Darby Sieben -

If you have been reading my blog you know that I am not a negative person when it comes to talking about local businesses. In this post I will highlight some incredibly poor service from EQ3 Calgary in the hopes that other businesses can benefit from the lessons presented.

This post is broken into 2 sections. The first is my experience with EQ3 Calgary. The second is 4 lessons for local business.

I would also like to hear your feedback on our reaction to the situation (are we over reacting or unjustified in our approach) and/or your experiences with this organization (positive or negative), feel free to comment below.

Experience with EQ3 Calgary

My wife and I were in the market for a Platform Frame from our new King Size mattress. We decided to purchase the Magnolia Curved Slat Bed (King Size Frame). Like most furniture purchases there is always a waiting period for the product. From the time we purchased until the product came in was around 4-weeks. This seems to be a pretty standard waiting period. The only negative to this particular product was that it is manufactured in China. A little disappointing since EQ3 is proudly promotes themselves as a Canadian Manufacturer but I also understand that certain products are simply cheaper to manufacture overseas. Our purchase price was over $1100 and we opted not to have delivered, we would pick up at their warehouse location when it arrived.

After picking up the product, and coordinating with the Sleep Country on the delivery of the mattress, we were very disappointed to realize that the product had damage. Note – the box was completely sealed, so there was no way to know of the damage until it was opened. Here is a picture of the damage:

Although disappointed to realize our product had damage, we understand that this happens in manufacturing and we were unfortunate to get a damaged one. This was no fault to EQ3 Calgary as the product was sealed, although disappointing that the manufacturing quality control did not catch prior to sealing for shipment. We contacted EQ3 regarding the issue and our specific request to rectify the situation and this where EQ3 Calgary failed in their response.

Our request was two-fold; 1) we wanted a replacement frame and 2) since this was a manufacturing defect, we also requested that EQ3 delivery the new frame when it came in. Here is a the string of conversations with their customer service department:

August 23, 2009 – request made to customer service department regarding the damage issue. This is a subset of the original email.

I recently spoke to a woman in your customer service department regarding damage to a bed we just purchased. We discovered the damage when we unpacked the box Friday night to assemble the bed. She requested we email pictures of the damage.

August 26, 2009 – email response back from EQ3 to us, again subset of email;

I am putting in an exchange for the damaged pieces. The Calgary warehouse will be in contact with you once everything is in. At which time you will able to bring back the pieces you do have for an exchange.

August 27, 2009 – email from us back to EQ3:

Thanks for the quick feedback.

Due to poor quality control at the supplier end it is our expectation that the replacement parts will be delivered and the damaged ones picked up at the same time as a courtesy for the inconvenience. Please confirm.

September 1, 2009 – another email from us to EQ3:

I am following up on the email below. I have not yet received a response.

September 1, 2009 – email back from EQ3:

Just following up with you, sorry for the delay. At this time I am unable to have your pieces deliveries to you, but I would like to offer you a $25 Gift Card to EQ3 to be used on any future purchases.

Why EQ3 Calgary Sucks

We were very disappointed that they would not delivery the product to us or give us an equivalent in compensation. Note: EQ3 Calgary charges $95 for delivery. Their view of compensation was a $25.

My issue with this approach – they charge $95 for delivery, so in sending this message what they are saying is that their time is worth more than my time. At the very minimum, one should expect a $95 gift card to match their delivery charge. The value of their solution seemed like a token response. One could argue this approach ensures that EQ3 Calgary gets more money from the customer since you cannot purchase anything for this dollar amount and by default means you would spend more with them. Personally this sends me the wrong message that it is about them and not me.

Final note on this front – as of this posting, October 31, 2009 – we have not received our $25 gift card.

4 Customer Service Lessons for Local Businesses

1) Take Responsibility For Your Product

In manufacturing defects happen. Take responsibility and be proactive in your approach to dealing with customers. Think about it, your customer has chosen your business. They are putting their trust into your company and your product. When it does happen (if you are a quality company, likely the % of defects will be marginal) be aggressive in solving it for the customer and honor reasonable requests.

2) Don’t Insult Customers With Token Offers

Put yourself in the customers shoes and ask yourself, would you be happy with your company’s response? If you can’t answer a resounding yes, then likely you have not gone far enough. You also don’t have to go to extremes on unreasonable requests (I don’t agree with the philosophy that the customer is always right, in some cases the customer is just an asshole, every business has these) but if its a reasonable request make it happen for your customer. In the above case – the right solution would have been a) deliver the defective product or b) offer a $95 gift card, which is the value of the delivery.

