COMPUSA: Another Recipient of the Customer Disservice Award
That's right folks, COMP
USA has earned one of my customer disservice awards, which is a nice way of saying, "F COMP
USA." (Sorry Mom about using the "F" word, but sometimes it is the only word adequate to express my depth of feeling.) When companies practice exceptional customer service, I recognize it. I proudly display logo links for Canon and Belkin on this site for their "above and beyond the call of duty customer service." COMP
USA, however, has risen to the top of my customer dissatisfaction list and here is why:
We are a MAC family. My son John has an iBook and attends LSU. One of his classes, ISDS is, what amounts to, training for Microsoft Office 2003. If you are going into business, you must know your way around Microsoft Office and Windows XP. He has software for the class that does not run on the MAC. Therefore, he needs the use of a PC.
Solutions:• He could use his roommate's PC, but that would probably be a problem, because they are in the same class. I can see time conflicts on the horizon, especially the night before a test.
• We could buy him a PC. That solution works in function, but I don't like the cost factor.
• We could buy Microsoft Virtual PC for the MAC bundled with Windows XP for about $249 and John could run Windows XP and his class software on his MAC. This is the way to go.
He, of course, needed the software installed ASAP, since the class is underway. After some investigating I found out I could either order the software online and get it Monday for $239 total or drive to New Orleans and get it at COMP
USA for $249 plus tax. I decided to pay the extra money so I could get it all installed and working properly before John headed back to Baton Rouge Sunday evening after work.
Before driving the hour to New Orleans, I wanted to make sure COMP
USA had the software in stock. I called and of course was launched into voice mail hell. The flat, monotone, impersonal voice tried to navigate me through their customer service nether world. Finally, I got to the part about checking for PRODUCT AVAILABILITY AT A PARTICULAR STORE. "Thar she blows" I said and pushed in the product number and my zip code as instructed by the voice which sounded as if it were attached to a narcoleptic Dracula. The voice confirmed that the Metairie COMP
USA did in fact have the software.
Barbara and I had some other errands to run so we took care of that before making the trek to New Orleans. We figured, while we were over there, we could eat at one of our favorite restaurants. We got to COMP
USA at 6:00 PM. Next door was a Dress Barn so Barbara went in there while I browsed around in COMP
USA. I could not find the software on my own so I had to do the thing most men hate to do. I had to ask for help, damn. The clerk looked in the same spot I had just looked. I began thinking, "Uh oh." Then he walked off. Then he came back and told me someone was looking for it. Then he came back and said, "We don't have it in stock." Honestly, I was not surprised. I knew the narcoleptic Dracula voice may have been pulling my leg so he could derive some sort of twisted satisfaction. I said, "Are you sure? Because I called and the narcolepsic Dracula guy said you had one." The clerk told me, "That item is an online only product." All of a sudden his voice was starting to sound like narcoleptic Dracula. I could feel my heart pound harder and my breathing increase. All of the clerks were starting to look alike and sound alike. I was in the middle of a bad horror movie. I mustered a complaint, "The narcoleptic Dracula said you had this product in this store and I drove all the way from Covington to get it." The clerk's response was, "Sorry."
That was that. I left the store, pulled Barbara out of the dress barn and began releasing my dissatisfaction by skillfully stringing together curse words and promising to blog about the injustice. I am making good on that threat right now, muahahahahah. That will show them. Dump their stock folks, because when this post gets out, it is going to nose dive.
In New Orleans we see disappointment as an opportunity to have a party, so Barbara and I had a nice Mexican dinner and a visit to the Krispy Kreme Donut Shop, who are on my exceptional customer service list. Keep those free, hot, melt in your mouth, donuts coming folks. The evening was not a total loss. I came home and ordered the software online from MacMall for the $239. I will have it Monday.
End of story.
Here's to those of you, know matter who you work for, who deliver customer service that exceeds expectations, unfortunately you are in a small group.
PS - I shouldn't have bragged about the weather yesterday. Today it is 30 degrees with winds from the north at 17. I get to run my 12 miles in the refrigerator today.
This just in: Thank you
Andie Pandie for
this link. Apparently, I am not the only one COMP
USA has victimized.
Until the next time
John Strain