Care

So, I did get a response from BBBY (Bed, Bath, and Beyond):

Thank you for bringing to our attention the issues you experienced with our customer service team in-store and online. We are truly disheartened to see that any one of our customers had such an experience. At Bed Bath & Beyond we strive to deliver excellent service, however, in this instance we fell short of our expectations. Please rest assured that we will use this example to retrain our staff, to ensure no customer receive this type of service again, because this is not acceptable for any of our customers, and especially not acceptable for Bed Bath & Beyond standards.

We see from the situation you described how it can leave the impression that "the entire corporate culture is callous", but nothing can be further from the truth. Our first and highest priority is to always take care of our customer. We take every customer feedback seriously and act quickly to ensure we improve how we deliver our services and make every effort to retain our customers. We would like the opportunity to resolve this matter to your satisfaction and keep you a satisfied Bed Bath & Beyond customer. We have the phone number you provided on your original email and I will contact you by phone tomorrow morning.

We sincerely apologize for the issues you experienced and look forward to speaking with you soon. Please feel free to contact me directly at [redacted]. I am in the office Monday through Friday from 8AM to 6 PM EST.

Best Regards,

Raj


See? That's what I wanted. I think any wronged customer would want that, that their complaint is heard and the company is taking corrective action.

I did reach out to Raj, and the phone conversation was a reasonable one. He told me his efforts to determine how things went wrong, and what he was doing to make them right.

After several missteps by BBBY, Raj made every corrective effort.

What were the missteps? That I asked to be treated as a person who wanted to do business with them: a customer, and instead of treating with respect, they processed into their workflow, and when the square peg (that is, me: a human being) didn't fit into their round hole, they tried to make me conform.

But I'm not a BBBY employee. I am a customer.

That's where they screwed up. "We didn't provide the service we said we would? Fill out this complaint form." "You filled out the form incorrectly [I didn't]. Fill out the complaint form again with the same information." They didn't want my business, they wanted to punch the ticket and move the work from the inbox to the outbox.

Raj, however, threw out the processing aspect of the business and met me, person to person, talked the situation over me and addressed my concerns directly.

Then he offered to change BBBY by adding an entirely new SKU so I could buy the items I was originally promised.

But the problem here for me was: what did I do the second I got out of my car at my house after BBBY showed me they weren't good for their word? I went right to the Yankee Candle online store and ordered the candles myself, like I should have done a week prior instead of getting in my car to get not 'no service' but the 'brush off.'

But what have I been harping about in these posts? I've been harping on 'diligence' and 'dignity.' I've been demanding BBBY employees do their job, for a change, and treat me with respect, for a change.

Raj did just that.

So what did I do when he asked for my credit-card information so he could place an order of Yankee candles for me? Did I give him the brush off? No.

No. I had made all these demands, and BBBY listened and followed through, exactly as I asked. So would I reward their diligence with what?

I do not Raj going back to report on this with a half-hearted response and a zero-result. I want him to go back to his boss with no reservation, knowing he did everything he could to make things right, and he did make things right.

Why?

Because, at the beginning of each day, I look into the mirror and see a man there, and ask him: did I do what I said I would? did I do what I asked others to do?

Today, I can say 'yes, I did.' Because, today, somebody in BBBY, and not just somebody, but Raj from eSupport said 'yes, I did,' too. I answered his 'yes' with mine.

Thank you, Raj. And thank you, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, for listening to me, and following through.

Endemic

So, here's the response from Bed, Bath and Beyond corporate:

"Dear Douglas, 

Thank you for taking the time to bring this matter to our attention. In instances such as this, the complaint is forwarded to the District & Regional Customer Service Managers for that particular store. However, we are unable to distinguish store location with the information provided. Please forward the exact street, city & state, so we can contact the Manager for that store along with your contact telephone number and a good time to call you. Once we receive this information, you will be contacted by the District Customer Service Manager within 24 - 48 business hours.

We truly apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have additional questions or concerns, feel free to forward your response via email or contact Customer Service by dialing 1-800-GO-BEYOND (1-800-462-3966).

Sincerely,

Kiara
Customer Service
Bed Bath & Beyond 

"

So, what's wrong with this response?

Nothing. It's business as usual. 'Kiara' did nothing outside of her job description.

She didn't read my complaint, for if she did, she surely would have seen the words 'Loisdale' and 'Bed, Bath, and Beyond' juxtaposed. I mentioned the word 'Loisdale' twice, in fact.

