Spot on. I’ve had experiences with companies that are horrible, yet the customer service culture they have developed have made me wanting to come back, as the end result was a satisfied customer (me).

Example: I play the banjo, so I purchase strings all the time. I purchased a few packs from Martin (the guitar and string company) where some of the strings were too short and therefore useless. I wrote them a letter and enclosed the inferior product with the box.
Very quickly I received a letter from an executive in the company with 3 packs of strings (I had 1 package that was defective). The letter apologized for the mistake and explained the manufacturing process (they use a spool of wire miles long to make the strings, and a mistake is possible). He told me that the defective part would be sent to the quality department and thanked me for helping them to improve their product, etc.

Hitting the customer service nail on the head. I only buy Martin strings.

Orange you glad i didn’t say debit?

#3 is meant to respond to BofA marketing. BofA stated that the $5 per month charge is in response to Congress enacting the law limiting fees banks can charge merchants. Customers would read this and call their representatives and tell them to repeal the law. Long shot but remember, there are strategists out there that do this exact thing.

Keep the comments coming.

Don

In #3, wouldn’t consumers write congress and request a vote on reduced card fees for consumers?

I’ve heard only complaints about BofA’s service and charges, besides those who have been “grandfathered” in from the days of Fleet Bank. I’ve been with Liberty Bank (large CT footprint) for 9 years, and their excellent service and customer care (no crazy fees) will keep me a customer for years to come.

Keep the posts coming!

Thank you for the articulate response. However, I think you might have missed some of the post.

1. I was on vacation and needed to get something to my business. I am not in the habit of carrying Fedex envelopes with me all the time.
2. Why have Fedex drop boxes with shipping supply compartments if you are not going to stock them?
3. From there, I could have driven to Meriden or Hartford or Memphis to ship , but Fedex has boxes for their customer to make it easier. However, what if I get to Meriden and they are out of supplies as well?

I am not bashing Fedex, but using this example to prove a point to executives and managers. You can have a great product and a great brand, but if you lose sight of the details (like customer service), then your customers will go somewhere else. USPS has a similar product for less money. I am sure that if customers cannot ship by Fedex, they will walk into the post office and ship that way.

I read a story once about a restauranteur that opened a new restaurant. He marketed his restaurant and spent lots of money getting people in the door. But he skimped on the waitstaff training and service was horrible. Customers never came back.

Keep up the posts. Any other suggestions?

Don

And all this complaining because you couldn’t drive to Meriden where there was a shipping center? I use to live in Madison and drive all the way to Branford to guarantee my shipment. Lesson learned – keep some envelopes on hand. Do you feel more comfortable dropping off an important document at the post office or a random mail box?

Also – normal drop-off times are around 1600, as late as 2100. Not sure why there was a time crunch. In that 2 hours that you were looking for drop boxes you could have driven all the way to at least 3 FedEx shipment centers.

I’m very happy with FedEx, but with over 3 million packages sent a day and twice that during peak there may be a few missteps along the way. I appreciate you going the extra distance for the next guy (very few folks do), but bashing FedEx for something so minor and avoidable is a misuse of your skills.

Also – remember that FedEx works harder to please since each package has two customers: One sending and the one receiving.

Cheers,

- Roberto (Drinker of Purple Kool-Aid)