When you receive bad/poor customer service…what do you do?

Receiving poor customer service is somewhat unacceptable. More so if you have paid for a service and aren’t receiving it.

Paul is enduring such customer service pain and has blogged about it here.

Companies need to understand the power of the Internet – and whilst it’s a current medium, the power of the blog should never be under-estimated.

The effect that bad publicity can have on your search engine rankings can be devastating. One need only search for “company name+suck” to realise why. See what I mean here.

Here’s another example.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , ,

2 thoughts on “When you receive bad/poor customer service…what do you do?”

  1. Had very poor service from a company called serviceteam ltd based in london. Ironic that they use the term service. Appalling service and so called customer service. Would NEVER recommend this company. Just see their terms and conditions and ask my neighbors what they did to me. I have now had the work redone by an excellent tradesman. I have informed trading standards of my experience

  2. Once again we have another ‘complaint’ from Mr Hatem Algraffee. I will spend some more time to give a truthful account of the events.

    Mr Hatem Algraffee contacted us in March 2010 to obtain a free replacement boiler quotation. He wanted to convert his system boiler to a new floor mounted combination boiler and to situate it under his work surfaces in the kitchen.

    Whilst in the process of preparing the quotation we advised him that there was very limited space under the counters in the kitchen and we would require at least 85cm clearance. Mr Algrafee advised us by email that there was in fact 86cm depth available and that all his other quotes had specified the Worcester Bosch Greenstar Highflow 440CDi and he would like us to base our quote on that appliance.

    The quotation was issued to Mr Algraffee who considered it and subsequently instructed us to proceed.
    Our installation required us to convert the central heating system to accommodate the new boiler and install it in the client’s desired location under the kitchen work surfaces, ensuring it was mounted as far back as possible to make its profile flush with the counter tops as instructed. The engineer advised that 85cm was the absolute minimum requirement and that it would be wise to leave a small gap at the back. Mr Algraffe was absolutley insistant on this point – that it must be flush with the counter.

    Two weeks later Mr Algraffee got back in touch and said that he was being disturbed by a knocking sound when he turned off the hot tap in the kitchen so we sent a second, different engineer to inspect the installation. The attending engineer made the following observation – that the boiler was either not being given enough clearance from the pipes or that the change in pressure when the faucet was closed rattled the pipe, manifesting itself in a barely audible knock even when standing next to the tap. Barely audible was the opinion of the engineer and only occuring when the hot tap was turned off in the kitchen.

    We stated that to alleviate the problem we could bring the boiler slightly forward to ensure sufficient clearance of the pipes. There would be no charge for this and that this was the ideal solution. An alternative – and this was stated – not the ideal alternative, would be to fit shock absorbers to prevent any pipes rattling when the hot tap were turned on. Mr Algraffee was told that any material change to the installation would be chargeable and that by bringing the boiler 2-3cm further out he could prevent the problem, despite this he insisted that he wanted the boiler flush with his worktops and that he would pay for the shock absorbers.

    A week later Mr Algraffee called us to tell us that the he could still hear the knocking noise. We sent another engineer to his property and he concluded he couldn’t hear any rattling or knocking. Nor could Mr Algraffee at the time the engineer was there. We accept though that he may have had an intermittent noise. The engineer left and we thought nothing more of it.

    Mr Algraffee then rang to complain about the bill. To try and make him happy we offered to remove the cost of the shock absorbers and labour. However, he finally accepted that he had understood the charges and implications of the further work and instructed us to proceed regardless and paid.

    It is important to point out that Serviceteam is a Gas Safe registered company. Also, all our engineers are independently resistered with Gas Safe. If Mr Algraffee, or anyone else for that matter, has a legitimate complaint then they are entitled to complain to Gas Safe as the governing body. Gas Safe will send an independent engineer to assess the installation to ensure it complies with their strict regulations. And a Gas Safe registered compnay will be legally obliged to comply with their assessment.

    Mr Algraffe has not complained to Gas Safe. He has also paid his invoice in full. We have received no contact from Trading Standards. These are not the actions of someone who has received a poor service. It is rather unfortunate then that Mr Algraffee has decided to wage a malicious campaign against Serviceteam across a number of internet forums designed to damage our reputation. This is completely unfair. We have literally bent over backwards to address Mr Algraffee’s complaints, sent engineers to make assessments and suggestions and we have offered to take whatever action possible to rectify the problem with the hot tap – real or imagined. But he simply will not accept them. And so what more can we do?

    On a personal note Mr Algraffee, I would call into question the judgement and mental stability of someone who has been posting the same anonymous complaint over the internet for one and a half years. Especially as you hold down what I imagine should be a responsible job as a periodontal specialist dentist at 76 Harley Street. I would also point out that maybe you should get your own house in order as there are several complaints about you personally across the internet. Having dealt with you over the last 18 months, this comes as no surprise to us.

Comments are closed.