So if we go to google and enter 'Loisdale Bed Bath Beyond' we get the following top response:

Bed Bath and Beyond - Springfield, 6642 Loisdale Road VA 22150 ...

That took less than a second for me to do.

How hard was that, Kiara, to do your job with any diligence? You're welcome, by the way, for letting me do what you are supposed to do, as customer service.

Do you see how this is endemic? I got the same shoddy service from you as I did from your store representative. You didn't bother to read what I wrote, you just looked for checkboxes to fill, and when you saw that it wasn't exactly in the format you were expecting from me (an expectation you did not communicate a priori, by the way) you defaulted to 'well, I can't handle this, this is outside what I'm programmed to understand.'

You didn't care at all, nor exert one bit of effort.

My complaint is not (just) against your Springfield, VA 22150 location, it's against your entire corporate callous culture. Please remand to your C.E.O. to read, review, laugh at, and get on with his day. After all, he has a business to run: he doesn't have time to address the concern of a customer.

My contact information was in the original complaint. With my cell phone number and a good time to contact me. I'm not going to repeat myself because of lack of care or concern or competence on your part. Thanks.

Customer Focus

There are some things I don't like, one of them is being lied to, even if this lie is supposedly 'unintentional.'

I think that's what infuriates me more, is that these service people have no intentionality in their lives, and that shows up in their work.

So, today, I went to purchase some Yankee kindle candles. And I did my research, I found out that the Bed, Bath and Beyond was a Yankee Candle reseller, and I found the nearest location: on Loisdale road.

I called them to confirm that they had Yankee kindle candles in stock.

Emphasis mine.

The customer service rep responded right away and crisply. Yes, they have them in stock.

So, I get into my van, drive there, search the store.

What do I find?

Mmhm. Yes, we have no bananas.

So I go to a POS rep asking where can I find Yankee kindle candles.

Emphasis mine.

The rep pointed me to the Yankee candle section.

Not good enough. I tell him I've been to that section and could not find Yankee kindle candles.

Oh. Yankee kindle candles? That's different.

He refers me to the manager.

The manager sucks on his lip and says, after checking his inventory, 'We don't even have those in inventory, are they new?'

'Are they new?' is what I get.

I said I called in. I said I was informed they were in stock. He asked was it this store I called? Because other stores have more expansive inventories.

I gave the address and phone number of this store.

He apologized.

That was nice. An apology.

I got out of my house, into my car, and drove to Bed, Bath and Beyond, so I could not purchase the item I wanted, but instead get an apology.

He said he didn't know why the service rep would tell me they have Yankee kindle candles in stock without even checking inventory.

He didn't know why.

But I know why.

But do you see, Bed, Bath, and Beyond why an apology doesn't cut it? It cuts it for your manager, but not for me. I don't want, nor need, an apology. I wanted customer service, in that when I was told you have something in stock, you do, actually have that thing in stock.

What does your word mean? to you?

Because now, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, your word means nothing to me. You, through your representative told me you had something at the store I was going to, and you did not even have that ordered, nor in inventory.

You lost a customer today. You lost a guaranteed purchase, and all you needed to get my money was to actually back up what you said.

You didn't.

Why?

Here's why.

You don't listen, and you don't care.

When your service rep heard 'Yankee,' she stopped listening to everything else I said, even with my emphasis. Do you know why she stopped listening?

Because she's not 'customer focused,' she's not even focused at all. All she wanted to do was to get me off the phone and get onto the next thing.

So did she do due diligence? No. She didn't listen to what the customer was asking, and, then, even if she did listen (she didn't), she didn't even check inventory: a 1.75 second check (I watched the manager check: it took him precisely that long).

Bed, Bath, and Beyond: I am not even worth 1.75 seconds of your time.

I got the same (lack of) focus from your POS rep. I asked for Yankee kindle candles, all I got was a hand-wave to the section of the store I just came from.

You lost $50 in sales today, and a customer, because your representatives can't spare me 1.75 seconds, can't focus, and can't put any intentionality into their words.

Their words are your Word, and your word, for me, now means nothing, because what was said had no basis in truth.

Thank you for that.

Now, let's focus on some real customer focus.

Last week I was at the Ravensworth Safeway. I bought a bottle of wine. The POS rep was the MOD that day.

He was a huge, jovial man, just doing his job. If you've seen professional baseball players, this guy had that look: tall and built massively.