3) Say What You are Going to Do and Actually Do It

If you tell a customer that you will do something, make damn sure you do it. Nothing is worse than saying you will do something and then not follow though.

4) Consider Your Customer Service as a One to Many Relationship

Customer service use to be a one-to-one relationship between the company and the customer. However, with today’s communication platforms, company’s need to consider that customer service issues are one-to-many. Good or bad customer service will get broadcasted. When building out your customer service policies build then with the view that they will be distributed to a much larger audience. Your customer service department is a marketing tool for your organization that will either propel your organization forward or slowly erode your customer base.

Tell me what you think? Was our request unreasonable? What should EQ3 have done? Do you agree that Customer Service departments are an extension of Marketing?

Popularity: 6% [?]

The YellowPages.ca Answer Service has been running for over 1-month now and the numbers of local questions being asked and answered is increasing steadily. There are a lot of questions around plumbers, mechanics, electricians, restaurants, etc, however, I wanted to highlight some questions that don’t really fall into the traditional categories of what people are looking for.

Here is my list of the 8 most usual or out of the ordinary local business questions asked by users:

• I need to find mannaquin arms, 10 to be precise. Where can i find them? – mannaguin arms, I wonder what he needs those for? What about the rest of the mannaquin?
• Does anyone know a good, high tech dentist w/ cute assistants in Montreal, QC (near downtown core)? – love this question, forget the dentist, it is all about the assistant
• Does anyone know a nice no-tell hotel in Montreal, QC? – hmmmm, I wonder what the no-tell is about
• Does anyone know a good escort service in saint john? – interesting, perhaps the person looking for the no-tell hotel could help, see above
• Does anyone know a mediocre taco bell restaurant in guelph on? – some would argue that all food at Taco Bell is mediocre
• Where is a good place to buy NHL jerseys in Toronto? Jerseys from other teams, not just the Leafs. – exactly, who would purchase a leaf’s jersey?
• Anyone know a mediator specialized in neighbour disputes in Montreal, QC? – see Samual L Jackson in Lakeview Terrace, might give you some ideas
• Where is the best place for happy hour on a Friday afternoon in Ottawa? – somebody has their priorities straight

I will continue to monitor and update this list later in the year with more unique questions that are being asked.

1) Create an account and if your business uses Twitter, connect it to your twitter feed
2) Monitor the questions
3) If a user is asking for a recommendation on your business category or you think you can help them out, provide a recommendation. I suggest that you disclose that you are recommending your own business. In the comments field give some insight into why that person should do business with you.

What this does for a local business is gives them direct access to users who might be interested in their products or services and opens a dialogue with users.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Would you follow your favorite healthy pizza place on Twitter? Through the power of Twitter, originally posted by @perryevans, which I found through a ReTweet by @sebprovencher – I am now following NakedPizza, a New Orleans super-health conscious pizza joint. The article that my twitter friends were talking about is “A Sign Of Things To Come: Naked Pizza Erects Twitter Billboard” from TechCrunch.

So, what did NakedPizza do that deserves such mention? Simple. They are using traditional media combined with social media to stay connected with their customers. Check out the picture below from TechCrunch.

From the article – “But if a business can get a customer to add their Twitter handle, it gets a free channel to constantly remind them that they exist. By tweeting out promotions a few times a week, Naked Pizza will maintain a presence in the customer’s consciousness, and the customer gets a chance to score some cheap pizza.”

What a brilliant strategy from a small business. Back in 2005, when I operated KS2 Solutions Inc., a Calgary based Internet Marketing firm, I did a lot of public speaking about small business marketing and how SMB’s could leverage the Internet. In February of that year I posted a blog titled, “Are You Letting Sales Slip Away” in which I discussed the importance of staying connected with your customers. At that time, the message in terms of doing this was through a eNewsletter, however, move ahead 4-years and now there is Twitter.

Twitter is likely one of the best tools, since eNewsletters, for constant communication with your customers. From a user perspective, I can follow my favorite local, regional or national brand players who will inform me through tiny 140 character updates about products, specials or whatever. When I compare Twitter to Email, I see 3 key advantages –

1) more viral, easier to share Tweets as opposed to forwarding emails
2) promotes two-way communication
3) small, short and focused messages, no more rambling newsletters about how great you are

I am still a fan of the eNewsletter but Twitter could be the next best thing to staying connected with your customers.

By the numbers, as of this posting:

1942 – the number of people following @NakedPizza
62 – the number of comments on the article posted on TechCrunch (note: was 60 when I started writing this blog post)
4 – the number of times my wife has asked me if I am done yet

Naked Pizza
0 0 6307 S Miro, New Orleans
(504) 865-0244

Popularity: 1% [?]