I had quite the customer service experience the other day when I took my daughter for ice cream. It’s a negative lesson but can be a great reminder of what goes on behind the scenes in your business that could be causing issues you don’t even know about.
We decided to visit our favorite ice cream place in person for the first time in over a year. It’s not cheap, but we always had a great experience. At about 8PM, we piled in the car and drove over. Before the pandemic it was light, airy a fun place with teens on dates, parents with small families and middle schoolers being loud and doing what they do. The ice cream has always been high quality and it’s a fun way to do something together. It’s not cheap though. But totally was worth it.
But that was not our experience this time. Even now, with all the vaccinations and being over a year out from the pandemic, this was no fun. We walked up and there was a HUGE warning sign on door about masking up. Then as we walked in it was moderately crowded, not as crowded as usual in normal times, but oddly quiet. Everyone was standing against the walls, waiting on their orders in silence. There was not a sound of fun in the air. Then we ordered and the wait began. I can understand being busy but it took 25 minutes to get two ice cream cones. Maybe we always waited that long, but the fun made the time pass. But this felt like waiting for Godot. We finally got ours and headed out when I realized, to my disappointment, that my chocolate peanut butter ice cream had no peanut butter in it.
None of the things that went wrong on this trip were earth shattering or angering to me. I recognize this is a first world problem. But as got to the car I was thinking that I don’t want the hassle of getting back in line to get the right ice cream. And then I could feel a snap decision come over me, I don’t want to come back here, it’s not worth the headache for the premium price.
And just like that they lost a customer. I’ll try somewhere else.
That’s how it happens, not all your customers will give you feedback. Sometimes you learn they are unhappy when they go down the road to your competition.
