Customer Satisfaction Dips According to Straits Times Report

A report that appeared in the Straits Times on 28 October 2009 mentioned that customer satisfaction has dipped

Considering the fact that millions have been invested in various service initiatives since the beginning of this year, this is rather worrying.

Do read some of the comments posted. It really does make sense, especially when it comes to training vs cost vs quality. At the end of the day, service providers need to know, you get what you pay for. Invest in quality staff and train them, not invest in the cheapest staff to fulfill a headcount or to cut costs by hiring cheaper staff.

Got a customer service experience to share? Email me to get your story published! Do remember to read the submission guidelines and how we rate establishments before submitting.

Bad Service - Compact Electronics

I received this on 12 June but have not had time to do any updates due to my full time job taking up a large proportion of my time but now that I have some time, here is the email.

Apologies to VL for publishing this so late, this should never have happened, and you have my apologies for that.

Name : VL (user chose to use only initials)
Date & Time : 12 June 2009
Place/Website address : Compact Electronics at Sim Lim Square
Person Serving Me : N/A
What Did I Intend to Buy/What I Bought : Rechargeable batteries

My Experience : I went to “Compact Electronics” #02-72 at Sim Lim Square on 11 Jun around 7pm to shop for a set of rechargeable batteries and it turned out to be a downright insulting and humiliating experience.

I was approached by one of the staff and I told him I was looking for Sanyo Rechargeable batteries. He showed me the batteries and asked how many I need. I then asked for the price and he told me $12 for a pack of 2.

I recalled a pack of 4 costs $16 two years ago, I told him I need to consider. As I was walking away, he said $5. I approached him to clarify but he told me to shop around on the price.

With disbelief, I checked out 6 shops with prices from $24 - $32 for a pack of 4. I went back to him but he showed faces & asked me to go shop around again. I told him I would like to get 2 packs of 2 from him but he replied arrogantly “I won’t sell” and asked me to continue to shop around.

I was totally numbed by his response and left the shop. I never felt so humiliated in my life. This is not service at all. Such unforgiving attitude not only provokes, it is downright humiliating. Fortunately, my foreign friends were not with me then; otherwise, such terrible behavior would have caused permanent damage to the ‘shopping paradise’ image of Singapore.

While I had bought the batteries from another shop, I felt compelled to highlight this humiliating experience in writing which I hope the Sim Lim Square Management, CASE and Singapore Tourism Board can take appropriate measures/actions against the shop “Compact Electronics” #02-72.

Overall Rating : 5 Brickbats

Got a customer service experience to share? Email me to get your story published! Do remember to read the submission guidelines and how we rate establishments before submitting.

Recent Articles Published In Straits Times

There was an article recently related to customer service, published in the Straits Times. In the article, entitled "Customer Satisfaction Slips", published on 20/04/2009, the article claims that Singapore is continuing to fall behind economies such as United States, United Kingdom and South Korea in customer satisfaction.

It basically shows that in times of adversity and an economic downturn, people are more sensitive to service quality and they want better value for money in almost anything they purchase.

Now is really a good time to take stock of our service levels here in Singapore and to really take a long hard look at how we hire people for service positions. We should really think about whether we are hiring the right people based on aptitude, attitude and passion rather than on price alone.

Got a customer service experience to share? Email me to get your story published! Do remember to read the submission guidelines and how we rate establishments before submitting.

Good Service - Mechanic From Kah Motors

I received this email from Mr Lim about his experience with Kah Motors and it just shows that usually, service staff just want to do a good job and many times, the actions of some staff can sabotage the entire image.

Name : Sebastian Lim

Date & Time : 19 April 2009 / Sunday / 1:30pm

Place/Website address : Location of incident: Pine Close, my block downstairs.

Person Serving Me : Mr. Juraimie (Mechanic)

What Did I Intend to Buy/What I Bought : Battery for My Honda Jazz was flat and unable to start. Called Honda 24hr Tow Service hotline and spoke to Mr. Juraimie.

