Cruising to the brink of dissapointment

I blogged earlier about my impending holiday. Fingers crossed I am all set but my recent experiences go to show how something fairly minor can suddenly become a big issue, and why businesses should not just assume that customers will fade away with empty promises.

As the Accountability Manager here at Customer Street I appreciate just how things can go wrong but even more so why it is important to make sure that if they do go wrong they are fixed as soon as possible.
It’s been a while since I have been aboard and to celebrate a “birthday” we have decided to go on a cruise around the Med. It was all booked and paid for a while back and as part of the package I was able to add the “birthday package” as a special surprise for my partner free of charge (and who wouldn’t jump at the chance?).

To cut along story short, after twice verbally confirming the arrangements with the travel agent I realised it was never confirmed in writing. On further investigation with the cruise line themselves they advised the birthday package was never requested. Some 14 calls later between myself, the travel agent and the cruise line, both of whom denied responsibility, I have discovered that the package was never booked. Only after extended phone and email discussions have the travel company relented and said they will cover the cost and get it added.

Something so easy to sort out has been dragged on over 2 weeks because the travel agents have not wanted to admit they made a mistake.

I have just left a meeting of our contact centre managers to discuss customer service levels and it is apparent that whilst this sort of situation can happen in any business it is how it is dealt with that is important. The customer must be made to feel valued and that they are being listened to. The worst thing that could happen is that a customer be paid lip service and our promised resolve to the situation never delivered.

Customer Street have worked hard over the last 2 years to make sure that this sort of thing doesn’t happen to our customers, but we are still learning and adapting as each and every time a problem comes about we try to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Any responsible business will tell you that they never stop learning and that the time they think they are perfect is really the time they need to worry.