Customer Service To Remember

Whenever I have to buy something or even get a quote, I always pay close attention to the service being offered. While I do purchase many products online, the buying experience is still an important one to me which is why, when I receive excellent customer service (and a great price) I always do my best to pay it forward. I have had some atrocious experiences with various companies and at a myriad of stores and dealerships over the years but I have also had some excellent transactions which have made the experience much more pleasant. In those instances, I also make sure to seek that sales person out when returning to the store.

My recent car ordeal was a perfect example of this as I experienced the range of interactions between the various dealerships. Once my brother’s dealership was ruled out (they don’t sell the car that I settled on), I proceeded to stop by a variety of Mercedes dealers to both talk with a sales person and see what price they could offer. My first stop was to Tom Masano in Reading where the sales woman with whom I spoke was excellent and they offered a great price. The second stop was to Mercedes-Benz of Fort Washington where they were less than welcoming and brushed me off not even bothering to follow up with a reasonable offer. The third was to Euro Motorcars of Devon where I received the same excellent experience that I had in Reading and they came back with a better price. Deal done.

More recently, I have experienced the same variety of satisfaction when getting quotes for the initial projects that we wanted to get done around the house. Some of the contractors listened to exactly what I wanted, others just went about designing something that didn’t make much sense at all. Some prices were really high and others were lower than I was expecting. However, while price was an important factor, it was the interaction that I had with each of the companies that really made the difference as some were clearly looking at the task with dollar signs in mind while others, one in particular, took the time to make sure it was the solution that made the most sense and that would be done right.

Even with regard to our banking, the way that we are treated makes a huge difference. While the hours and locations are convenient, TD Bank has continued to offer one of the worst customer experiences that I have ever encountered with a financial institution. We have already switched our primary banking and now we will be transitioning our secondary banking in the near future as these other institutions are actually pleasant to deal with on a regular basis and haven’t hampered us with ridiculous charges.

Of course, there are the basic retail sales associates that I know by name that have made many transactions much more pleasant in recent years like Dave at Raymour & Flanigan, Frank at Coins & Currency of Wayne, my cousin when I need clothes, many employees at the local Lowe’s, the entire staff at Tanner’s Sports Center, and many other people at various local businesses. Additionally, the customer support teams at Amazon and Sportsman’s Guide have been excellent as of late. Great people that continue to make things just a little easier.