Any Other Relevant Information : While Juraimie's conduct was exemplary, I can't say much about Kah Motor Co. Sdn. My last servicing(30k) was done in early Feb 2009. On the checklist, inspection on the car battery was marked as 'having checked' and good to go. I'd my reservations even though i reminded them to check and verify if it's in optimal working condition. I'm even prepared to pay for a new unit if required. Obviously, the mechanic in charge merely ran through the motion. Good grief my car broke down just below my block. I would imagine how nasty it's going to be to caught in that situation with my wife and daughter around.

My Experience : Conduct by Juraimie is very professional and friendly. He began by asking what problem(s) encountered and slowly walked through the trouble-shooting checklist. Was told to expect his arrival within 30-40 mins. Juraime turned up within the stipulated time and proceeded to conduct inspection. He had also given some valuable advice on how one should monitor the car battery's condition. Battery was promptly replaced and all these were completed within a short span of time. Due to the service lapse on Kah Motor's part, the tow fee of S$70 was waived and i only paid for the battery unit. Juraimie deserves a pat on his back. Job well done! Thank you.

Overall Rating : 4 Bouquets (for Juraimie)
1 Brickbat (for Kah Motor Co. Sdn. Workshop at Ubi)

Got a customer service experience to share? Email me to get your story published! Do remember to read the submission guidelines and how we rate establishments before submitting.

More Bad Service Elsewhere

I have been informed by a reader about more bad service stories elsewhere on the internet, here in Singapore.

You readers be the judge.

Bad Service From Recaptured, a home decor shop
Fraudulent Service From Best Denki

The stories will shock you.

Got a customer service experience to share? Email me to get your story published! Do remember to read the submission guidelines and how we rate establishments before submitting.

Bad Service - PA Mart @ Sim Lim Square

I received this via email and thought I would share it with you readers.

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I would like to share my experience with PA Mart in Sim Lim Square.

I bought a MacBook during the IT show in Suntec Mall. Shopping around, I thought I found the best deal and with the friendly service from the booth girls, proceeded to buy the Macbook from PA Mart. The offer was a memory upgrade from 2GB to 3GB, including a free printer and screen protector.

They installed the memory chip on the spot but upon returning home and attempting to use the Macbook, it would not start and started to beep. Stopping the beeping and starting the macbook took 5 minutes of dongling the power cord and, pressing and holding the start button. I called the Asian customer service hotline who advised me to bring the Macbook to my point of purchase for an exchange as this was a faulty machine.

Bringing the macbook to PA Mart in Sim Lim, Mark changed the memory card but the problem persisted. He refused to make an exchange because I had registered the Macbook online with Apple. He advised me to call the local service centre and bring the Macbook there for repairs.

The local call centre said the problem would be the upgrade of the memory chip as the Macbook should be fitted with an equal memory module in each of the 2 memory slots. Hence the free upgrade to 3GB would cause a problem. I double checked this with the apple website and found it to be true. The call centre further explained that Apple's licensed resellers all know this and upon checking said PA Mart was not found to be their licensed reseller. He advised me to return to PA Mart for either an upgrade to 4GB or downgrade to 2GB.

When I returned to tell Mark about what the local call centre said, he asked his colleague, Azar, to do an exchange. We settled on 4GB which meant another S$45. Already unhappy that I'm topping up just to get the Macbook to work, Azar continues to astound me with his bad attitude and surly demeanor. His burly size ensures customer compliance. After installing the memory chip, he wanders off, leaving me to reattach a dirty screen protector and pack up.

I give credit that PA Mart eventually exchanged a faulty Macbook, but they appear to be dishonest in their selling practices.

1) Sending me on a runabout instead of exchanging the faulty Macbook.

2) Having to top up to get the Macbook working properly. S$45 is not a lot of money, but that free memory upgrade really isn't any free gift!

3) At the IT Fair, the memory chip was taken out of an unopened packaging. The subsequent times the memory card was changed at Sim Lim, PA Mart seemed to take random chips from behind a counter, leaving me to wonder if these are old memory chips or unauthorised ones. My queries on this were brushed off. Like I said, Azar is a huge man and I felt under duress. Mark later assured me that the memory chips had a lifetime warranty and I could return to PA Mart if there was any problems. I really don't know if I could trust that statement!

With bad publicity surrounding Sim Lim, I would not normally buy there but during the IT Fair, I failed to check if PA Mart from Sim Lim. I would like to advise consumers at the IT Show to be vigilant about the vendors. I would definitely avoid ALL Sim Lim vendors no matter where they set up their booths!