He asked for my id. Of course. Vendors are required to card when selling alcohol to people who look 30 or under.

I smirked, and handed him my drivers license.

He scanned it, then started to hand it back.

Then scanned it again. Then gave me a double-take, then a triple take.

We both started laughing at the same time.

"Wow! Whatever it is you're doing is really working!" he exclaimed.

And I was proclaiming delightedly how I just love it every time I'm carded.

This was probably the first time in his life he carded a man pushing 46, thinking he was in his mid-twenties.

But what happened?

To him, I was just another customer, and he was just pushing me, my order through the system, doing his job. But then, something happened, his expectations were subverted when he saw a young man (so he thought) buying alcohol, but found out this young man is nothing of the sort, and then he wanted to know about me.

Then he stopped treating me as an order being processed, he started treating me as a human being, and he reached out and connected with me: person, to person.

And it wasn't just me. As I was pushing my cart out, I saw him be relieved from the register, and he greeted an elderly couple, customers, by name and with a smile, and asked about their day.

And that: right there, was the real 'Point of sale.' That manager exemplified 'customer focus,' because ... intentionality? Yes, he showed it. He actually did focus on the customer right in front of him, and from those customers he did focus on, me, and that couple, he smiled and received smiled back.

It was a pleasure doing business with that man.

And what did that little bit of intentionality cost him?

Not a dime. In fact, I would go so far as to say he had a better, more productive day on the job, being (actually) customer focused and being intentional than the customer service rep I talked with at Bed, Bath and Beyond at Loisdale Road, who was probably trained to be 'customer focused,' but was she focused, and did she treat me as a customer? that is: a person with whom she wanted to conduct business with?

Was her day better, just trying to get by and blowing off people? Does she have high job satisfaction?

Is this what you wish to project as your image, Bed, Bath and Beyond?

Do you know what I prefer?

I prefer to be treated as a person. I prefer that when I ask you a question, I'm actually heard, and that the answer I'm given is actually correct.

And I will make that preference known by conducting business with companies that do that.

What was She thinking?

So, I was off to the post office to send of our home-schooling letter of intent for this year, when my cara spoza stopped me at the door:

Oh, get me some cranberry juice
... and some ice cream
... vanilla ice cream
... and some french vanilla yogurt

I informed her, half-way out the door, that she needed write me a shopping list. And, so, she did:The "Your L<3ve" is an on-going joke between us, for whenever she goes out on an outing, she unfailingly asks if I need anything, and my invariable answer is:

Yes: your love

so I guess she assumed that turn-about was fair play.

Queensbury rules, and all.

But let's ponder a moment here. We've been married coming up on 12 years now, so I put the question to you: "What was she thinking?" Really. She knows whenever I go out a shopping expedition ("Now, just get some orange marmalade, dear" "Yes, dear") I come back with possibly the requested item, but also at least, oh, one or two, or, oh, twenty-seven more things that, well, we have been longing for all our lives. She knows this; she knows it viscerally! So, as I see it, by her sending me out on a shopping quest for no more than three things is the red cape waved in front of the bull in a Royal Albert factory.

Duck and cover, people; duck and cover.

Actually, I was a good boy, I only purchased what she requested, but I wasn't sure which brand of cranberry juice would be to her liking, so I purchased two brands (Mama, can you believe the Safeway by the post office does not have Apple&Eve? That must be a sin!), and then I wasn't certain if she would also like to try the pomegranate juice, as I hear that has excellent medicinal and nutritive properties.

... and then I recalled that she was making hummus tomorrow (Beki's recipe), so I was sure that she'd like some falafel to go along with that (plunk went the "Near East" brand into the cart).

... and then she was making gnocchi with red sauce, and I remembered Nana's secret was to add 17 slices of prosciutto ("plunk") ... and then we had run out of nutella ("plunk-plunk") ... and she always loves making orange spritzers for the kids with ginger ale ("plunk") ... and I haven't had corned beef hash in a while, I'm sure she'd like to take a break from making breakfast this weekend ("plunk-plunk") ... and I haven't had Dasani water in such a long time, surely she wouldn't begrudge me this little additional purchase ("clunk").

Well, I did very well following the shopping list, so I went to the Swiss bakery to reward my prudence and picked up a couple of pieces of heaven apple strudel.

I drove home with the satisfaction that my cara spoza would be pleased at my moderation today.