Customer Service and the Bug
Letter
by Ron Kurtus (revised 5 April
1999)
When the customer pays for a product or service, it is assumed that the
product will work correctly or that the service received is as promised.
If there is a problem, the customer can complain and the problem will
usually be rectified through the company's customer service activity.
It is in the company's best interest to solve any problems and try to
make sure that they don't happen again. But in some companies this doesn't
happen. The following story is an example of one such business.
Story of couple on vacation
There is an old story about this couple who went on vacation and stayed
overnight at a well-known hotel. They had an uncomfortable night’s sleep
and woke to find their bed infested with bedbugs! They were naturally
outraged and vowed to write a nasty letter of complaint to the president
of the hotel, which they did when they got home.
Reply from president
Several weeks later, they received a reply from the hotel
president:
Dear Guests –
I was extremely disturbed to hear about your unfortunate experience
at one of our hotels. Let me assure you that I personally have looked into
the matter and have fired the person responsible.
We pride ourselves on having the best accommodations available, and
just the thought of allowing insects in any of our hotels makes my blood
boil.
Enclosed you will find a coupon allowing you to stay at one of our
hotels for two nights, free of charge.
Please, again, accept my sincerest apologies.
Yours truly,
Hotel President
Stuck to the letter was a note, that apparently was accidentally left
behind by the secretary. It said, "Mary – Send these people the bug
letter."
Complaints that fall on deaf ears
Have you ever experienced poor service or purchased a defective product
and complained about it, only to have your complaints fall on deaf ears?
Many companies that have plenty of business feel they don’t need to bother
with complainers. These businesses become very independent. Some continue
to succeed, even though they ignore customer complaints, but many pay the
price in the long run.
Apology mollifies customer
A company that responds and apologizes mollifies the complaining
customer. But some of these companies never rectify the problem, like the
hotel in the above story. The act of responding to the customer and
apologizing is good business. Not fixing the problem is risky, though, and
may backfire on the company.
Could be sued
The bug letter story originated some 30 years ago. In today’s
litigation crazed society, the hotel would have been sued for millions.
Perhaps that is not so bad, if it is a case of ignoring problems. But if
it was an honest mistake, such litigation can be destructive to the
business as well as to society. We all pay more for things, because
businesses must insure themselves against nuisance lawsuits.
In conclusion
If your business received a complaint from a customer, it is always a
good practice to answer the complaint with an apology. It is also good
practice to try to rectify the problem so that it won’t happen again. This
may not keep your business from being sued, but at least you are doing
your best to keep your customers happy and to avoid problems from
reoccurring.
What do you think?
Do you have any questions, comments, or opinions on this subject? If
so, contact me at [email protected]
with your feedback. I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Be
sure to state the title or subject matter, so I know what material you are
referring to.
Also, feel free to establish a link from your web site to pages in this
site.
Students and researchers:
The URL of this page is www.school-for-champions.com/totquality/bugletter.htm.
Please include it as a reference in your report, document, or thesis.
Also, tell a friend.
Where can you go from here?
- Also see:
- Tricks to Get Good Grades
- List Your School or Organization
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