"The customer is always right"

And now, a word on customer service...

My parents own a chain of pet stores (Incredible Pets with three locations in Auburn, Carmichael and Grass Valley, just in case you're curious) and ever since I was a child, I have heard time and time again: "The customer is always right."

Well, yesterday apparently I was a customer who was wrong. A vendor who shall remain nameless botched a job for my client. Where I come from, one should not deliver a product unless he or she is proud to put their name on it. So with that theory in mind, I called my vendor to alert him that the job was completely unacceptable (beleiving that perhaps he hadn't seen it before it went out the door). Seriously, a five-year-old could have done it.

ME: "I appreciate the work you did but honestly, it's just not professional and I can't send this out with my company's name affiliated with it." (Note: I expected an apology and an offer for a re-print.)

VENDOR: "Well I did that [nameless task] as an additional favor to you; I didn't have to do it at all. And people are just going to gloss over it anyway."

This recap is not comprehensive, but you get the gist. What ensued was a debate about the quality of work, why it mattered and how the vendor did not want to redo this job for me. Fine, if you want to associate your name with bad products, be my guest. I proceeded to tell at least half of the people in my office, and this guy is lucky if we go back.

I don't like to tarnish names and I believe in second chances so for now, I'll just share this anecdote to remind people how vitally important good customer service is (and how if you're the customer, you should hold providers to a standard!). But if I get treated like that a second time, I doubt I'll refrain from naming names.

Bottom line? Customer service is the most basic PR practice. You get a bad vibe out there, and poeple don't come back. Word of mouth is HUGE. Those providing it should do it right the first time, and if they do it the right way, they will surely see their business thrive.