Kind Regards,

Fxxxxxxn (name edited for privacy reasons)

Author's addendum, added on 28/03/2009 - After seeing an apple advertisement in the newspapers today. PA Mart is an authorised reseller of Apple products after all. That probably meant they might be ignorant of their products which is a notch less than being dishonest!PA Mart is an authorised reseller of Apple products after all. That probably meant they might be ignorant of their products which is a notch less than being dishonest!

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Sim Lim Square & CASE Join Hands To Clean Up Bad Rep

Sim Lim Square's management and CASE have joined hands to clean up the mall's bad reputation according to a Straits Times online article.

According to the article, there will be an accreditation scheme for the shops in Sim Lim Square and those found trustworthy would be given a decal to display on their shop window. Also, the article states that the accreditation scheme will be launched at vendors of two other industries, the motoring and healthy, beauty & spa industry

How about a decal for the NOT trustworthy shops till they buck up on their service levels as well? I think the shame of being blacklisted is a bigger deterrent than the pride of putting an accredited decal, especially here in Singapore where "face" is everything.

Got a customer service experience to share? Email me to get your story published! Do remember to read the submission guidelines and how we rate establishments before submitting.

Good Service - Xbox 360 Replacement

I received the following good service story from my friend Glenn when he tried to help his son repair their Xbox 360 console.

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Hey folks,

Here's the rundown on my experience with replacing my son's Xbox 360 game console...

It all started in December last year when my son's Xbox 360 game console decided to just quit operating, and i think there's a term for it in the gaming wold..."the red ring of death", where Xbox 360 game consoles stop operating and a flashing red light appears around the on-off switch...

Being a good father, I took it upon myself to find out how to get it serviced as unfortunately enough, the one-year local warranty on our machine expired just before it quit on us...hmmmm, i wonder why?

I then went to Funan at North Bridge Road to investigate options of getting it repaired, which I found at the 6th level next to Challenger store. A simple sign on a standee at the counter says "FOR XBOX QUERIES, PLEASE CALL> 8004481330", but I still decided to ask the guy behind the counter if i could get it repaired there. I got a prompt reply "This is not an Xbox repair center sir..." and pointed at the sign. (Editor's note - Glenn was probably hoping he could send the set in on the spot)

I called the number after a few days as I forgot to write down the serial number of the console.

During the call, I only waited for a few rings before a service officer answered my call and politely introduced himself and asked how may he be of assistance. Plus 10 points here folks!!!

I proceeded to give him my particulars, the serial number of the console and the problem with it. He even registered it for me as well to ascertain the warranty's validity, as I also forgot to do this one year ago...as expected. He ran through his FAQ manual and gave his best suggestion on how to try certain operations to check if the console is still salvageable, but I quickly asked "Well sir, how much would it cost to get it fixed if this all fails as it is beyond the warranty period?"

"Fixed" is somehow not mentioned but "replaced" was suggested, as expected again... it turned out that it would cost me S$159 to get the console replaced and if I agree to this, the transaction would require a valid credit card in order to proceed with the matter...

I gave him my credit card particulars and proceeded to agree with the terms as verbally noted by the service personnel on the phone... I was also informed that it would take two (2) working days for this whole process which I also agreed to.

After the whole question and answer exercise, I asked the service officer for an email of a receipt for the transaction which they promptly sent right after. Plus 10 points here again!

Two days later, a spanking (new?) replacement unit was handed over to me, after I surrendered my old Xbox 360 unit at the same Funan shop where i first got the query number from. The person behind the counter even registered my replacement machine after issuing it to me. A one-year warranty covers this replacement set as well, as stated in the email receipt plus a month's worth of free Xbox360 Live vouchers as a token of appreciation.

My son and I are now enjoying the latest Xbox 360 game "Halo Wars" in this replacement set. Nice game btw, if you're a Halo fan.

Overall experience I'd say was good if not better than the usual crap that I get from other online service desks. I'm not gonna name names, eherm...sam eherm... sung... eherm...!!!

So if you folks need to replace your Xbox 360 consoles, just call the number and not ask any stupid questions to the guy behind the desk ok, and help avoid any untoward situations or embarrassment.

