How to (almost) lose a customer

Last August I went to a local baby furniture store to buy a crib for my 3-month old daughter. The one I wanted was out of stock, so they had to order it. Fair enough. It was a good deal, and I figured we could wait the one week they said it would take to arrive.

Two weeks later, I got a call from the store that the crib was in. I drove the 20 minutes to their store only to find out they had ordered the wrong color. They offered to order it again. I said fine, but I wanted a discount for my troubles. They gave me 10% off. Okay. I'm a patient, forgiving guy, so I took the offer.

Two weeks later, the crib arrived and I'm assured over the phone that it's the correct color this time. I drove 20 minutes to their store...only to find out that it was again the wrong color. They offered to order it again, and I said fine, but that I wanted free delivery once it came in. The manager in charge that day agreed.

Three weeks later (and two months after my initial visit), I got a call that the crib was in and I was assured that it is the correct color. I asked about the free delivery. I was again assured that everything would be taken care of.

The next day, my wife took a message from the store manager saying that the delivery arrangements went against store policy and that she would only credit us $50 toward the $75 delivery fee. Fuming, I called back the following day and asked why our promised free delivery was no longer free. Turns out they wrote our address down wrong, and that the $50 credit would have covered delivery to that wrong address. The manager cheerfully corrected the matter and credited my account the full $75.

Though everything turned out okay (the right colored crib was delivered on time), I learned a few lessons about quality customer service by enduring lousy customer service:

1. Get the freakin' order right the first time.
2. If you do screw up the order, the customer should not have to ask for compensation. You should offer it before the customer asks.
3. If you do make a deal with the customer, honor it, even if it goes against the Holy Company Policy manual. Saving a few dollars now is not worth losing hundreds of dollars in sales later.