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Post by pre65 on Jun 9, 2016 7:59:13 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Jun 10, 2016 6:11:46 GMT
I must put in a good word for TonyC of Coherent. His customer service has been impeccable, but what I find most impressive is his system diagnostic skills. His background in the recording studio and playing in a band certainly give him first hand experience of how music should sound, as well as his superb design work with his own professional file-based music server software and hardware.
You can play him half a dozen tracks on your system and he will analyse with remarkable accuracy what's working well and what could be improved upon. There's lots of good advice and never any sales talk. That gets my recommendation.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 10, 2016 14:24:15 GMT
So those tales of quality service are remembered more so by the people that received good service as it sticks in your mind. Customer service comes in may forms, from that late call to a supplier who goes out of the way to make sure your receive your purchase the next day. A shop that goes the extra mile to make sure your purchase is installed and working correctly and explains how to understand it and not just use it. For me customer service really matters when something is non standard, doesn't quite fit, "never happened before" or a constant problem occurs. How well does the shop/supplier/manufacturer deal with the problem. Yes you can purchase a cheap large screen TV for a fraction of the cost when they were first introduced, and on line you can order in the morning and accept delivery later that day Wow that's great customer service, yes but hold on? No lets assume there is a problem with said TV after 6 months, still under warranty so you make the call' Certainly sir you are covered no problem, we will collect the set on this day, anytime between 8.30 and 5.30 sir can not give you an exact time, make sure the TV is boxed up properly and ready for collection" So a day off work, plus you have to demount TV from wall etc, do you obtain a loan set?, not likely from a chain store, how long will it take?, will it be a repair of straight swap out?, delivery again between 8.30 and 5.30 another day off work or the mother in law bunch of flowers and bottle of Hendricks  plus you have to remount the set etc. Also what about the TV during its away time, do they you give you a loan set lol! Customer service from an independent retailer worth their salt would have come out at a time to suit you, taken the faulty unit away, loaned you a replacement while yours was being sorted out, then agreed an mutually convenient time to come and return the set, yes you pay more up front, however the hassle factor and time off work are they really worth it? The response to a cock up shows a really good company. Moving heaven and earth to sort the problem. Known to be a way to cement a good customer relationship - for the suppliers that care and understand of course. I make a conscious decision when I pick a supplier. I have been surprised by how good the cheap supplier can be and also what bare faced liars the expensive suppliers can be. If the supplier has all their systems running really well they can supply at a good price and still provide good service and support. |
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Post by davidf on Jun 10, 2016 21:29:28 GMT
I expect to be treated in the same way I would treat people.
I'm mixed about online sales. I don't expect much in the way of service when I'm buying online, but I'll research as much as possible whatever I'm looking at. The only real service I would expect is if something goes wrong or the item needs exchanging etc.
My best AND worst has been Amazon. They are very good for exchanging things, but when I order a record, I don't expect the shrink wrapped record to just have a delivery sticker slapped on it and sent to me - I want some packaging, especially when I'm paying £50-80 for something special. That has happened to me three times with them, and they've sent similar things in insufficient packaging.
On the subject of Amazon, their easy returns comes with a heavy price for third party sellers - we've had stuff back in disgusting condition, with bits missing, packaging missing etc. We've had Rega RP1 turntables returned to us literally put back in the outer box - no packaging! Crash, bang, boom. But Amazon don't care, because they'll take back anything for any reason, it doesn't matter if bits are missing or it's going to get damaged upon returning. I do believe we had a Chord Mojo DAC retuned to us which was an empty box! Amazon have no respect for the sellers that sell via their site making them money. Just a personal observation - I use Amazon a fair amount, probably more than I would like to.
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Post by MartinT on Mar 21, 2017 9:52:04 GMT
I've just had experience of another company that used to offer excellent service but have now dropped off a cliff. I've used Black Circles for many years to buy my tyres, they've been faultless, supplied the tyres I wanted at low prices and organised delivery to the fitter of my choice. The website was good and when I had cause to call them they were always very helpful.