Here are the steps again:
1) Call the number 8004481330 between 9am-5pm;
2) Make ready your xbox 360 console's serial number located either on the original box or the machine itself marked as "SN: XXXXX"; oh btw, I forgot to mention that if your machine is still within the warranty period, it will be replaced for free plus a 90-day warranty or the remaining original warranty validity period, whichever is longer;
3) Unplug all wires, cables, accessories and the hard drive for you to bring the original set to be replaced at Funan the IT Mall, 6th floor, the shop next to challenger store after two (2) days of waiting;
4) Make sure you request for a receipt by email after you've agreed to get your console replaced via the credit card payment/transaction;
5) Have the replacement console checked if it does power-up and there're no funny noises while it's operating;
6) And lastly, don't ask any other unrelated questions to the guy behind the counter;

Hope this helps other folks who need to go through the same experience...

Got a customer service experience to share? Email me to get your story published! Do remember to read the submission guidelines and how we rate establishments before submitting.

We Are Working On Something Refreshing

Bouquets n Brickbats are working on improving the site for you. As such, stories will be less frequent while we try and take this to a proper content managed site.

Meanwhile, those who submit their stories to us will still get them published, so submit them anyway!

An announcement will be made here once the site is ready. In the meantime, here's an article I have written up.

The Nine Golden Rules To Driving Away Potential Customers

Do's

• Stand in front of your store, blocking the entrance. Ideally, you should be a pretty big guy.
• Do stare at the potential customers in a straight faced manner, especially if you are located right next to a competitive store.
• If you can, frown. If not, just staring would suffice.
• When the potential customer(s) decides to go to your competitor next door, continue staring but never, on any account, go back to your store. Continue standing outside. And keep staring.
• Always answer any questions with a short and curt single word answer where possible.
• You must always answer in a disgruntled tone or at the very least, nonchalant.

Don't's

• Never smile, ever
• Do not greet people that walk past, even if there is a slim chance they might want to go inside and take a look. You do not want them coming in now, do you?
• Don't put down whatever you are doing to answer any queries. In fact, continue doing what you do, especially if it is something as important as reading the last few pages of your novel or SMSing your friend about tonight's party

There you have it. Simple yes? ;-)

Got a customer service experience to share? Email me to get your story published! Do remember to read the submission guidelines and how we rate establishments before submitting.

DBS Feedback - No Response

I have been a customer of Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) for a long time and recently I have noticed an exceptionally high number of their machines are not working. An example, out of two cash deposit machines, one of them was down a few times in a few different branches. On top of that, their queues are usually much longer than other competitive banks for both cash deposit and withdrawal.

On 06/03/2009, a Friday night, I tried to deposit some cash into my account using a POSB (Post Office Savings Bank) ATM/Cash Deposit machine at Eunos MRT station as the two banks have merged. The following is what happened.

On realising that I did not deposit enough cash, I proceeded to use a self-service machine at the self-service booth which was newly built as a pretty long queue had formed behind me by then.

When I went into the self-service centre, I noticed there was nobody there and when I tried to deposit cash, a message kept popping up on the screen that the transaction was not available. No such message was shown when I first inserted my bank card, only after going through a few button presses and when I selected Cash Deposit Into My Own Account did the message appear.

I sent feedback to DBS bank on Sunday, 08/03/2009 via their online feedback form and got an acknowledgment of receipt.



The image above is a screen capture of the feedback acknowledgment page I get to once I have submitted feedback.

Note how nowhere on the form does it give an estimate number of days to when they will get back to me. The form was sent on a Sunday evening and I would think a reply would be forthcoming within a few days.

On 09/03/2009, at about 5pm, I receive what looks to be a templated reply from their customer service manager, stating that they have escalated my feedback to the relevant business unit who will respond to me as soon as possible.

It is now 13/03/2009 and there has not been any email or even phone call. Does it take DBS that long to investigate into a cash deposit machine that has gone down?

DBS, customers like to be kept informed of developments to their feedback and it is not too hard to give your customers who have made the effort to give feedback a call or drop them an email to keep them posted

Got a customer service experience to share? Email me to get your story published! Do remember to read the submission guidelines and how we rate establishments before submitting.