Customer service, WTF happened to it?

[CRUE CAB]

Just had to take a scope mount back to Bass Pro Shop. Brand new store here in town.
Decided the one I actually needed, took the wrong one back.
And it was like "too bad, here is your money". Don't know when we will re stock or when even the truck may be here or when we will re order.
No interest in taking care of the customer, offering to order one in, nuttin'.
Oh, well. Lost my business.

 

[americanwoman]

Just had to take a scope mount back to Bass Pro Shop. Brand new store here in town.
Decided the one I actually needed, took the wrong one back.
And it was like "too bad, here is your money". Don't know when we will re stock or when even the truck may be here or when we will re order.
No interest in taking care of the customer, offering to order one in, nuttin'.
Oh, well. Lost my business.

I've never had any problems with Bass Pro Shop, although I've never tried to return anything. They offer alot of free children's activities and I love their honey roasted pecans. Did you try to talk to someone else? You may have just gotten a sour person.

 

[CRUE CAB]

I've never had any problems with Bass Pro Shop, although I've never tried to return anything. They offer alot of free children's activities and I love their honey roasted pecans. Did you try to talk to someone else? You may have just gotten a sour person.

Went at lunch, didn't have time to talk to more than one person. Where I work, if I don't have it. I do everything I can to get it. Not just shrug the old shoulders and say, "oh well if it aint on the shelf????".

 

[Jetboogieman]

Customer service in the west is a double edged sword to me.

As someone who prides himself in providing excellent customer service I can tell you that Western customers themselves have a high ratio of douchebaggery.

I recently returned from Japan and they have the highest standard of customer service anywhere in the world, but they also don't have douchebag clients who treat them like garbage, yell and scream and become angry, that would be embarrassing to them.

For too many westerners it seems to be the only way they communicate with service industry folk.

and I think that lead to a situation in which workers started to turn around because they are jaded, I do find myself on some days being uncharacteristically more brief with people than I'd like to be because I've been screamed at 12 times that day before the nice people got there.

but as always I vote with my dollar, i don't scream and shout when I've had a bad experience unless in the extreme minority of cases someone seems to be going out of their way to screw me... I just don't go back.

 

[notquiteright]

Went at lunch, didn't have time to talk to more than one person. Where I work, if I don't have it. I do everything I can to get it. Not just shrug the old shoulders and say, "oh well if it aint on the shelf????".

I thought you ran your own business, some sort of distributorship. Sounds like you didn't have time to do more than dump the scope you didn't like and get your money back. I usually take a bit more time than that when I go to any firearm store, or even Bass Pro....

I doubt however the guy covering the scope counter during lunch has the pull to move heaven and earth in a corporate conglomerate. May need to have realistic expectations.

Not my idea of where to get a scope but then again I use something a bit more than a Fuddmaster 2000... try SWFA Outdoor online, you can call them during business hours and ask as many questions as you want, and they take trade-in as well as exchanges.

Now just a thought, from reading your many posts in here, perhaps, just perhaps you can rub some folks the wrong way.

 

[CRUE CAB]

I thought you ran your own business, some sort of distributorship. Sounds like you didn't have time to do more than dump the scope you didn't like and get your money back. I usually take a bit more time than that when I go to any firearm store, or even Bass Pro....

I doubt however the guy covering the scope counter during lunch has the pull to move heaven and earth in a corporate conglomerate. May need to have realistic expectations.

Not my idea of where to get a scope but then again I use something a bit more than a Fuddmaster 2000... try SWFA Outdoor online, you can call them during business hours and ask as many questions as you want, and they take trade-in as well as exchanges.

Now just a thought, from reading your many posts in here, perhaps, just perhaps you can rub some folks the wrong way.

Keeping the scope, just need the correct mount. Not a Swavorski but a nice Nikon. Just for an AR, not trying to reach out to 1000yds.
And heaven and earth? Call the PDC, get one coming or make sure one is at least on order to fill the empty hole on the shelf. Pretty simple stuff.
Where I work, I never let someone walk out without expiring all efforts to get the parts they need. I would not have a job if I did.

 

[CRUE CAB]

Customer service in the west is a double edged sword to me.

As someone who prides himself in providing excellent customer service I can tell you that Western customers themselves have a high ratio of douchebaggery.

I recently returned from Japan and they have the highest standard of customer service anywhere in the world, but they also don't have douchebag clients who treat them like garbage, yell and scream and become angry, that would be embarrassing to them.

