Excellent Customer Service

for a few days now I've been trying to get a part for a piece of machinery here in WA.
Only place I could find it was a wholesalers and they wouldn't sell it to me and that was the end of their story and the phone is hung up by them. it was a case of order it from a retailer and probably pay WA top dollar. STUFF THAT.
so happy googling I go and where do I get it from, Hoppers Crossing in Victoria. Now here's the good bit, instead of emailing back and forwards, I get a phone call from the retailer in Vic to make sure we are talking about the same thing, that is good customer service and the price is cheap.
People wonder why I only shop online now and never buy in WA , well I tell them coz they find it hard to believe, until they check it out themselves.
call this a whinge if you like but I've had a gutfull of the WA motto and attitude, "give me ya money and bugger off".

Here's some more trivia about the quality of WA customer service.
before xmas just gone, mate of mine got run of the road by an idiot driver coming around a corner. to get out of the way, he had to mount the curb, the old fashioned high curb type.
it damaged his muffler and a section of exhaust pipe. He bought the parts but found 2 mounting nuts on the old stuff wouldn't come off. did the CRC and WD40 thing and soak them but they still wouldn't budge. so he does a ring around, no one is interested as he didn't give it to them to fix.
He finds one business who will do a quick job to cut the nuts off with a gas axe. $120 for a 1 minute job.

I buy a new 2DIN radio, CD player, bluetooth, GPS and all the bells and whistles and a new GME TX3120S CB radio. I did the ring around thing and couldn't find anyone in the Perth Metro who would fit it all. they wouldn't touch it. I can only guess why, coz I didn't buy it from them.
Only found one business in the Fremantle area who will fit it all regardless of where I bought the gear, coz they will make money by fitting it all and you get a warranty with the fitting.

I could also go on about a certain Australia wide electronics retailer who try to con people until they get their ar*e kicked by the Consumer Laws but I'll leave that for another day.

Bignuggs wrote:for a few days now I've been trying to get a part for a piece of machinery here in WA.
Only place I could find it was a wholesalers and they wouldn't sell it to me and that was the end of their story and the phone is hung up by them.  it was a case of order it from a retailer and probably pay WA top dollar.  STUFF THAT.
so happy googling I go and where do I get it from,  Hoppers Crossing in Victoria. Now here's the good bit, instead of emailing back and forwards, I get a phone call from the retailer in Vic to make sure we are talking about the same thing, that is good customer service and the price is cheap.
People wonder why I only shop online now and never buy in WA , well I tell them coz they find it hard to believe, until they check it out themselves.
call this a whinge if you like but I've had a gutfull of the WA motto and attitude, "give me ya money and bugger off".

     

Sounds like you are on top of it

I lived in Hoppers for 20 years

Seems to be the way these days, some businesses are way too focussed on the sale of products rather than follow up customer service particularly when something goes wrong, of if they do give you some help they want to you.

It seems that they are all big on talk of loyalty by the customer to them but they have no intention of being loyal back to you in return, one business that I have decided to back away of from dealing with after many years and spending many thousands of dollars with needs to realise that in todays world they are not the only people that we can buy stuff from.

Many items that we buy and use in our hobby are available online and for the same price as being sold off the shelf in the shop can be posted right to your door, for some reason these businesses are oblivious to the online market place and could better serve themselves by becoming more in touch, and lifting there game as far as being loyal back to the paying customers that do actually go into the shop to buy from them.

And for another thing from where some of us live its a 100k round trip that has costs of fuel and time involved, so they need to be aware of the fact that our loyalty to them has a cost to us, so if they are not interested in doing the right thing then its only a matter of time before you just stop going there and go somewhere else.

Also I would just like to add that businesses that do the right thing need to be supported but businesses that don't also need to be advertised to others so that they can avoid them, bad service and poor customer support should not be rewarded by continuing to deal with them.

They reckon it costs about ten times more to attract new customers to a business than it does to retain existing ones.

au-fever

Apart from our local Bunnings, Sunday Markets, Op Shops & an Auto Shop for garden and vehicle service goods almost all purchases are on line now.
Delivered to the door for anything up to 50% discount.
Just one recent example;
Needed a CO2 cylinder for an inflatable life jacket, went to several local outlets.
"No sorry don't stock that one, no won't get one in!"
Finally found one, $40.00.
Went home checked on line, the exact same one was in the letter box (ex NSW) three days later, $17.90.
So yes agreed support local if they in turn support you.

In Bunnings looking for some of those tiny sanding drums for a Dremel. Got none in stock and price is $8.90 for 5 sanding drums. Bunnings say they'll have some in ten days. I wait. Back to Bunnings in ten days. Still none in stock. They ring other stores and they haven't got any. But "they'll have some in ten days". I'm a shareholder so I figure I'll give 'em another chance as I wasn't in a rush for the sanding drums.

Go back ten days later and they tell me they had ONE packet sent to them by their buyers and that was sold the day before. We're now over a month waiting.

I get on eBay. A Chinese site is selling the same thing - 100 in a packet for $15.90, free freight ex-Hong Kong. They arrived in 5 days. I bought two packets of different grades and Bunnings won't need to bother trying a bit harder anymore.

