In the past month a business associate and I have experienced disappointing customer service. A few examples have come from hearing aid manufacturers. In one instance the manufacturer sent hearing aids out, but did not “connect” the serial numbers in their system to a specific patient name. Instead of just fixing the error in their system the hearing aids had to be sent back to the manufacturer so they could address the paperwork problem in house.
Another disappointing customer service instance was when wrong serial numbers were applied (therefore the wrong name attached) to extended warranties. Fortunately, this one was handled by phone. Although it was “only” a phone call it took around 45 minutes to figure out and correct. A third instance involved extended warranties about which the patient was informed, but the practice was not. It required more than one phone call to determine whether the patient’s hearing aids were covered. Even worse, the practice was in the uncomfortable position of having to find out whether the price quoted to the patient was correct. Each phone call was taken by a different person at the company. Each one gave a different answer.
In all of these situations the manufacturer or extended warranty company was not very accommodating, failing to acknowledge that a keystroke mistake on their part snowballed into extra minutes and even hours of staff time in the practice to identify and correct what the companies considered “minor errors”. From my experience, small business audiology practices’ overheads can be as much as $250 an hour and cash flow sensitivity is very high. Given those variables, hour(s) spent on the phone correcting suppliers’ errors is not minor at all!
Not only should practitioners have high standards for customer service for those we serve, but we should expect it as well. Bad Service Blues provides a global poll showing that almost 70% of those who do not feel they received good customer service end up ditching the brand. We in the profession and in the industry should take this to heart when providing and receiving services. In these competitive times, high quality services on both sides of the equation becomes especially important. Customer service may be the only thing that sets us apart from the others offering hearing aids in different delivery models.
I do not ditch a hearing aid company after only one bad experience. I have been loyal to several over the years because on occasion they have gone above and beyond typical care. I do try to give the company a chance to make things right as I hope others will do for my offices as well if we do not give excellent customer service.
