No customer obsession, please!

So. I have a Whirlpool dishwasher that came with my newly built townhouse. A few months ago, there was a minor problem. I called the service center, they sent a technician who fixed it promptly, and it was a good experience I hardly remember. Last week, it broke again for a different reason.

I called the service center and, after waiting for 5 minutes while being repeatedly told to book a service online, I did just that.

On the scheduled day, the technician showed up and asked for a dated receipt to prove the warranty was still in effect. I explained that the dishwasher came with the house and showed him an inspection report from Ontario's housing insurance company, which is what everyone else had been asking for so far. He said he couldn't recognize it and needed to see a document of possession from the lawyers. I couldn't produce it on the spot because I didn't know what it was, and he couldn't tell me the exact name of the document.

While I spent some time looking through my bookshelf, he took a look at the dishwasher and appeared clueless about the problem.

I asked if I could call the service center or even check with the technician who came last time to confirm if he should accept my document. He said he couldn't, and any instructions had to be written in his work order.

I asked how much it would cost if I just paid him. He said $150 plus tax, adding that I wouldn't be able to expense it later to the warranty because the corporate office would decline on the grounds of "why didn't you clear it up before you paid?"

He then politely waited for about 10 minutes while I kept looking through my bookshelf. Eventually, he told me he had to go to his next customer and that I should call the service center the day after. He explained that the service center would be confused if I called on the same day since there was already a technician visit. He advised me to tell them to put in the work order what documents to accept.

I asked for his card (intending to possibly give a bad review), but he told me he didn't have one. He explained that he worked with Whirlpool directly and therefore (?) didn't have a card. He then left.

Business Analyst Hat

Result: Product is unfixed, and the customer is unhappy. Despite showing up at the customer site, having the tools and the time to fix the problem, the agent could not do it because of confusion over paperwork.

Gaps:

• The agent lacks detailed specifications of the job and the ability to retrieve them from headquarters. The customer is asked to prove themselves by producing unknown documents.
• The agent has no agency to improve the customer experience. The agent did not appear to try particularly hard to help the customer. Even if he did, he could not justify working without hard evidence of warranty.
• The headquarters has no fail-safe to salvage the customer experience. It appears reasonable to give instructions to agents on site or to honor a warranty claim after the customer pays for it.
• The headquarters is not collecting feedback data. Customer trust is eroded, but customer feedback is not solicited via surveys or the agent.

Management Consultant Hat

Consultant: Do you consider warranty service an important part of the business?

CEO: Yes, of course.

Consultant: If the customer couldn't produce proof of warranty, would you fix the product regardless and risk working for free?

CEO: No, of course not.

Consultant: But the alternative is to risk losing customer trust.

CEO: We accept that risk. We are a company of rules; we cannot let the customer get away with skimming us.

Consultant: Aren't you afraid the customer will be unhappy and go to your competitors?

CEO: We have been operating this way for many decades. We have no data to suggest customers will do that.

Consultant: Would you consider investing in a customer service department to modernize the workflows, empower the agents, and collect customer feedback to measure your improvements?

CEO: Ideally yes, but we are always short on funds. Plus, we have a long tradition of prioritizing investments in marketing. To be honest, if I keep doing that, I will keep my job. If I prioritize customer service, I will raise some eyebrows from the board.

Amazon.com Hat

The first Leadership Principle is Customer Obsession

Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.

Leaders are selected and promoted based on how well they exercise the principle of Customer Obsession. Implementing systems to earn customer trust is the default. Keeping systems that erode customer trust requires substantial justification.