Go on Cliff get it all off your chest now.

sandgroper wrote:Go on Cliff get it all off your chest now.

OK I will coz ya gotta love WA
I needed a small metric set of sockets and spanners.  someone recommended the Bahco S106 set as being reasonable.
Quoted $398 in Perth.  Take it or leave it.  I left it  
Same set on Ebay from QLD $237.40 and free postage.   $160.60 saved and it's not needed urgently.

Bignugs, I can't agree with you more. It's very difficult to find any sort of personal service these days. One time you personally knew the person who pumped your fuel or packed your groceries.

The thing is that it has to go both ways. Now days we are not loyal to our suppliers either. We shop around because there are so many options within easy reach. We can't really expect our suppliers to treat us nicely when we call for a price and then jump online and buy it for 20% less somewhere else. The problem is that we don't want to wait because we don't have to but we expect our trusted supplier to prepay his stock and keep it sitting on the shelf waiting for a sale and then he has to compete on price.

We used to be the exclusive Australasian supplier of a line of automotive parts. This allowed us to mark the price up to cover the cost of $200,000 worth of stock that we had already paid for sitting on the shelf. Once the average customer became internet savvy we were left with our supplier expecting us to support the local customers by holding the stock while they went and purchased online. I would still get the same amount of calls for technical assistance and parts quotes but missed out on the sales. There is no way I could compete with online prices because I had prepaid for the components and freight sometimes years before and I had to apply 10% GST.

I can't blame my once loyal customers for shopping online but I felt used when they continued to call for prices and assistance. I do most of my shopping online now as well.

yep just love being in small business--god help me.
I've had my fair share of arguments with idiots who rub me up the wrong way..
even had a fight in the front of the workshop---i was ok --he was limping away with a sore jaw,throat and sore gonads...then he yells 'i'm going to the cops' see u and he never ever returned.

i try to please every one especially the women folk coz u know they have been sent on a mission with explicit orders....but all good.

even in the detecting game we have 1 dealer chopping the shite out of deals just to get a sale...sooner hes gone the better i reckon.
Its hard enough to make a dollar let alone put up with a hard day at the office.

to tell u the truth --i would gladly go prospecting for a few bucks than try to make a few bucks in the retail trade coz now the internet is making it even harder to be competitive....

regards
oneday

I have to feel for the average guy with a small business/shop.
People go to them, get all this free assistance and then go home and buy whatever was recommended to them online.
The local guy who has to pay rent and staff is unlikely to be able to match the online prices, but I think if you want the assistance and some help when buying a product you should buy locally. Also if something goes wrong, I would much rather be dealing with a person over the counter rather than someone at the end of an email.

I do understand that costs have to be covered.  Ya got freight charges, postage, insurance, rent and ya profit margin but, I saw RED when the difference was $160
if it was half that, I would have bought local instead of buying online.
BUT, the saga of poor customer service continues.
I've just found out that the Perth depot of a Australia wide freight service has had goods of mine sitting at their depot since last Friday and the bastards have made no attempt to deliver.
Give me strength and another beer.  the bull* that consumers are expected to put up with can drive you insane.

Cheers and more beers coz I bloody need it      

PS.  Ray, you might get your goods by the end of the month but don't hold ya breath  

i'm in no hurry.

regards
oneday

actually i'm very patient---especially with those that walk in here scantly dressed.

are yes agree agree and agree
the world is a different place, we are all guilty of giving someone a raw deal at some point. it's just not nice when your on the other side of the fence.
people have changed with the times and for the worse no doubt, not many give a shite anymore apart from a minority off old timers that grew up when the world was real and those who had that type of attitude drilled into as youngsters.
I won't ramble but my opinion is wouldn't it be nice to wind the clock back to the 80's except for Mr Keating's 18% interest rates. people were real, life was affordable, freedom of speech was applicable and customer service was in place and a punch on was just that not king hits and freaking knives etc.
but guess what that's not going to be happening, things will only get worse
oh for the bush life !!
jase

Totally agree Jase, but I do know of a few younger people that have the morals and surprisingly most come from a bush background

oneday wrote:i'm in no hurry.

regards
oneday

actually i'm very patient---especially with those that walk in here scantly dressed.

Especially when they bend over to check the tyres eh, Ray.

Yep, I've succumbed to the internet I must admit. Just had some time off stuck at home and gave the on-line tackle shops a hammering, spent a lot but saved a sh*tload more than going to BCF etc!

I don't mind paying a reasonable price but I hate getting ripped off. There is one exception though, and that's my corner deli. I go out of my way to buy something there on a semi-regular basis - even though it costs more than the local supermarket.

I remember the convenience of the local hardware before it shut - same thing, more expensive than the Bunnings of the world - but when you break that drill bit or need those couple of selftappers - the convenience factor is priceless.

There's no way I could work seven days a week, but they do. Look after your corner shops if you have em!

Stingray

Good point stingray, my mate spends a small fortune at his small local tackle shop, gets great service but pays a premium price. The owner of the shop told him about a bloke that came into the the shop,looked around and started to rant about how he could buy the same stuff much cheaper online....then walked out without buying anything.

