Not that I did not care before, but now that I am in business school, I have a heightened awareness when the inefficiencies of a business cut into the value of the product I think I am purchasing. Take for example JC Penny Home store- this is a great looking store with many options for couches, furniture, and bed/bath accessories. I thought I was lucky to find such a place while visiting my sister in Phoenix, Arizona. Little did I know... 
I was specifically looking for a couch to replace my couch I have had since the beginning of college. The sales lady who ended up “helping” us obviously did not want to be working on that Saturday January 7th (the day before my birthday) so I practically had to beg her to help me find a sleeper sofa. She proceeds to tell me that there are only three sleeper sofa models in the store and takes me to them. She promptly walks away after showing me these sofas... one would think maybe she is not into high pressure sales and is being polite, but you would be giving her the benefit of the doubt since she did not return; I had to go chase her down. On top of which, Chris and Jeff spotted 2-3 more sofas that were actually sleeper sectionals! Does this woman know how to do her job?
Anyway, I finally pick a sofa and she tells me they don't have that one in the showroom to sell me; they have to order it and it will take 6-8 weeks. I assumed that would be the case, since who really keeps an inventory of sofas? There is too much variability in the colors and choices to keep a stock of sofas in the back. Anyway, she neglected to mention that it was a special order and there was no refund. So I put down my 20% deposit, I choose a color (after agonizing over this decision, I go with what I have right now- light blue) and we leave.
Back in California, 7 weeks later, I start to wonder why no one has called me. In week 8, I start to call JC Penny customer service. No one can find my order. I think this is probably why the sofa is taking so long. I call the store directly and they find my order (I write down the order number so this problem can be avoided next time). They tell me "special orders" take 8-10 weeks (this is the first time I hear about the long 8-10 week wait) then they assure me the delivery of my couch should be on time. At week 10 I call customer service again and finally reach someone willing to actually figure out what is going on. She calls the Peoria, AZ store and talks to someone in furniture. The sales rep calls me back on my cell and leaves a message that they have a date the couch should be leaving the third party manufacturer. The following week I call up to cancel the order. They are now 3 weeks over the time I was told it would arrive, and a week over the updated schedule. I speak with a customer sales representative at the store and he argues with me that I would never have been told 6-8 weeks for delivery. This guy should take a refresher in sales (so should my sales lady...)- the customer is ALWAYS right. Even if I was wrong, arguing with my memory will only worsen my impression of the business. As Drucker says, there are no irrational customers, only businesses who do not understand their customer's needs. This sales guy cannot help me since he makes no decisions on money matters and the manager is not in today (is this good business practice either? shouldn't there always be someone who can deal with elevated issues?)
I am so pissed off, I leave the whole thing alone for a week. I receive a call in week 13 that my sofa is ready for delivery. In week 14, I call to deliver the couch. I have given up and want to either get my money back or have a damn couch. Either way, I have learned an important lesson- JC Penny service sucks and I will never shop with them again. I call the number for deliveries and after 5 minutes on hold I hang up. I decide to call JC Penny corporate (this is the ONLY number where I do not wait on the phone for LONG periods of time) and tell them that I am not paying for a couch that is 6 weeks late and from a business that cannot provide customer service. The woman there writes everything down and tells me the manager from the warehouse will call me back that day. The manager calls the following morning and says she can schedule a delivery for me. I tell her the issue is not scheduling, it is their service and that my couch is so unbelievably late that I owe them nothing- cancel my order or make it worth my while to take delivery of this couch (oh and by the way, JC Penny is on my black list). She offers to drop the price 15% and I take the offer in order to NOT deal with this anymore. We schedule a delivery for Saturday the 7th of April (this is 16 weeks after ordering the couch). Paul takes delivery and when I come home, this is what I see:
I was specifically looking for a couch to replace my couch I have had since the beginning of college. The sales lady who ended up “helping” us obviously did not want to be working on that Saturday January 7th (the day before my birthday) so I practically had to beg her to help me find a sleeper sofa. She proceeds to tell me that there are only three sleeper sofa models in the store and takes me to them. She promptly walks away after showing me these sofas... one would think maybe she is not into high pressure sales and is being polite, but you would be giving her the benefit of the doubt since she did not return; I had to go chase her down. On top of which, Chris and Jeff spotted 2-3 more sofas that were actually sleeper sectionals! Does this woman know how to do her job?
Anyway, I finally pick a sofa and she tells me they don't have that one in the showroom to sell me; they have to order it and it will take 6-8 weeks. I assumed that would be the case, since who really keeps an inventory of sofas? There is too much variability in the colors and choices to keep a stock of sofas in the back. Anyway, she neglected to mention that it was a special order and there was no refund. So I put down my 20% deposit, I choose a color (after agonizing over this decision, I go with what I have right now- light blue) and we leave.
Back in California, 7 weeks later, I start to wonder why no one has called me. In week 8, I start to call JC Penny customer service. No one can find my order. I think this is probably why the sofa is taking so long. I call the store directly and they find my order (I write down the order number so this problem can be avoided next time). They tell me "special orders" take 8-10 weeks (this is the first time I hear about the long 8-10 week wait) then they assure me the delivery of my couch should be on time. At week 10 I call customer service again and finally reach someone willing to actually figure out what is going on. She calls the Peoria, AZ store and talks to someone in furniture. The sales rep calls me back on my cell and leaves a message that they have a date the couch should be leaving the third party manufacturer. The following week I call up to cancel the order. They are now 3 weeks over the time I was told it would arrive, and a week over the updated schedule. I speak with a customer sales representative at the store and he argues with me that I would never have been told 6-8 weeks for delivery. This guy should take a refresher in sales (so should my sales lady...)- the customer is ALWAYS right. Even if I was wrong, arguing with my memory will only worsen my impression of the business. As Drucker says, there are no irrational customers, only businesses who do not understand their customer's needs. This sales guy cannot help me since he makes no decisions on money matters and the manager is not in today (is this good business practice either? shouldn't there always be someone who can deal with elevated issues?)
I am so pissed off, I leave the whole thing alone for a week. I receive a call in week 13 that my sofa is ready for delivery. In week 14, I call to deliver the couch. I have given up and want to either get my money back or have a damn couch. Either way, I have learned an important lesson- JC Penny service sucks and I will never shop with them again. I call the number for deliveries and after 5 minutes on hold I hang up. I decide to call JC Penny corporate (this is the ONLY number where I do not wait on the phone for LONG periods of time) and tell them that I am not paying for a couch that is 6 weeks late and from a business that cannot provide customer service. The woman there writes everything down and tells me the manager from the warehouse will call me back that day. The manager calls the following morning and says she can schedule a delivery for me. I tell her the issue is not scheduling, it is their service and that my couch is so unbelievably late that I owe them nothing- cancel my order or make it worth my while to take delivery of this couch (oh and by the way, JC Penny is on my black list). She offers to drop the price 15% and I take the offer in order to NOT deal with this anymore. We schedule a delivery for Saturday the 7th of April (this is 16 weeks after ordering the couch). Paul takes delivery and when I come home, this is what I see:
Did I mention I ordered a blue couch?
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