"Small Business" = Excuse for poor customer service

Why is it that I see more and more small businesses using the fact that they are a "small business" or have a "low profit margin" as an excuse for justifying poor customer service?

It always seemed to me that the little guy would bend over backwards to achieve customer satisfaction. Today, especially with how quickly word of mouth spreads via the internet, it seems that if they even bother at all, they only do so when something potentially damaging to their reputation emerges.

My most recent example:

I had purchased a set of theater seats from a seller with two years of positive reviews, since there are no local distributors. This is a small company, and since I'd figured they took care of their customers, I spent a little more money with them over their competition. Delivery in 7-10 days? Great! Delivery company will call me the day before to set up a time? Sure!

So 7 days elapses, no seats. 10 days elapses, no seats. A call to the seller results in a "they're scheduled for delivery Wednesday response." Sure, ok, things happen. Wednesday comes and goes, another phone call, another promise. OK, inconvenient, but I'll live with it. Another missed delivery date. Phone call indicates slow downs due to the 4th of July. OK, sure. ANOTHER missed delivery date.

This time, a phone call results in no answer. As do the 4-5 attempts a day for the next week. *sigh*. Now, 30 days after the promised delivery deadlines, I call the credit card company and file a dispute. Same goes with the BBB. After posting my experience on a popular home theater forum, a few other users come out of the woodwork posting similar experiences in the same time frame. Original BBB notifications go unresponsive, as do the credit card company's attempts. Credit card company, per their policy, issues a temporary chargeback.

So, what happens? The seller contacts BBB with some statement about PayPal (which wasn't even used), and then goes on this online forum after catching wind, talking about how he's a "low profit margin" company, and ranting about how buyers always get what they want from the credit card companies, whether it's justified or not. He also comments that the only necessary contact should be between the seller and the credit card company.

All needed communication goes through the credit card company only? So, once you have the customer's money, it's perfectly acceptable to blow off the customer, not deliver the product, falsify shipping information, and resort to credit card disputes as a single line of communication? Oh, and even then, you don't bother contacting the credit card company to provide any dispute resolution?

Interesting business practices. Unfortunately, I've been seeing a LOT of this lately, particularly when it comes to specialty goods like high end electronics. Joe Everyman seller uses incoming orders to fund the existing ones, and when his head finally goes under water, he either bails altogether with the customers' money, or, he fills a few orders so the internet chatter subsides, and he starts the screwing all over again.

Any other TFP'ers share a similar experience?

 

I will say that most small, brick and mortar places are not as bad as those that are primarily web/phone based, in my experiences. Hardware stores, auto parts, boutique stores, etc, I've had mostly positive experiences with once you get over the sticker shock.

 

General question, from one who is ignorant of finance-fu. That 'doing the next job of the backs of new money coming in from customers, when taken to heinous extremes, something like a 'ponzi scheme', but with a sub-loop involving product/service provision?

And more on-topic:I've had good experiences with small and big businesses. Bear Cub, when you say:

That's the way I've seen it too. A satisfied customer is potentially loyal for life, as well as being a keen, unpaid sales-rep.

The seller who mistreated you and then went 'rabid dog', foaming down the main-street, reminds me of others who seem to think that the customer owes them a living. Er ... I mean, a living Beyond the parameters of fair trading.

 

I sort of have a similar experience but its with my house. I've been waiting since last September to get my fridge fixed, four months to get my microwave hood fan fixed, since September to get a wall fixed. The day I moved in they spent a hour arguing with me over a data/phone line being in place, and in saying I was right, while fixing it, they drilled through the side of my house. Phoning them leads to nothing, leaving a key for them has lead to them changing my locks, twice because they've lost the key. Its been utter frustration from the get go with them, much less the problem I had during the purchase process. We have neighbours with the same problems, unfortunately, they're getting decks or garages built. And the fact the my ex and I were told this building company, from the salesman, that they were a quantity builder, not a quality builder. Should've left at that point....

 

I've had experiences on both extremes with mom and pop operations.

I live in the sticks, my first broadband isp set a new personal worst for what I would put up with. Make an appointment for me to stay home and work with them, not show up, reschedule after the fact, and not show up again,, ... If I had a better alternative, I would have fired them immediately. Step forward a couple years when a neighbor decided to try running an ISP themselves. Service hadn't gotten any better and I switched immediately. The first ISP seemed shocked that everyone left.

I bought my motorcycle from an independent BMW shop that decided to expand into Moto Guzzi. They are small, very specialized, and not cheap; but they get great reviews and certainly know their clientele and product. They let me sit in the shop and watch them work on my bike for it's post break in valve adjustment. I learned a lot and they where very nice about it.

 

Customer service, competitive pricing and product/service availability are the most important things you can offer your customer. Which is more important depends on the customer. Looks like Bear Cub didn't get either that's unforunate.

Given the choice though between two companies with equally rated customer service, I'd choose the more sincere smaller company over the plastic service of the larger ones

 

A corollary to this: I am price sensitive when shopping for commodity goods at big retailers.
I am price insensitive when it comes to unique products and top notch customer service. That's got to be the niche that small business puts themselves into to survive. Do a good job with unique products and great service and I will gladly pay your premium.

 

I've been fortunate to live in a big urban city where the smaller independent shops can consistently have a hope of STAYING in business.

I am trying to remember if I've had any recent small business experiences that were enough to drive me out to never come back. I can't recall one quickly, so I take that as a good sign. I use smaller businesses for everything from pet food, groceries (haven't been in a big chain grocery store in months), alcohol, sundries, and entertainment including movie theater.

