11 Great Lessons From Bad Customer Service

I had the worst phone in the world. I’m not kidding. It was a Samsung Galaxy Fame Lite. I should have known that a phone with that many words in its name was not to be trusted, but it was the best option available at the cell shop, and I thought it would, at least, have the essentials covered. Silly me. I was so wrong.

Immediately after unboxing, I knew I’d made a huge mistake. It felt like cheap plastic; it took forever to turn on, and once I started putting it through its paces (texts, maps, contacts, notes, etc.) it slowed to a crawl. Even using it as a phone – it’s primary function – was painful, as it took forever to pull up numbers and start dialing, and once a call was over it required several button pushes to hang up. It had all the trappings of a smart phone, but the frustration involved left me longing for the days of the more simple cell phone.

So I tried to return the stupid phone to the cell shop. The shop owner didn’t help much, basically dismissing my issues with a vague “sometimes phones just do this…maybe someone dropped it during shipping?” And no, he couldn’t do anything to fix the issue, and he didn’t take returns, so I had two options: buy another, more expensive phone from his shop and hope that it works better or cut my losses and walk out the door.

I walked out the door and decided never to go to that cell phone shop again.

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Bad Customer Service Is Bad

So, why am I sharing this story with you? Because it’s a great example of how a single faulty product or bad service experience can irreparably ruin a person’s relationship and opinion of a company or brand. You only have a small window of time and trust to win a new client; if they have a bad experience with your business or product during that short trial period, and you don’t adequately fix the issue, they’re leaving you for greener pastures.

How Can You Fix A Bad Customer Service Experience?

So what’s the best way for a business to respond and recover from a client’s bad experience? I’ve compiled X ideas for you to use next time you run into an upset customer who is ready to swear off your brand forever.

1. Apologize. Saying you’re sorry to a client for a faulty product or bad experience sounds like a common sense solution but, surprisingly, it’s often overlooked. Whatever you do to mollify an angry client, AT LEAST offer a sincere apology.
2. Don’t be defensive. Nothing sours an experience with a business more than when their response to a complaint is defensive – that reeks of immaturity and dishonesty. Be humble, accept the charge, don’t point fingers, pass the buck, or throw someone else under the bus. Not being defensive goes hand in hand with the next point…
3. Take responsibility. It might feel counter-intuitive to admit you’re in the wrong, but there are two clear benefits to accepting the responsibility for the problem: First, it increases respect for your brand. Some of my favorite experiences with brands happened when I had an issue with their product and they accepted responsibility. And second, the faster you take responsibility for the problem, the faster you’ll be able to move onto provided a solution and reframe the customer’s experience with your brand.
4. Offer to replace the product or repeat the service (just make it better this time, mmkay?). If you can, replace the faulty product with another that works perfectly (make sure of this; you don’t want to screw up a second time) or even an upgrade. Run a service-based business? Offer to perform the service again, but better and maybe with some extra perks thrown in. Is the client unhappy with the replacement offer? Well then…
5. Offer a refund. This is a simple idea, pretty much everyone who has ever served another human being knows about offering a refund. But let me add something to the concept (again, this should be common sense, but I’ve seen this enough to know it’s not): Never, ever, ever, ever, EVER appear hesitant when asked or offering a monetary refund. Do you want people to think you’ve stolen their money? Because seeming hesitant when refunding someone their money is a great way to make them think you want to steal keep their money. Avoid any accusations, both external or internal, and give the customer their refund with joy and enthusiasm.
6. Send a peace offering. Be it a handwritten card or a fruit basket (try to come up with something a bit more original, preferably), going the extra mile by sending something real, something material, lends sincerity to any verbal apology.
7. Be attentive. Initially after a client complaint you should spend as much time with them as necessary to fix the problem, but don’t stop there; Even after you’ve reached a satisfactory solution, you should remain attentive and check back regularly to confirm they are happy and offer any further assistance they might require.
8. When necessary, respond publicly. Due to the joys of modern technology and social media, a dissatisfied customer will often let you know they’re unhappy on a public forum (for example, by tagging you in a Tweet, posting on your Facebook page, or leaving a negative review on Yelp). When this happens…Hang on, let’s pause for a moment, I want to make sure this is understood: Do not…and this bears repeating…DO NOT respond publicly…EVER…if you cannot do so in a level-headed, appropriate, conciliatory manner. ONLY respond to a public complaint in kind if you know how to handle deftly the situation in a way that allows both you and the customer to save face. Trust me, using social media can make or break a business, so don’t approach it lightly. Got it?
   
   Okay, moving on…When your brand or company receives a public complaint on social media, carefully craft a tweet, comment, or review response that works to resolve the situation. If a complaint regarding your business is online, then it’s beneficial for the solution or compensation to also be visible so that everyone who is now aware of the problem is also aware of the solution and your (hopefully) excellent customer service.
9. If applicable, turn the complaint into an FAQ. If the client complaint is something that might happen again, like user error or unrealistic expectations, use the information they’ve provided to add to your company’s FAQs on your website. Hopefully, this will preemptively address any problems of the same nature and provide your clients with ready access to a solution.
10. Learn from the experience! Show your target audience you are not above admitting mistakes and turning them into a positive learning experience. It’s hard to admit an error, especially when you’re trying to project a competent business persona, but it’s worth far more to admit a mistake and learn from it than to deny it happened or respond inadequately.
11. PROACTIVE BONUS IDEA: Offer a guarantee. One of the main reasons a customer is hesitant to embrace your brand or company is due to worry that the product won’t be worth the value. When you offer a guarantee (like “100% refund within 90 days” or “If you don’t get the results we’re promising, our work is free”) the client will feel a lot less apprehensive and a lot less restraint in buying into what you offer.

A Bad Customer Service Experience Is An Opportunity

We’ve all had our share of bad customer service experiences. Hopefully, some of us have experienced the pleasure of a company that has worked hard to turn our perspective on them from negative to positive. It’s a cliche because it’s true: a customer’s bad experience is an opportunity for your business. An upset customer is a greater challenge, but if you apply the ideas above and work that much harder to turn their experience around and win them over, the reward is that much greater.

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And as for my Samsung Galaxy Fame Lite cell phone? I had it for almost a year (which was a miracle, as I can’t even tell you how many times I almost threw it onto the ground in raging frustration) before finally buying a new smartphone. And I still haven’t gone back to that cell phone shop.

Had a great or bad customer service experience? Please share what you learned in the comments below. And feel free to one-up me with your terrible phone stories (but I’m pretty darn sure mine was the WORST)!