All this has changed. The first black cloud is that all phone numbers have been removed from the website. Next was that I was unable to reorder the Hankook Ventus V12 Evo 2 tyres I know and like from the site, stating that they were unavailable. Fair enough, I'll talk to them about it, see if they can get them in for me, I thought. Ah, no telephone number. So I 'chatted' with the sales droid online. This person was utterly useless, didn't know the products and even suggested that I e-mail customer service for further information. Err, I thought he WAS customer service! So next I e-mailed customer service who then replied, after over 24 hours, with a curt message that the tyres are unavailable. No apology, no explanation, no alternative suggestions, no follow-up whatsoever. So I asked them for more information and they went dead on me. This morning I looked at the website again and couldn't login to get to my order history. Co-incidence?
I've had enough, they've lost me as a customer. I went to Micheldever, who are only a few miles away. They were able to supply Falken Azenis FK-453 for virtually the same price and can fit them on Saturday. Job done.
Customers are so hard won and so easily lost, why would BC not put in the effort to keep me?
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 21, 2017 10:27:34 GMT
That's a real shame Martin, I hope I have better luck with them as the process was faultless last time I used BC.
BTW my Falken tyres have been superb - hope yours are too ...
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Post by MartinT on Mar 21, 2017 10:50:37 GMT
I'm looking forward to swapping them as I've had a slow puncture on one of the rears and have had to pump them up every three days  The Falkens have a good rep so I shall see, but the Hankooks are superb and will take some beating. |
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Post by The Brookmeister on Mar 21, 2017 19:10:01 GMT
I would question the comment about Amazon as I sell on there.
They have the most ruthless business model of any company I have ever known.
They grey import regularly, for anyone not familiar with this, take a can of de-oxit D5, the UK distributer/importer is Probus Electronics. They are the authorized agent for the UK, so in a fair market if Amazon are selling de-oxit on their UK website one would assume they buy it from Probus like the rest of us surely? Err not likely, they go direct to Caig in the USA with a big order and grey import it into the UK and undercut all the UK sellers who have stocks of it. They sell the can for £19.95 inc delivery, most of us pay £14 plus VAT and then have to pay amazon between 10 and 15% commission to sell it on their site and £2.50 postage even before we add a modest profit margin.
So its impossible to compete with Amazon and they are also putting the UK importer potentially out of business but they don't care about that do they!
I have plenty more examples and hopefully one day the public will wake up and realize what is happening. Some manufacturers refuse to compromise and keep on supporting their dealer network but Amazons sheer buying power means many will cave in and accept the order is its usually huge.
They even sell items they are not authorized retailers for by purchasing from other countries and under cutting existing sellers again. They then have the audacity to let sellers know they are not competitive on certain items and show them what the price needs to be lowered to to gain the buy box, its always Amazon themselves we need to beat on price, pathetic really and an insult to our industry.
It won't be just my products they do this with it will be site wide.
They have been doing this for years, monitor the biggest selling items offered for sale by vendors on their marketplace, (like me), once an item reaches a significant sales level they source it directly and undercut the sellers. The only way to compete is to match them which usually results in selling at a loss.
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Post by MartinT on Mar 21, 2017 19:52:55 GMT
I dare say eBay do the same?
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Post by The Brookmeister on Mar 21, 2017 21:35:22 GMT
I dare say eBay do the same? NO. |
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Post by MartinT on Mar 21, 2017 22:55:38 GMT
Interesting - what's the business model? They allow all the traders to do their own thing without interference?
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Post by ChrisB on Mar 21, 2017 23:08:52 GMT
Ebay don't have their own sales operation as Amazon do though, Martin.
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Post by MartinT on Mar 22, 2017 0:03:38 GMT
Yes, I understand, but I wondered if they 'operated' some of them to control pricing.
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Post by John on Mar 22, 2017 7:25:05 GMT
When selling you can choose the courier on eBay and the price
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Post by Slinger on Feb 6, 2023 14:58:50 GMT
A message to my eBay account... It's the second time I've ordered from them, and I have nothing but praise for their customer service. There was a problem with my first order (entirely my fault, I ordered the right thing with the wrong fitting  and only noticed after I'd sent the order) and they sorted it out for me, no questions asked, and no fuss. Postage was US $3.00 (approx £2.47) per item by the way. p.s. I've just received this... |
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Post by MikeMusic on Feb 6, 2023 15:27:47 GMT
He's a Michael ! What do you expect  |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 6, 2023 21:13:04 GMT
I've had some eBay vendors write nice little notes to me. The personal touch counts for a lot.
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Post by MikeMusic on Feb 6, 2023 21:28:31 GMT
Me too
Even for 2 quid on a CD
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plus you have to remount the set etc.
