Lee Valley Customer Service

The direction this thread has taken reminds me of a line I heard recently from a stand-up comic:

'A friend and I got into an argument over the meaning of "semantics." '

Mike

Here's a LV example. A few weeks back we replaced all the knobs in our kitchen. I bought several different ones to take home and choose from.

When I returned them and bought the 24 of our choice, the LV employee at the till forgot to credit the returns (about $10).

When I got home from work the next day, there was voice mail from her describing the error and asking me to call her back and let her know how I wanted the refund dealt with.

Customer service, customer satisfaction.

I visited a farm once. The farmer had the bull service the cow. After seeing what the bull did to the cow, I was wary of any salesman saying their company gives good customer service.

Aw, you're just afraid it would be a lot of bull!

:)

Vic

I spent 7 years as a Service Representative in what you call a "Customer Service" department, so I am quite familiar with the functions of such a department.

For the past 19 years I've performed these functions, also. Installation and repair, residential, small and large business, data circuits, and cable repair. Each job involves a phone call to the customer to verify the need for the visit and confirm access, a knock on the door, an explanation or discussion of the work needed and completed, and often a follow up call to verify customer satisfaction. I and my coworkers are probably the only company "faces" our customers will ever see.

Apparently, by restricting "customer service" to your office workers, your company is missing out on providing service to your customers. Ask Robin Lee if the guy in the shipping department is any less responsible for providing good "customer service" than the guy who takes the order. The order taker simply promises the service. It is the shipping clerk that delivers the service. Both are necessary to satisfy the customer.

Fortunately my company recognizes this. So much so that I am not called an installer, a repairman, or a lineman. My title is "Customer Services Specialist", because my job is not primarily to repair, or install phone lines to provide dial tone, but to provide service to the customer.

You missed my point. I'm saying that one common definition of "customer service" is a specific job description. Sure, we all contribute directy or indirectly to customer's satisfaction.

-Steve