A few weeks later the same guy returns and asks if his young son could get some work experience in the shop !......the owners reply.....TRY ONLINE

I recently purchased some bits for my hilux after market seat,the cost around $60, I asked for the parts to be sent by post to my PO box.....nooo that was toooo hard, it came by courier to Adelaide then freight truck to Kangaroo island,sat in the freight depot for a week cause they were to lazy to ring me.......cost ? $64
The parcel weight was under a kilo and about A4 size
No wonder a bloke drinks!

Customer Service -

so somebody wants a quote for electrical work after searching online for a local electrician, finds a quoting site (on gumtree) advertizing free quotes given, so they post "I need electrical installation some lights" or "I need an air conditioner they bought installed but want someone to come out to look at at job 1st".
The quoting site (on gumtree) who advertizes free quotes given, then charges me nearly $1000/yr to be on their data base and charges me between $1 - $23per to give the quote lead customers contact details before I see or even get the job and often I'm asked for a fixed cost 1st.
I pay the money, get the phone number, then I contact them as requested and then they say they already have someone... WTF. or they start asking questions all of a sudden, don't want you to spend your time to give them a 'free' quote or cut the size of the job asked for... because they are cheap!

I'm all for shopping around, but I absolutely hate deception.

Little did they know if they called me direct, I would have came over to see there job, suggest the right gear to get, pick it up and install it as we use to do before the internet.

The net is full of leaches. Marketing companies, Chinese importers screwing retailers. Don't get me started on labour hire companies, who screen the right employees for jobs who have no idea who they are looking for except for a often illegal discriminatory or unrealistic criteria list. You may have over 20 years experience, have 3 trades but will miss out on a job because they would rather pay a 25yr old minimum rates to maximize their profit margin on hourly rates before they approach an employer.

Just rang the freight mob.  Where's my goods ? They don't know.
But maybe it will now be delivered on Monday  
It's only been sitting in Perth since last Friday, What have they done with it  ??
TFIF and I think a complaint against that freight company is about to be lodged  
You gotta stand up and be counted, don't be treated like an idiot.
I've waited long enuff. time to have another whinge about service.
The operator from the freight company was going to hang up on me coz I called them "useless bastards".  
No one cares anymore.  But I do  

Cliff, I agree with you totally, if you don't speak out, you are letting them get away scot free.
Overpriced items, bad service, it's getting worse all the time.

Here's a little bit of trivia. The freight company I'm dealing with, won't let me pick up my goods from their depot.
It has been consigned as door to door delivery but as you can see, they can't deliver.
I will only name the company via PM, I don't need to get sued but I will be making a complaint under the WA consumer laws.
But I will say this, don't look at the stars. you might get blinded by bullsh*te.

I asked a local repairer for his opinion on an issue with a machine I bought that I am not so familiar with, after running it he told me that the cost to fix it would be about $1500, being that this is about what I paid for it I wondered if it would be worthwhile or should I just strip it down and assess it myself and have a crack at the repair.

He asked me if I would like him to do some checking and come back to me with a firm price so I decided yes ok do that and we will take it from there, on a later call back to me he gave me the price of $1000 firm, all new parts and labour, gst, etc included, so I am thinking well that's better than $1500, but I still had the uneasy feeling about the bloke and particularly about the way he kept telling me how honest he was and how keen he is to do the right thing by people. and tried hard to get me to agree to the $1500 in the first instance.

As it turned out a mate came over yesterday and I told him what I was doing and he asked who the bloke was, as it turned out he new the guy and told me he was a prick and a , he had bought a new machine off the guy and he tried to charge him $450 for the first service after 20 hours, and another mate got a price off him for a machine and it was $1600+ more than he bought the very same make and model for somewhere else, he warned me to avoid the guy and told me that even if he was going to charge $1000 for the job he quoted me on he was still going to be shafting me

So the moral of the story is to trust your instincts, if you feel that they are not being honest with you then ask around and do some homework and research and you could save yourself some serious money, the other issue is that if someone is squirmy and evasive about giving a quote then you can bet your ass that when you go to pick the job up you will find that it will cost you more than quoted and they will give you some lame excuse about finding other issues that pumped the cost up.

The best thing you can do when you encounter one of these blokes is to make sure that you tell your mates and people you know who might consider dealing with them.

au-fever

u must remember a quote is only a quote and its not a definite cost--its a ball park figure--I usually tell the customer to allow 10% either way just to be sure or on most occasions I ring them up and tell them the situation.

Mind u there are numerous occassions that I havent charged for all my labour and sundry items.

With the price of oil going down by some 60% --i get a newsletter from a tyre supplier to tell me the price of tyres are going up 3.5%--go figure.

regards
oneday

ok, ima spit my dummy here as well. Thought i'd service my supercharger so order a bottle of s/c oil, $56.oo for 118ml, damn that stuff is exy, double damn...
i need 2 bottle's, ouch, 112 bucks for 236ml, bloke at the outlet sais were not making anything on it, yeah right, well someone is. Same ACDelco bottle in the
USA is $9.oo.