Avis service recovery - he DID try harder (eventually)

I had an interesting experience renting a car from Avis yesterday. Initially, it seemed like just another example of poor service.  At the end, I was pleasantly surprised to see the agent make an attempt at recovery.

This situation was a "moment of truth" because I had just signed up as an Avis "Preferred" member where I could skip the rental counter and go straight to my car.  Unfortunately, my name wasn't on the "preferred" list when I got to the rental car area, so I was a bit deflated. I noticed an "Avis Preferred" office, so I decided to go in and see if they could get my rental straightened out.

The agent who helped me definitely didn't live up to the "we try harder" motto.  He tried every trick in the book to make me go away. "You'll need to go to the rental counter." (Well, can't you at least look up my reservation?) "I'll have to stop serving you if a Preferred member comes in." (Aren't I a Preferred member?) "You're not in the program until you get your card in the mail - it takes 2 to 3 weeks." (I DID get my card in the mail, now what?)  "You'll have to call customer service." (I'll HAVE to call?! Can't you help me?)

Finally, after trying everything he could to get me to go away, the agent found my reservation in the system, verified I WAS a Preferred member, and printed out my contract. No apology was offered, but at least I had my rental car and I didn't have to go all the way back to the rental counter.

The surprise happened when I got in the car and started exiting the rental car garage.  I saw the agent leave the office and motion to me to roll down my window.  I stopped and he said with a smile, "I think I figured out why you weren't on the Preferred list!" He went on to explain that since my reservation was made before I became a Preferred member, the reservation didn't automatically upgrade to Preferred status. He assured me that I would be all set going forward with any new reservation.

All told, it wasn't a great experience, but I did appreciate the agent trying to turn things after our initial encounter. To me, that's the true lesson.  We'll all have moments when we say the wrong thing or drop the ball in some way.  What matters most is what we do after that moment has passed.

Update on Cox Communications: Recovery Attempt

I posted a story earlier this week about some frustrating experiences I had with Cox Communications. One of my main points is I had received poor service and two Cox employees had missed the opportunity to fully rectify the situation. With this in mind, I was a little surprised to see that Cox was apparently trying to reach out to me through my blog by making the following comment on my post:

Click to read more ...

The Rising Cost of Recovery

A few months ago, I wrote a post about a service recovery related to my stay at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco. (Read the post here.) Well, the epilogue to that story is quite interesting and also a great reminder that service recovery becomes increasingly expensive the longer you let the problem continue.

To bring you up to speed, the short version of the story is I experienced some minor problems while staying at the hotel in May. A few days later, I filled out an online survey noting the good and bad aspects of my visit. Not long after I submitted the survey, the hotel's Front Office Manager called me to follow-up and promised to send me a certificate for a free night's stay as an apology for the poor service. Unfortunately, the certificate never arrived.

The Story Continues
A week or so ago I received a phone call from the Front Office Manager. "Mr. Toister," he said, "I understand you never received that certificate we promised you."

"Yes, that's true," I said.

"Well, I don't know what happened, maybe my assistant forgot to send it. I'll have my assistant send one out to you first thing next week."

I got off the phone and thought about the conversation. It was great to get the follow-up phone call, but the manager was deflecting ownership. The certificate would have been nice to receive in May, but now it was not enough to entice me to return. So, I called the manager back and laid it out for him. I told him I was planning to visit the area again later this year and stay for three nights. I was also meeting a friend, so I'd need two hotel rooms for three nights apiece. One free night wouldn't get me to stay there, so was there anything else he was willing to do?

The manager offered to comp one of the rooms for the three nights and give me a good rate on the other room. Yes, that was enough for me to make a reservation and give the Sir Francis Drake another try.

Cost Escalation
If you look carefully at this situation, you can see how recovery got increasingly expensive.

1. An apology. I was impressed the manager called me to follow-up on the survey and apologize for the poor service. That was enough to make me consider his hotel the next time I traveled to San Francisco.
2. A free room night. The offer of one free night was very generous and I was even more impressed. Had the certificate arrived in a timely fashion, it is likely I would have made a reservation at the hotel for my upcoming trip.
3. Three free room nights. Of course, the promised certificate never arrived, so the manager had to up the offer to three free room nights to get me to stay there.

The purpose of service recovery is to retain the business and maintain the organization's reputation. In this case, the cost of service recovery escalated from a simple phone call and an apology to three free nights. The lesson here is the faster you can recover, the less it is likely to cost you.

Fumble, Recovery, and Fumble Again at the Sir Francis Drake

A well-executed service recovery can go a long to towards cementing a positive reputation in a customer's mind. On the other hand, a poorly-executed recovery can make a bad experience that much worse. My wife, Sally, and I recently experienced both after staying at the historic Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco. Here's a quick re-cap of what went right, what went wrong, and something just for fun.

The Stay
We decided to stay at the Sir Francis Drake hotel on a recent trip to San Francisco because of its proximity to Union Square, the fact it is a Kimpton hotel (we like Kimpton), and above all else the historic, but quirky image it projects. Overall, the stay was good and in line with our expectations, but we did experience a small problem at check in.

We arrived early, so our room wasn't yet ready. This wasn't a big deal, so went out for a bite to eat. We checked back after an hour and a half and were told the room would be ready in 20 minutes, so we continued waiting in the lobby. Another 45 minutes went by before we checked with the front desk agent again (who knew we were waiting) and she admitted she had forgotten about us. Finally, we got checked in, but then had to wait another 30 minutes for the bellman to bring our bags to the room (after being told they would be right up). None of this was major news, but it wasn't as high a level of service as we would expect.

The Recovery
Like many hotels, Kimpton sends out a survey to guests after they stay at one of its properties. I took a few moments to complete their survey, giving full credit for the exemplary service we received in several areas and also mentioning the small service problem at check in. To my surprise, the front desk manager called me a day or two later to ask for additional feedback. He was very polite, very apologetic, and offered to send me a certificate for a free night's stay to make amends for the problem. This was much more than I expected, so I was very happy. The manager's actions also caused Sally and I to rethink our decision to try another hotel the next time we visited the area.

The Fumble
The promised certificate never arrived. Maybe my neighbors received it instead, or maybe the mailman's dog ate it, or maybe the front desk manager never sent it. The reason it never arrived doesn't really matter at this point, and I don't plan on calling to ask for it. Yes, it would be nice to have a free night's stay, but the issue was great service (or lack of), not getting compensated. What is really too bad is Sally and I felt the front desk manager had worked so hard to recover our future business before this disappointing turn of events.

A Final Surprise
Did I mention 'quirky' was one of the reasons we decided to stay at the hotel in the first place? Our room was very small, but it did have a walk-in closet. In the closet was a set of leopard-print pajamas for sale. Simply open the plastic and enjoy, and a small charge of $30 will be added to your room bill. Nice.