A Bad Customer Experience

Customer Service is an essential part of any company. Whether it caters to an individual or another business, they need to provide a satisfactory level of service in order to have good feedback, an increasing number of loyal customers, and gain more profit. 

Most of us, being individual customers, have limited knowledge of how business to business transaction works. Most companies focus on continuously improving the process of handling individual customers, and sometimes even follow a customer journey where they make sure that every customer is served well. It leaves business customers stuck on the traditional formality and proper delivery approach. There are times where it lacks the ‘human touch’ and considerations, forgetting that they are still transacting to another individual representing a company.

Let’s take for example my recent experience with a company providing online events where I signed up for a masterclass. Last May, I received an e-mail that they have the updated list of Business Transformation Masterclasses. From the provided list they, I selected the ‘Business Resilience and Cyber Security' masterclass, as this is the only course relevant to me. I emailed them my choice and was informed that it will be held on the 20th of July. 

Four days before the online class, I was informed through e-mail by the representative that the said class has been canceled due to some changes to the speaker’s engagement. They provided 2 other masterclasses where I can choose one as a replacement. They of course apologized for any inconvenience it might have caused and mentioned that they can be contacted for any inquiries or clarification.

Communicating with a client that there are unforeseen changes to an event can be challenging. With the current global situation because of the pandemic, changes in schedule are common and widely accepted. In this situation, it would have been handled better if the reason given for the cancellation stated a general reason. For example, they can state that the speaker is not available due to ‘certain circumstances’. This could have a more positive impression and feel that the speaker has a more urgent agenda to attend to. It can remove the thought that the class is of less priority, and needed to be canceled. Since they are open for further correspondence, they can inform the real reason for the cancellation if insisted by the client.

Talking about the 2 available options provided, both of them are not relevant to my job description. It left me wondering if there is another option, making me ask the service provider for it in case none of them will be valuable to me. In addition, the replacement classes will be held in three months’ time. As the popular saying that ‘Time is gold’, the attendees of the said masterclasses would have already applied what they have learned if the original schedule pushed through.

After a few hours, I received a reply from the company stating that I can opt for a credit voucher of the same value of what I paid (valid until the end of the year) if I will not take any of the options left.

The limited time available for the validity of the voucher can make the recipient feel hesitant, considering the possibility that the change in schedule may happen again. It would have been better if the service provider has been proactive by giving a complete list of all the alternative classes that are still available. This will give the attendees more options and to check their availability as well. In addition, a summarized outline for each available class would be helpful to know if it is relevant to the current position of the attendee.

This training is of significant amount, for the purpose of improving work output and/or career development. The service provider can also show concern by providing a cash refund, in order for the client to find another masterclass provider since the first option was not available. Using a voucher for the unused service made it feel that the client is stuck with whatever available classes offered by the provider regardless of relevancy.

Feeling the hassle of claiming the voucher and applying again, I opted for one of the options.

The following day, they sent a confirmation that the class I chose was confirmed. They attached a softcopy of the receipt and informed that they will provide the log-in credentials closer to the event date. At this point, the service provider can give a user name or password to the attendees as an assurance that the event will push through. This will lessen the assurance that the class will not be canceled. They can also provide the same information closer to the event date to serve as a reminder to the attendee.

A few hours later, I received an email from the manager of the service provider informing her colleagues that the class is also cancelled and to push the delegate (me) to the next available class. From the looks of it, it was an accident that I was looped in in the email because the format is less formal compared to the previous correspondence that we had. It sounded like the manager is telling her employee to ‘force’ me to attend the only available class left. Businesses and their employees should be careful about e-mails especially when there are too many people in the loop. Before sending an email, it is always good practice to check again who the recipients of the email are. The service provider should be more mindful as it is still dealing with an issue with the same client.

I did not hear from the service provider for the next couple of weeks. I had to write to them again asking for a refund as I do not appreciate being “push” to a class that is of no relevance to me. They replied with an apology and promised to get back to me after speaking to their managing director. The next day, they replied that due to company policy they are unable to provide me with a refund. Instead they will provide me with a credit voucher that expires end of next year and 2 free event passes which again is not relevant to me. I was not pleased with the solution provided but I was left with no options. Needless to say, I was pissed. Now I am contemplating to lodge a case with the consumer tribunal.

The whole experience left me with a negative impression of the company. I find them unprofessional for advertising classes that they cannot keep, refusing to provide refunds for classes they cannot provide and from the “internal” conversation, how they deal with customers.

What would you have done if you were in my shoes? Do you have a similar experience to share?

#customerservice #customerexperience #cx #cxasia