Dalton Daily Citizen
DALTON —
In the first half of my column on my Dalton State College quality management systems class quality “problems” project, I discussed the situations that companies did not resolve.
In the good repair or good company categories, a student’s ceramic top for her scented candle wax warmer was cracked in the glazing. She noticed it on her first use. The company immediately replaced the part but she agreed the Web site lacked complete instructions for returns and could be improved.
Students continue to enjoy fast food and eating out so a number of complaints continued to focus on food quality and service. A student who is fond of a local branch of a national chain restaurant was distressed with the slow service he received from one server in particular. She was slow to bring their soft drinks and another server ended up waiting on them and bringing their food. The first server only returned to bring their checks. After he described the server, several other students in class knew her and had a similar story. The student needed his receipt and various store numbers and times to make a comment online and we all agreed it was important to save all purchase receipts and paperwork.
An area ethnic restaurant with three locations in both Georgia and Tennessee was the site of my student’s Mother’s Day dinner. To her group’s surprise the waiter was drunk even though the city has no alcohol sales. It was obvious he continued to drink and the waiter also gestured to women. They left and did not order. Several months later they returned some 20 minutes prior to closing and they were not served. Their third and final trip to the restaurant was met with loud, vulgar music. When the group complained the owner did not respond and continued to watch a soccer game. She returned to talk to the owner about the problems but he would not respond. Finally, she wrote a letter about the bad experiences and had it translated as well. It is interesting that customers will give you multiple chances to correct problems but at some point, they will defect.
One particular fast food provider was the source of two complaints. One student stopped in for a quick snack before her exercise class and found the cashier with her hand wrapped in paper towels covering honey mustard on her palm. The cashier prepared her drink, returned her credit card and prepared her food with her burned hand. My student’s food was cold. Her final letter from the manager was misspelled, typed in all caps and was a poorly written letter, even though she received a gift card for a future visit. A second student visited the same location and found it dirty, the cashier rude and the food both cold and bad. She initially complained online and received a call from the general manager and a $20 gift card which was far in excess of her initial $7 purchase. However her letter too had misspelled names and words that distracted from the intent.
Another restaurant packaged a student’s meal to go. At home she found a hair in her mashed potatoes. They offered a letter of apology and mentioned they were sorry for her less than optimal experience and did not mention the incident directly. We agreed this was a good way to handle the problem and all noted this was likely to happen at one time or another. A gift card for a return meal was a satisfactory conclusion to this issue.
Another student’s wakeboard for skiing had binding that came apart after their first trip to the lake. She called the manufacturer and they immediately divulged it probably “dry rotted” in the warehouse. Her suggestions were to provide better warehouse storage or keep fewer inventories of the products. Even installing a manufacturing date code would be helpful. However, since the manufacturer immediately could identify the problem, more of their efforts should be devoted to a solution to the problem.
An online DVD rental service that mails movies to customer’s homes angered the student who was initially pleased with the company during the free two-week initial trial period. On her plan, movies were delayed, damaged or not received at all. She believed the company used the “bait and switch” with her and she was penalized for being a heavy user. Online she learned that companies use a practice of “throttling” where they delay sending movies to heavy users since they do not make as much money on them and often may lose money on postage charges for these customers. She agreed the small print and legal disclaimers should divulge this practice more clearly.
An airline employee was rude to a student’s spouse who checked in at one of the frequent flyer lines. The rude clerk gave no greeting, argued with the customer and suggested he join the proper line next time even though he had recently reached the frequent flyer status and had been mailed a card as proof. His response from the airline offered an apology and a $50 credit on the next flight.
A local cell phone provider distressed a student for the poor service in her area. Her response letter resulted in a $25 credit to her account but she was less than happy when she also received a card from the company for additional services she might like but later learned these services were not even offered in her coverage area. She plans to switch carriers at the end of her contract.
A student’s complaint about moldy cheese from a big box retailer was promptly handled with a letter and coupon for a new cheese product and the letter offered several issues that might have led to the moldy cheese still within its date range including perhaps improper temperature, handling or a small tear in the packaging. We all agreed the manufacturer should work with other supply chain partners to address these issues. His letter also had the wrong salutation addressing the student as “Mrs.” Instead of “Mr.”
An electronic dog fence purchased from an online auction was missing batteries in the package though there was clearly a vacant space in the packaging for them. The student contacted the manufacturer and was immediately mailed two replacement batteries.
A student downloaded a popular music software but the update would freeze, he could not update the program and the repair steps did not help. He spent over two weekends working with the help desk on the issue and following online suggestions. Sometime later his computer crashed and he ended up re-loading a working package of the software onto his new computer. He suspected part of this issue could have been his dying computer.
Three items made the “great” list this semester. The first were wool socks that performed well in wet, cold conditions for a student. A local dinner house restaurant was extremely courteous to a student group and they commended the manager in their letter. The final great product was an interval timer that was inexpensive but helped a student with interval training during the fitness routine.
Students commented at the end of the two days of presentations that a quick apology is best and they did not like the generic computer generated responses, even though they often arrived promptly. Managers who acknowledge the problem, offer an apology and then suggest steps they will take to prevent future problems were the highest rated by the class. As in their own work, spelling and grammar was important, particularly ensuring the customer’s name and salutation was correct. We can all learn from these examples both good and bad.
Marilyn M. Helms is the sesquicentennial chair and professor of management at Dalton State College and welcomes your comments at mhelms@daltonstate.edu or (706) 272-2600.
