Does Size Matter?

When it comes to customer service, that is?  PlanetFeedback regulars often comment that the "big box" stores don't and can't provide the same level of customer service that the average "mom and pop" business can. 

Of course, every nationwide chain store started as just one building and the business grew over time.  As the business grew and spread throughout in a region, customers came to expect consistency -- a familiar store layout, dishes prepared the same way every time, the same products carried (so if you are used to finding a certain brand at one location, you expect to find it in another location), and employees who were trained to behave and interact with customers in very similar manners.

Surely these are advantages to customers; who doesn't like consistency?  But as a business grows, at some point it gets so big that it can't provide the customer service it used to provide in the early days.  Instead of speaking with a manager and getting a problem resolved on the spot, there's a chain of command, especially if the store manager doesn't have full authority to make decisions that will keep customers happy and loyal.

One of the most offensive aspects of this is detailed in a recent letter in which Robin complains about having nearly $2000 extra taken from his or her checking account due to an error on the part of T-Mobile.  As if that error weren't bad enough, Robin has $370 in NSFs due to bounced checks because of the mistake.

To add insult to injury, Robin is treated rather poorly and is given the brush-off by the people who should be helping!

We could blame ourselves -- after all, it's we, the general public, the shoppers who over time changed our shopping habits from going to the hardware store on the corner to going to the Home Depot on the edge of town.  We fell for lower prices, a wider selection (forgetting that many small businesses will special orders items upon request), the ability to make one stop instead of three in order to cross everything off our list.  But at what cost?  At the cost of satisfactory customer service -- so intangible and yet so valuable.

If we want better service, we have to demand it -- with our shopping dollars.  But that won't happen unless the American public acts en masse.  Retailers are struggling to bring in shoppers -- let's use our expectation of better customer service as a bargaining chip.

~Contributed by Angela~