For too many westerners it seems to be the only way they communicate with service industry folk.

and I think that lead to a situation in which workers started to turn around because they are jaded, I do find myself on some days being uncharacteristically more brief with people than I'd like to be because I've been screamed at 12 times that day before the nice people got there.

but as always I vote with my dollar, i don't scream and shout when I've had a bad experience unless in the extreme minority of cases someone seems to be going out of their way to screw me... I just don't go back.

Yea, I didn't scream and yell or even say anything other than thanks then walk to customer service to return the mount.

 

[Jetboogieman]

Yea, I didn't scream and yell or even say anything other than thanks then walk to customer service to return the mount.

Oh no not saying you did, was speaking on a broader context in how customer service in general has fallen in the last 15 years.

 

[CRUE CAB]

Oh no not saying you did, was speaking on a broader context in how customer service in general has fallen in the last 15 years.

Probably alittle more pissed about CS on the whole lately. This is just the latest thing. I don't know if its a Bass Pro thing, a Palm Bay thing, a Florida thing or just lazy employee thing.
I have other mounts I will mess with at home tonight. But wanted the on that is recommended for the scope. But I think pretty much any 1" dia mount will work.

 

[notquiteright]

Keeping the scope, just need the correct mount. Not a Swavorski but a nice Nikon. Just for an AR, not trying to reach out to 1000yds.
And heaven and earth? Call the PDC, get one coming or make sure one is at least on order to fill the empty hole on the shelf. Pretty simple stuff.
Where I work, I never let someone walk out without expiring all efforts to get the parts they need. I would not have a job if I did.

So you don't own the distributorship?

Depends on if there is an available person to make the call, and still attend to any other guy running in on his lunch hour expecting to be THE focus of the counterman. You ASSume the counterman has a clue who to call and what to ask. You ASSume the counterman can just make that call. Again you came in with very limited time and expected the first guy you spoke to, to be the department head.

I've shot many a nice Nikon to 1000 yards, they are not as popular in the LR/Tacticool community as they once were. Too few optic/reticle selection for serious LR and a price tag that is as high as more refined scopes. Do still have my older ED spotter scope- great for trace.

Swavarski is just a tad :roll: overpriced for the role. More a 'statement' scope than a good tacticool/LR scope. I still like the old standbys, Trijicon and Nightforce as my dream scope, as it is I have some older Loopies.

Still I doubt Bass Pro will suffer from a few in too much of a hurry guys not getting microwave customer service, and I still can't help but wonder just how much of a warm n fuzzy you give off when in a hurry coz you are hungry AND need to get something. eace

 

[CRUE CAB]

So you don't own the distributorship?

Depends on if there is an available person to make the call, and still attend to any other guy running in on his lunch hour expecting to be THE focus of the counterman. You ASSume the counterman has a clue who to call and what to ask. You ASSume the counterman can just make that call. Again you came in with very limited time and expected the first guy you spoke to, to be the department head.

I've shot many a nice Nikon to 1000 yards, they are not as popular in the LR/Tacticool community as they once were. Too few optic/reticle selection for serious LR and a price tag that is as high as more refined scopes. Do still have my older ED spotter scope- great for trace.

Swavarski is just a tad :roll: overpriced for the role. More a 'statement' scope than a good tacticool/LR scope. I still like the old standbys, Trijicon and Nightforce as my dream scope, as it is I have some older Loopies.

Still I doubt Bass Pro will suffer from a few in too much of a hurry guys not getting microwave customer service, and I still can't help but wonder just how much of a warm n fuzzy you give off when in a hurry coz you are hungry AND need to get something. eace

Never said I owned the company I work for. Ever. And yes, the guy at the counter should be able to order up a simple thing like a 50 dollar scope mount. That is business.
When I walk into anywhere, I assume the people working there know what they are doing, and will be as helpful as possible. I think that is a fair assumption. Its also a fair expectation.
Other than that, the rest of your post is nothing than attempt at a slap at me personally. To which I couldn't care less about. I was polite, civil, didn't argue, didn't give anyone my expectations. He said didn't know when or how, or if they would get any more and I left. Period.
Oh, I am sure you think I huffed and puffed and raised all kinds of hell, but sorry. I get enough of those types in my business that I don't pull that. Because as soon as I get that, I have tuned them out. Not building tacticool either. I can build that out of a 15/22 that I have. And shoot it all day for little money.
Never will shoot out to 1000 yards either, just no interest in it. Maybe 100 yards max. Wild hog don't run that far that fast that I need to.

 

[Maenad]

Shop online. No surly clerk to deal with. Purchases and returns generally go smoothly.

 

[CRUE CAB]

Shop online. No surly clerk to deal with. Purchases and returns generally go smoothly.

I do some, but I have always like to spend money locally.

