (and I’ll post my direct answers to their questions as a comment on their web site, as they asked – even though it’s highly irritating that I have to become a member and give them my home address before I can leave a comment). Here are the 10 questions they asked in their survey along with my answers:

1. When you receive ads in the mail, which ones do you pay attention to?

Most ads end up in the recycle bin. I’ll look at the grocery store ads, but don’t get much use out of them. The only retail ads I get (if I recall correctly) are for Fashion Bug and Lane Bryant. If I have time to kill, I sometimes quickly scan through those catalogs to look at the clothes.

2. Which retailer’s advertisements grab your eye and why?

I guess the Lane Bryant and Fashion Bug ones, as they’re colorful . . . and the only ones I get.

3. Who sends you the best advertising or catalog?

The best? I guess I’ll say Fashion Bug.

4. When you get the Lane Bryant magalog – what are your first thoughts?

“Hrm. Lane Bryant pisses me off because they have too many skinny chicks in here.”

5. What is Lane Bryant doing right in its advertising?

Are the coupons and “Real Women Dollars” part of the advertising? If they are, you’re doing that right.

6. What is Lane Bryant doing wrong in its advertising?

Check out the panties section of your web site, where the pictures show the belly and hips. I see maybe three women who might qualify as “slightly overweight”. Where are the Real Women you tout? Oh, right. They’re hidden in your blog/community/whatchamacalit.

7. Does the Lane Bryant magalog look expensive, not expensive, or inexpensive?

Not expensive.

8. What are your favorite things about the Lane Bryant magalog?

Not much. I guess that there are coupons. But they’re rarely useful – to me, personally – since I don’t shop for clothing that often. It’s good to know they’re there, though, for when I do need to go shopping.

9. What don’t you like about the Lane Bryant magalog?

Hello. Page 26 of the current catalog. You’re kidding me, right? I would really like to know what size this woman is wearing because I wear size 18/20, which as you know, is the next size up from the smallest you offer – 14/16. I am nowhere NEAR looking like this woman. Check out the panties section of your web site, where the pictures show the belly and hips. Seriously?

You know those Real Women of Lane Bryant I mentioned earlier? These are the women I want to see a lot more of in the catalog and on the web site. This woman, she makes me want to buy her clothes. Why? Because she’s REAL. And she looks happy and confident, regardless of her weight! Does anyone really relate to the fashion show model posing? I don’t. Maybe that’s because I’ve been jaded by so many years of looking at bizarre clothing on waif-like women in bizarre poses – you know, the ones running rampant in most magazines.

10. And last but not least – what store do you buy most of your clothes?

Fashion Bug and Wal-Mart. I don’t have the money to buy everything I’d want from Lane Bryant. Also, Fashion Bug tends to have “younger” styles than Lane Bryant.

Obviously, there are tons of customer service stories out there. And I’m not the only blogger blogging about them on a regular basis. So now, every Thursday, you can find my personal roundup of rants and raves from around the blogosphere. This week is a bit of a special edition to highlight a major fail and major win recoup for the airline we all love to pick on because they’re so good at putting themselves out there: United Airlines.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned United in a social media post and embedded the world-famous United Breaks Guitars video by Dave Carroll. United’s latest snafu has to do with Step Davis, a professional climber and BASE jumper (among many other talents). On a trip back from Switzerland, United managed to lose her jumping gear – worth over $12k! She tells of the full experience in her blog (plus you get to see some pictures of some of the awesome – in the true sense of the word – stuff that she does).

Steph, of course, did her best in contacting United and trying to impress upon them the importance and value of this gear. They didn’t get it at first. And in the meantime, the Twitterverse sure let @UnitedAirlines know about it!

Whether it was due to the publicity and Tweep-support or to Steph’s relentless dedication in communicating with United to get her gear back, she is now going to be fully compensated for her lost gear! She writes another blog post explaining the details. Now, I don’t know if United managed to recover Steph as a customer, but they did manage to do the right thing and resolve the situation. As one of Steph’s Tweeps said, it’s important to Tweet the good and the bad – it’s only fair to the company, especially after a “slip-up” such as this.

I’d love to hear others’ opinions (rants and/or raves!) about United Airlines.  I’ll admit I have a huge chip on my shoulder when it comes to United*, so I really would like to hear if someone thinks differently about them!

*Gotta love their “give us more money and we’ll give you lots of luxurious leg room” upgrade option. Did ya think we wouldn’t notice where that extra legroom came from? The plane sure as heck didn’t get longer, and I’m fairly sure that you didn’t take any rows of seats out. I did notice, however, that my “cattle-class” seat had even less legroom than before. Thanks, United, for making people with long legs, overweight people (You get to pay twice! Even if we have extra seats!), and people who like to bring luggage with them feel extra-special! Way to enhance the user experience for some of your customers!

