Can You Say: Customer Service

I am telling you that American companies don’t know the meaning of customer service. I hardly doubt if they can even say it. So this is my customer service problem number 2. Problem one can be seen here regarding my mobile company, Verizon Wireless.

So who are we dealing with today?? Sears‘ Electronics Department, Peoria, Illinois. If you ever need to buy electronics (DVDs, TV, video games, etc) DO NOT buy it from Sears.

So we have Pooja Didi’s wedding VCDs that we wanted to watch since we got them, and we couldn’t because our Sansui DVD player did not read VCDs (read about it here). Found out that Apex DVD players reads VCDs and Sears had it for sale @ $36. Great deal. Saturday, 14th August, I went to Sears – got my Apex DVD player. So then we started watching them — didn’t get to watch all of them. That following Tuesday (17th August), we had a horrible storm (read about it here). Since that day, the Apex DVD player wouldn’t power on and one of the VCD’s was now stuck in it. Last Thursday (19th August), I took it into Sears and told him my problem. Ted, this old guy that was helping me, said that,

“Oh ya, we have a service technician in the back, he will get the DVD out for you and we will call you as soon as its done.”

He had me write down my contact information and wrote that the VCD is stuck in the player and that we want that back. Until then, he gave me a new Apex DVD player. Ted also said that the DVD player was going to stay in the store – it won’t be sent anywhere. So far no problem because he was going to get me my VCD plus I have a new player.

New player is working fine. Wednesday, Kavita and I had gone to Sears so that I could ask about the VCD. Ted was not there and the service technicians had already left so the sales associate said to call Thursday (yesterday). I called yesterday and talked to the service technician and he says, “Mam, there is no Apex DVD player with your name here, if anyone did leave it back here, its now been sent to the central repository. There is no way that you are going to get that VCD. ” WHAT?!? But Ted had said that it wasn’t going to go anywhere. So now I am becoming an unhappy customer. We went back and forth and he checked again, no luck. He said that we will talk with Ted. After ten minutes of me being on hold, Ted comes on the line and says that he left the DVD player in the back and now its gone. If someone picked it up then they sent it to the central repository and they can’t do anything for me. I am VERY upset by now. I told him that i want to talk to the store manager.

Tranferred to the store manger and boy, did I tell him. He was understanding and even asked what he could do for me? I asked him,

“You tell me what you can do for me?”

He retorts that he can’t really do anything because the VCD is irreplaceable. I told him that I am glad that he understands that but this is NOT how you run a business or the way to treat your customers with false information (I had no clue that they would send it somewhere else). I voiced my opinion in hopes that this doesn’t happen to anyone else.

American companies need to understand the value of customer service, which is emphasized in business schools (especially in my university) but it seems once you are out in the “real world” everybody seems to forget. I told the store manager that that VCD might be worthless to him, but to my family it had major sentimental value. Yes, I can tell Raju Bhayia in India to make me another one, but its the principle. If that’s how you are going to treat your customers — I am definitely going to take my business elsewhere.

So read it here – Sears Electronics is not the place to go for your electronic needs. Shop at better stores such as:

American
Circuit City
K Merchandise (where we bought our big screen TV recently)
Best Buy

where they RESPECT their customers and their needs.

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.