 

Big companies are just as bad, especially internet providers. They make it easy to subscribe, but almost impossible to unsubscribe. I had unsubscribed from Netzero, but they kept charging me for their mail service, which I wasn't using. Several calls to unsubscribe from the service were useless. When my debit card expired, the jerks had the balls to send me an email asking me to update the information. What am I, stupid? Moral of the story, avoid Netzero, they're a crap company.

 

The company I work for does this. He has pushed himself into debt and maxed out all the lines of credit he has. He then uses payment (up front 100%) to pay for things he is on back order from and then uses the money for the next sale to pay for the equipment (which is week behind) to install at the job site. He has a snake-oil salesman that promises the world and then the boss gets mad when our clients want the services they got promised. He has even gone as far as charging clients for time that would be covered under the service contract and even for documentation that they have already (charged a client $400 for a list of IP addresses they gave us when they became our client). I could go on for days about what the companies I've work for do to their customers to make a quick buck (like charging people $300 for a copy of office and then installing a cracked copy of office 2000 on their PC).

People just don't care anymore and those who do, are the ones that have their businesses' go under.

 

I always try to use local, small businesses when I can. I find the horrible customer service experiences in places like Walmart, Best Buy etc.... where employees have minimal knowledge of their "area of expertise" at best. Most of the small businesses I go to really know their product, because, well, they have to in order to survive. When I do come across a bad experience, and I can't think of one off hand, I stop frequenting the place of business unless I have absolutely no choice.

These days, the term buyer beware has never been more true. There is so much information on the internet about, well, almost everything, it definitely pays to be informed consumer. Having your own knowledge of the product or service you are looking for and what are the right questions to ask is a definite plus.

 

NetZero...Hmmm

Isn't that the company that advertised

Why pay for internet? We'll give it to you free and all you gotta do is put up with a bunch of crappy ads?

 

Not all small places are that way. My family has ran a small business for 27 years. We still have customers we got on the first week in business. I don't think you can roll all small places into one. I think mostly you need to look at who owns/runs that business. It truly falls on there feet at the end of the day. I can't count the mount of times me and my father have worked a all nighter to make a deadline.

 

Sure, free service for just a few hours a week on basic dial up. Unlimited use, you had to pay. That was back when dial up seemed cool, in the days of AOL vs.2 and Windows 95.

 

Well, just as an update, Discover finalized the dispute today in my favor. Have now just placed an order with another reputable vendor. Cost was higher, but after a labor day sale and free shipping, only looking at $7 difference. Lets see if round two goes any better.

 

suddenly nostalgic for the noise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNaR6FRuO0

 

It has been my experience that gun shops are some of the biggest sources of asshatitry when it comes to small business action. The vast majority of gun shops are small businesses owned by fat conservative white guys that are out to sell everybody their retarded belief system as well as a pink snubnose for your girlfriend and a .50 BMG for you (unless you're a pussy... or black). Even when they're not super shady, they're still dens of dipshittery.

Exorbitant Prices on Everything:
- It's often MUCH cheaper than transfer in a gun you bought online, pay the ridiculous shipping and their $50 fee than buy one off the rack.
- Box of ammo that cost $10 is somehow sold for $19 despite the fact that they probably get them for the same price buying bulk online.
- Let's not even start with accessories. $50 Magpul stock (buy online, Magpul subsidizes free shipping deals) retails for $70, a $200 flashlight is $320.

Shithead Sales Associates:
- Some 40 year old 400 pound dude all tac'd out in a 5.11 pants and a MOLON LABE t-shirt (possibly a SWAT black thigh rig for his $2700 1911) despite the fact that he is sitting in an air conditioned shop all day) is going to tell you about combat mindset, Cooper colors and how your weekend plinking rifle (Pick one: Bushmaster, RRA, DPMS, etc.) is total shit because only his brand makes a decent fighting weapon (Colt, KAC, BCM, etc.).
- An upper middle class 21 year old kid college kid (son of the owner, perhaps) that has never served a day in uniform in his life (too good to work a food service job) is telling you how (in)accurate or (un)reliable an AR-15 or AK-47 is in combat conditions... like that shit even matters in suburbia.
- Racist, sexist, xenophobic one-liners just to test the water when you walk in the door. "The only time a woman's mouth should be open is when it's holding my cock" and "Damn Indian people... you know what why they have that dot on their forehead? It's where you put the pistol laser! BWHAR-HAR-HAR!" I've had gun shop owners basically say they knew my then girlfriend was Korean because they've "killed her kind before." WTF, over?

I hate gun shops with a passion. I totally avoid going into them unless I need something immediately and I'm okay with paying twice as much for it.

 

I recently, with much hesitation, took my car to a mom and pop shop. I had been taking it to the dealership prior, but my warranty was up and I didn't want to pay dealership prices.

Problem was that my car is a 2010 Jetta TDI. It's a great car, but this engine make has, apparently, only been out since 2009, so the mom and pop shops aren't quite used to it yet and, with the miles I clock on my car, I'm one of the first ones they get into their shops.

So I picked a place near my old apartment with good reviews on the regular VWs. They did same day service, really friendly, loved the owner. Went home with my freshly serviced car. The next morning, my driveway had a fairly large puddle of diesel hanging out in its center.

Drove it back. The fuel filter's seal had a cut on it. They replaced it and sent one of their guys the 40 miles to my new place to scrub the spot off. While he was there, he scrubbed the rest of the spots off the driveway from the other cars, you know, just to be nice.

I was pretty impressed.