Learn how JetBlue made Blake Sunshine at the Brazen Careerist a loyal customer after just one trip with the airline! Jet Blue Reminded Me to Be Human.

Christina Bentley guest posts on Customer Service Stories about her bad experience with AAA (California) and her great experience with the Nissan dealership. Good customer service makes a difference when you’re stranded on a California highway!

Heidi Miller of Spoken Communications writes about the “revenue fail” of the airline industry and their baggage fees.

Chris Pugh says, “Bank of America needs to learn that If you can’t take care of your customers, someone else will.” Read about the Bank of America Customer Service Fail.

Bonus links:

Also, I found this blog that is filled with only raves. What a great idea! Not exactly a direct contrast, but Not Always Right is a blog filled with “funny and stupid customer quotes”. (It’s even funnier if you’re ever worked in the service industry!)

Do you have a rant or rave to share? Let me know in the comments or by emailing me at sara@customerserviceftw.com.

Warner's new running shoes.

This past weekend, Warner and I went shopping for a new pair of running shoes for him. Our first stop was DSW (Discount Shoe Warehouse) because they have a decent selection and often the best prices. There’s nothing really wrong with their service; I’ve actually found the employees I’ve encountered in the past to be quite friendly and upbeat. But there’s something missing. You get what you expect with DSW – a decent selection of fairly-priced shoes in an environment where you try on what you like and determine for yourself it they’re the right shoes for you.

Towards the end of our search at DSW for Warner’s shoes, I remembered Alan’s Shoe House (their web site leaves a bit to be desired), a Tucson-based business that’s been in business since I was a kid. I don’t remember too many details of my last visit (almost 20 years ago), but I remember that they were nice. Also, they had plenty of shoes in stock to choose from for a kid with big feet. (Shoe shopping has always been a bit traumatizing for me, since most places don’t carry larger women’s sizes.) I think it says something about how Alan’s runs their business that, almost two decades later, I still remember them fondly – and for someone who RARELY puts “fondly” and anything related to shoes in the same sentence, that says something.

But enough about the past – we were talking about Warner’s shoe shopping experience. After finding a few pairs that he liked at DSW, but none that he was really wild about, we headed over to Alan’s Shoe House. Now, I admit that it’s a bit like comparing apples to oranges here because DSW and Alan’s are two different types of shoe stores, so I want to emphasize that I mean no disrespect to DSW and how they do business. I’m merely using them as contrast to show how exceptional service can be. But I digress again.

The moment we walk into Alan’s, we’re greeted by at least two people, and Stephanie offers to help us find what we’re looking for. Since Warner had already found a brand that he was pleased with, we started there. Stephanie was able to tell us the difference between “training” shoes and “running” shoes as well as the many different styles of running shoes there were. As I mentioned in a previous post, people in the service industry need to know their product. Why? Well, I’ll tell you that Warner and I felt a lot more comfortable with our purchase at Alan’s than we would have at DSW just for the simple fact that Stephanie knew the products well, and she wanted to make sure Warner was getting the right shoes for his needs.

In addition to helping Warner get the right shoes, as with any full service shoe store, Stephanie put on and laced up all the pairs that Warner tried on. Seems like a little touch, but it makes a big difference. We didn’t realize that we were coming into the store at 20 minutes ’til closing, but Stephanie wasn’t bothered one bit, and we didn’t get a startling PA announcement from the manager warning us of limited time left. And you know what was the icing on the cake for this exceptional service? She offered us a bottle of water as we were leaving (because, yes, it’s still a bit warm in Tucson) and gave us a free flashlight, which will come in real handy during our evening jogs.

Sometimes it’s the little things that add up to make an exceptional customer service experience. Do you have any stories of exceptional customer service that you’d like to share? Let me know in the comments or at sara@customerserviceftw.com.

Ever since then, I’ve been impatiently for my next TEP bill. Yes, really. I’ve been eager to try out the “new” e-bill system and see how it compares. Also, I told Michael the webmaster that I’d give him my feedback. So here it is!

Step 1: Looks the same at this point!

Step 1: Login to account manager and click on the “View/Pay Bill” button. It’s suspiciously exactly like it was before so far, but I have faith that it will be better! I wonder if it’ll take me directly to my current bill.

Step 2: Look! Pretty and organized!

