I fully understand that I have an unreasonable expectation when it comes to customer service. Perhaps my views border on fanatical, but having been in the service industry for the better part of 30 years, I know what I give my customers.
Here is a situation that came up this weekend.
Ten years ago, Dec 2004, I bought a Unisaw from Delta. I have enjoyed the saw for that time and made a fair bit of saw dust. At the time, Delta was offering a rebate of $50 or one of several free tools. I submitted my paperwork, filed my copy away and promptly forgot about it. Of course as happens with so many rebates, it was never fulfilled. I came across the paperwork over the weekend and out of curiosity called the number on the application. The fulfillment company no longer does work for Delta, but I looked up the Delta number on line and called.
I talked with a lady who said that Delta at that time was owned by a different company and the current company had nothing to go from, had no responsibility and would not be able to help me.
OK, I cannot say they are wrong, from any and all viewpoints, except one. Namely customer service. If it had been me, I would have at least explored more about it and tried to do something. From my viewpoint, I don't care who owns Delta today, it is the brand, not the ownership. When it comes time to replace or add tools, will I buy Delta? Perhaps, but the likelihood is lower today than last Friday, for two reasons. One I understand better how often the ownership changes, and two, the current owners don't seem to care much. Who will stand behind a purchase in a year or two?
Again, perhaps I have unreasonable expectations, but service is service. An example is that in 2007 I bought a cabinet company and two years after I bought it, I had a guy stop in that had bought cabinets from the previous owner in 1999. The lacquer finish had worn off on the sink cabinet and didn't look the best. Plus of course the wood was going to start degrading. He asked what I could do for him. Short story is that I went to his house and removed the doors from the sink cabinet, plus the one on each side and took them back to the shop. We sanded them down, cleaned them up, then resprayed them. I delivered them back to him and he was very happy. When he asked what the bill was, I said 'No charge.' Was I right? Should I have charged him? I probably should have, but I knew that the previous owner had some lacquer issues and the cabs should have lasted longer. I felt that the right thing to so was not charge him. My cost was about $200 or perhaps a little more. From a customer service viewpoint, charging him was the wrong thing to do. From every other perspective, I should have charged him. It wasn't even the idea of him complaining to others as I don't think he would have done so, but how many people did he tell about the service he received?
I would love to hear others thoughts.