Make Sure You Don’t Have Bad Customer Service Policies

I heard one of the best bad customer service stories ever from one of my best friends last week. ?He decided to take public transportation to work and drove to his suburban park and ride location. ?The bus door would not close so the bus was late. ?After waiting a while, he was going to be late to work so he decided to drive. ?His office is near a customer service booth. ?The public transportation system provides a money back guarantee if you are dissatisfied with its service. ?He went to get his refund. ?The dialogue:

Friend: ?“I’d like to get my money back for my ride today. ?The bus broke down so I didn’t ride.”

Customer service rep: “Please let me see you ticket, sir.” ?He gave her the ticket. ?“Sir, you indeed did not ride. ?I can only give you a refund if you actually rode the bus. ?I can’t give you your money back.”

Friend: “But I couldn’t ride the bus. ?It broke down and I had to get to work.”

Customer Service Rep: “But our policy is you have to ride and be dissatisfied to qualify for a refund.”

She then advised him to attempt to sell his ride pass to get his money back! ?The good news is, we laughed hysterically at his situation. ?And, fortunately, it did not involve a lot of money. ?

I am confident the intent behind this policy was good. ?Somewhere along the way, the message got confused. ?I understand that the transportation system does not want to provide refunds to people that do not actually ride; that is probably why they put this policy in place. ?But it should be pretty simple to track which routes had delays and offer refunds. ?

Check your polices. ?The path to bad customer service is paved with good intentions. ?