Step 2: Nope. Not my current bill, but what’s this lovely looking list? Could it be my bills in reverse chronological order, starting with the current bill? It is! What a great change from before, when the list of bills seemed to be randomized like my iTunes on shuffle, or like I was playing hide and seek with my current bill. It looks way nicer, too! And there are pretty buttons that look like buttons and, more importantly, they’re all consistent in appearance so far!

Step 3: I’m going to click on “Pay” now. Wish me luck! Wha? An error dialog box? What did I do? Wait, it’s not an error message. It wants me to set up my bank account information. Hmm. Wasn’t expecting this type of dialog box; it’s a bit odd. Also, it’s a little bit of  a hassle that I have to enter in my banking info again, but it makes sense that I should have to since I haven’t used this particular system before.

Step 3.5: (Not counting this  as a full step, since I wouldn’t normally have to enter in my banking information.) Decent looking form, and the buttons are still looking consistent! They’re still in the wrong order, though, but it’s not the worst of things. And to be fair, Jakob Nielsen says that it doesn’t matter. I’d still like to think there should be a web standard for this, but yeah, not the worst of things. As long as it stays consistent!

Step 4: (I’m not taken directly back to the payment screen, but it’s easier to find now!) Now I click on “Pay” one more time, expecting to be taken straight to my payment screen and be on my way! Except . . . there’s another one of those pesky dialog boxes. What did I do wrong this time? Oh. I see. It wants me to confirm my action. Not sure how I feel about this one – I think it’s unnecessary step.

Step 5: Ah ha! Here’s my payment screen, and doesn’t it look pretty and simple. I enter the relevant information and then I press the “Submit” button and I’m pleasantly surprised to have a very straightforward payment confirmation screen – no extra, superfluous steps like with MyCheckFree! Wow, I was seriously not expecting it to be that easy, but like I said, I’m pleased. And I’m even given a link back to “My Payments” so I can double check or edit my payment if I need to.

Huge improvement, TEP! And thanks, Michael the webmaster, for letting me know this was available for use instead of MyCheckFree! My only complaint, really, is the dialog boxes. They’re a little unexpected, and I’m not sure why they are from the browser instead of the application itself – perhaps that would make them less jarring? All in all, I’m now a much happier customer and not just because my bill was way lower this month thanks to the change in temperature.

• An Open Letter to American Express (from Cracked.com) – This falls into the category of “you can’t be serious!” Read about the atrocious customer service this guy got from American Express.
• Now Hear This: Happy Customers = Evangelists (from promodiva.com) – I personally love hearing about this when it happens. Heck, I love it when it happens to me (like with CarMax)! Have you ever become a fan for life because you were just wowed by the customer service you received. Learn how SiriusXM made some already loyal customers into brand evangelists.
• How many times can you alienate a customer in one interaction? (from Customer Service Stories) – Stories of lost baggage and airline customer service (usually the lack thereof) are a dime a dozen nowadays.  But there are definitely some that still stand out as outrageous. Find out how many times Barry Dalton gets alienated by USAirways when trying to track down his luggage.
• Twitter: the killer app for customer service (from Church of the Customer Blog) – How did AT&T manage to impress this blogger with customer service? I think the first line of the post says it best: “Hello, this is Sam Kaufman from the AT&T Internet Executive Office, and I am calling about your tweets.”

Do you have a rant or rave to share? Let me know in the comments or by emailing me at sara@customerserviceftw.com.

Anyone who lives in Southern Arizona knows that wiper blades don’t last very long in the summer heat. And if you’re lucky smart, you’ll think to get them replaced before the first summer monsoon storm hits. A few years ago – I wasn’t. So, off I went to the nearest Checker, driving as fast as I dared (25 mph) because pouring rain plus shot wipers equals less than stellar visibility. Finally inside Checker, I asked the sales guy what type of wipers I needed for my car, expecting that I’d pluck them off the shelf and put them on myself. While the clerk was looking up things in the computer, I started the mental argument with myself about whether I should brave the ride home to put on the wipers or if I should get soaked in front of Checker so I could drive home safely. But before I could even answer myself, the sales clerk had the wipers in his hands and was motioning for me to follow him outside. I stood under the almost non-existent overhang and watched in awe as the man changed my wipers for me (and in less than two minutes, I might add!). Now that’s service!