 

[Visbek]

I don't think customer service has really changed that much.

:mrgreen:

 

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Just had to take a scope mount back to Bass Pro Shop. Brand new store here in town.
Decided the one I actually needed, took the wrong one back.
And it was like "too bad, here is your money". Don't know when we will re stock or when even the truck may be here or when we will re order.
No interest in taking care of the customer, offering to order one in, nuttin'.
Oh, well. Lost my business.

The dude you talked to more than likely wasn't privy to any of that information, and had no control over it. Something you gotta keep in mind when dealing with large companies and chain stores. The person you wind up talking to really hasn't been given any tools to help you with anything that's not immediately in their location, more often than not.

If you want to see how good customer service really is, you have to go to places where someone in the store knows how to and has control over solving your problem -- small businesses, more often than not.

I have a ridiculous amount of patience with CS people working for large companies. They're making beans, they aren't involved in any decision-making whatsoever, and they get screamed at by unreasonable people day in and day out (not saying you did, but lots of people do).

CS in America is actually very good... to the extent they have control over helping you. People here are, on the whole, pretty nice -- often nicer than what their working conditions justify. A lot of the time, the issue is simply that they don't have the ability to help you. The people higher up are the ones with that control. They don't let their individual locations have much input, but then they leave them dealing with angry people with problems they can't solve.

The dude you spoke to probably did the only thing it was in his power to do: he refunded you. That'd be good enough in my book, as far as expectations of chain stores.

You want more personal service, then go to a place where the person who can solve your problems is accessible to you.

 

[CRUE CAB]

The dude you talked to more than likely wasn't privy to any of that information, and had no control over it. Something you gotta keep in mind when dealing with large companies and chain stores. The person you wind up talking to really hasn't been given any tools to help you with anything that's not immediately in their location, more often than not.

If you want to see how good customer service really is, you have to go to places where someone in the store knows how to and has control over solving your problem -- small businesses, more often than not.

I have a ridiculous amount of patience with CS people working for large companies. They're making beans, they aren't involved in any decision-making whatsoever, and they get screamed at by unreasonable people day in and day out (not saying you did, but lots of people do).

CS in America is actually very good... to the extent they have control over helping you. People here are, on the whole, pretty nice -- often nicer than what their working conditions justify. A lot of the time, the issue is simply that they don't have the ability to help you. The people higher up are the ones with that control. They don't let their individual locations have much input, but then they leave them dealing with angry people with problems they can't solve.

The dude you spoke to probably did the only thing it was in his power to do: he refunded you. That'd be good enough in my book, as far as expectations of chain stores.

You want more personal service, then go to a place where the person who can solve your problems is accessible to you.

I work for a larger company by far than Bass Pro. And there is nothing I cant get done. Anything short of that, I would have no biz doing my job.
I also don't let what I make or don't make dictate how I respond to customers or what level of help I offer. I also know the people they hired at the shooting sports area make more and are "supposedly" more knowledgeable. Previously, I was looking for a Mossberg MVP or a Ruger Scout.
They had neither but the guy that day, took my number and email, searched the other Bass Pros, promised a phone call when or if one came available. And, believe it or not. Followed through with all that. Sadly both guns are hard to come by right now. Not sure why, but I have put either one off for now. Bought a Marlin 336 the other day.
Maybe he was having a bad day, he was dealing with a young man that he was explaining a lot of things to on a bolt gun the kid was looking at with his dad. But that's a challenge in dealing with customers. You have to multitask as much as possible. You have to treat everyone as if they are the only people you have to worry about all day. When you don't. People go elsewhere.
Now I don't expect people to be sickening sweet or in a great mood 24/7. Because I sure am not. But offering to order something should be something that the company insists its employees offer to do.

 

[SmokeAndMirrors]

I work for a larger company by far than Bass Pro. And there is nothing I cant get done. Anything short of that, I would have no biz doing my job.
I also don't let what I make or don't make dictate how I respond to customers or what level of help I offer. I also know the people they hired at the shooting sports area make more and are "supposedly" more knowledgeable. Previously, I was looking for a Mossberg MVP or a Ruger Scout.
They had neither but the guy that day, took my number and email, searched the other Bass Pros, promised a phone call when or if one came available. And, believe it or not. Followed through with all that. Sadly both guns are hard to come by right now. Not sure why, but I have put either one off for now. Bought a Marlin 336 the other day.
Maybe he was having a bad day, he was dealing with a young man that he was explaining a lot of things to on a bolt gun the kid was looking at with his dad. But that's a challenge in dealing with customers. You have to multitask as much as possible. You have to treat everyone as if they are the only people you have to worry about all day. When you don't. People go elsewhere.
Now I don't expect people to be sickening sweet or in a great mood 24/7. Because I sure am not. But offering to order something should be something that the company insists its employees offer to do.