But the above story is not why I’m a Checker fan for life. Nope. That was just icing on the cake, so to speak. My undying devotion for this auto parts store (yes, I just said that) came the night I was stranded 2 hours away from home in a city I didn’t know all that well with a faulty (brand new!!!) alternator. (One that, I might add proudly, my sister and I installed ourselves.) I managed to putt-putt the car to the nearest auto parts store – oh, how thankful I am that there was one close by! It was 8:55 pm and Checker was closing at 9:00 pm. The friendly guys there stayed past closing time to help me with my problem. I won’t mention that the alternator was from AutoZone and that the guys pulled the AutoZone sticker off of it and switched it out for free (surely not their policy to swap a part from a competitor). I also won’t mention that they let me borrow their tools so I could replace it myself in the dark (don’t know their policy on letting pseudo-customers borrow really expensive tools). And I certainly won’t tell you that, two minutes later, the guys were outside with a flood light, replacing the dang thing for me (I’m dead certain that’s against their liability policy – working on a customer’s car). I’m not telling you all this because I don’t want anyone to get in trouble . . . not that I remember their names or the location.

But seriously, how’s that for service?! You can’t beat that. Like I said, above and beyond.

Have you had an Above and Beyond experience you want to share? (I doesn’t have to be about an auto parts store, really!) Tell me in the comments or write to me at sara@customerserviceftw.com!

Before writing my post, I did complain via TEP’s website survey, and I got a quick and courteous response from the webmaster, Michael Beard. I mentioned in the survey how unhappy I was with the e-bill feature and told him to expect a nice long letter detailing my complaints. By this time, despite the reply I got from Michael, I was intent on writing what is now one of my first blog posts. Well, he took it in stride and also managed to solve my problem – all within 36 hours of posting my open letter.

Much to my surprise and delight, there is a different e-bill feature that I can use… and has been for three years. The less-than-helpful MyCheckFree is a legacy feature. And I couldn’t be happier to be through with it!

Here are the emails I got from Michael yesterday and today (posted with his permission):

Sara,

Thank you for sending that link. I’m sorry for the problems that you detailed in your letter, but the information was quite helpful. As you pointed out, that site is MyCheckfree.com, and that’s how they present a billing page for all companies who use their service. That’s one of the reasons we switched to a different provider about 3 years ago. If I had seen this information a while ago, I would have suggested then that you cancel TEP e-bill and, if you’d be willing after that bad experience, re-enroll and try the new service. It’s much more user-friendly and intuitive, and it even looks like our site.

If you are using CheckFree’s services for any other bills, you might not want to cancel TEP e-bill since then you’d end up going to more than one site to pay your bills. If, however, your TEP bill is the only one on the CheckFree site, I highly recommend that you cancel, wait a month as a double-check that everything pending is clear, and then re-enroll. I’m sure you’ll find the new provider much better.

Let me know if you’d like to pursue canceling e-bill, and I’ll work with Customer Service to get that done.

Sincerely,
Michael Beard

and

Good morning,

Since we are already talking about this issue, there is no need to push the request anywhere else. Consider it under way! I will contact Customer Service and ask them to cancel your current TEP e-bill enrollment. I’ll also ask them to let us both know when your next billing cycle is coming up. As I mentioned before, we don’t want to miss anything. After your next bill is generated, you can then sign up once more for the e-bill program. Note that you won’t need to do anything with your Account Manager registration. You’ll still be able to log in as before while you’re “off” the e-bill program. What you’ll see is that the “View/pay bill” button will say “Sign up for TEP e-bill”. Just wait until you get your next bill in the mail, then click that button, and you’ll be on your way with the newer provider.

There is only one program, TEP e-bill, so it would be a bit confusing once you know that there is an old, legacy, provider and a newer one. That’s just because we have one paperless billing option. We are in the process of redesigning the entire Account Manager section, and when it is implemented it will include a button/link to check out the new e-bill system. We have already worked out the mechanics of it so that if a customer decides to switch, all they need to do is click a button. No need to go through the manual process you and I are working out at the moment. As a side note, the reason we couldn’t just mass migrate everyone to the new program is that CheckFree offers more biller enrollments on their site, and switching everyone would have caused a huge problem for anyone paying other bills through them. It has to be customer choice.

Feel free to post my response. You had a very bad time of it in the past, so showing resolution would be great!

I have a few things going on this morning, so I’ll send in the request to Customer Service about your e-bill enrollment as soon as I get back.

Sincerely,
Michael Beard

and finally . . .

Hello again,

Our customer care folks are really good, and quick. I received word back from them that they not only turned off the CheckFree link, but they already switched you over to the new provider. Excellent!

As you navigate around in there, please let me know if you have any questions. There are different options as part of the overall e-bill system, so feel free to contact me with questions. Also keep in mind that we are working on a re-build of Account Manager, which will also affect how this newer e-bill system looks and works.

Take care,
Michael Beard

Thank you, Michael and TEP for being responsive. I haven’t checked out the new system yet, but I’ll be sure to give you my evaluation of it!