Yup, this can vary by company. Some are much better than others. And I don't know that much about how Bass Shop Pro works. But I do know, through experience both in and out of the CS world, that there are a lot of companies where the person on the floor is basically nothing but a customer frustration absorption device. Just something to keep in mind when dealing with big companies. Maybe that dude just really didn't care that much. Maybe he wasn't able to do the things you wanted. Maybe he just had a bad day. Who knows. But I always give a place at least 2 shots if it's a chain.

 

[Lutherf]

Keeping the scope, just need the correct mount. Not a Swavorski but a nice Nikon. Just for an AR, not trying to reach out to 1000yds.
And heaven and earth? Call the PDC, get one coming or make sure one is at least on order to fill the empty hole on the shelf. Pretty simple stuff.
Where I work, I never let someone walk out without expiring all efforts to get the parts they need. I would not have a job if I did.

The big box stores work on the principle of selling the on hand inventory. They're not set up for special orders. They also stock inventory based on the rate of sale so if something only turns once a month you won't see it there most of the time.

For the customer who wants what he wants instead of just what's on the shelf he's best off going to a local shop.

 

[Gardener]

Was Helen Waite in charge of their complaint department by any chance?

 

[CRUE CAB]

Pretty much.

 

[CRUE CAB]

Yup, this can vary by company. Some are much better than others. And I don't know that much about how Bass Shop Pro works. But I do know, through experience both in and out of the CS world, that there are a lot of companies where the person on the floor is basically nothing but a customer frustration absorption device. Just something to keep in mind when dealing with big companies. Maybe that dude just really didn't care that much. Maybe he wasn't able to do the things you wanted. Maybe he just had a bad day. Who knows. But I always give a place at least 2 shots if it's a chain.

Hahahaha, I already pretty much decided to run by there on the way home and get some different scope mounts anyway. Just got with the four bolt Burris style. Be done with it.

 

[vasuderatorrent]

Just had to take a scope mount back to Bass Pro Shop. Brand new store here in town.
Decided the one I actually needed, took the wrong one back.
And it was like "too bad, here is your money". Don't know when we will re stock or when even the truck may be here or when we will re order.
No interest in taking care of the customer, offering to order one in, nuttin'.
Oh, well. Lost my business.

I have found that American Express has superior customer service. The only problem is that American Express doesn't have a scope mount. Customer service is not dead. There is a business philosophy that I have heard once. It does apply to the title of this thread. Here goes...........

There are three aspects of business. There is price. There is service. There is quality. A business can never be excellent at all three and should never attempt to compete at all three. A superb or excellent business can compete on two of those. A good business can compete in one of those areas. Most businesses these days choose two compete on price due to the demands of the American consumer. The average American customer is willing to forgo service and quality to obtain a good price.

Bass Pro Shop might be a business that focuses on price more than the other two aspects. You may be the rare customer that appreciates good service or a quality product. Those types of businesses do exist. There may be one of those businesses that sells scope mounts. :shrug: but be prepared to pay for great customer service or good quality products. For some products and services it is worth the extra dough. (My wife would disagree. She almost always prefers to buy cheap crap at a great price.)

 

[vasuderatorrent]

Went at lunch, didn't have time to talk to more than one person. Where I work, if I don't have it. I do everything I can to get it. Not just shrug the old shoulders and say, "oh well if it aint on the shelf????".

I work at a hotel. Sometimes we sell out. There are no rooms left no matter how good my attitude is. There are no rooms left no matter how much I want to help the customer. There are no rooms left no matter how much I love the customer. There are no rooms left no matter how much I care. It seems that no matter what I do there is still no rooms left.

Perhaps you just ran into an employee who didn't have a magic wand. You should try Disney World. It's the most magical place on earth.

 

[vasuderatorrent]

I recently returned from Japan and they have the highest standard of customer service anywhere in the world, but they also don't have douchebag clients who treat them like garbage, yell and scream and become angry, that would be embarrassing to them.

For too many westerners it seems to be the only way they communicate with service industry folk.

I work at a hotel. I have never seen any customers act this way. :lamo

 

[vasuderatorrent]

but as always I vote with my dollar, i don't scream and shout when I've had a bad experience unless in the extreme minority of cases someone seems to be going out of their way to screw me... I just don't go back.

This is the most civilized approach. It is also the strongest approach. I think this is known as passive-aggressive behavior. I love it.