Tag Archives: customer service

Thumbs Up for Fitbit



Fitbit LogoAll too often we hear stories of poor customer service so I want to give some props to Fitbit who replaced my Flex with no fuss or special blogger treatment. Here’s how it went down….

Faulty Fitbit FlexI’ve had a Fitbit Flex for nearly two years and it’s one of my favourites as it’s waterproof and I wear it while swimming. A couple of months ago the middle LED stopped working and last week another one seemed to stop. All other functions worked fine, so the Flex was still counting steps and syncing to my Fitbit app. In reality the fault was largely cosmetic.

Still, I decided to contact Fitbit’s customer services via email. I paraphrase each message.

2016-11-03-16-22-56Me: I’m having trouble with the LEDs on my Flex dying one by one. See photo.
Fitbit: Ok. I see that. Could you try resetting the Flex followed by a full charge.
Me: I’ve done that and yes, one of the LEDs is now working but the middle one still isn’t. See new photo.
Fitbit: Ok, I see that it’s still not working. When and where did you get the Flex?
Me: I got it in November 2014 and here are the details.
Fitbit: No problem, that’s fine. We’re going to send a replacement. What’s your address?
Me: Thanks. Here’s my address.
Fitbit: The replacement Flex is on its way.
Me: Thanks again.

And sure enough, the replacement Fitbit Flex arrived in the post yesterday. All the LEDs work fine.

Reviewing the email exchange, it really couldn’t have been sorted it out in anything less. A big thumbs up to Fitbit for sorting it out easily and painlessly.


Groupon Are Great



Groupon LogoGroupon often comes in for criticism when suppliers who use the site fail to deliver on the advertised product or service. You can argue the merits of whether they should be liable or not, but actions speak louder than words and for me, Groupon have done the right thing.

Back in December of last year, I bought a Nexus 10 via an offer on Groupon UK for around GB£250. It arrived promptly and worked fine until a problem developed with the flash on the camera in late April. I contacted the supplier and after supplying photos of the problem, they agreed to repair the tablet in “six to eight weeks”. The tablet was sent to the supplier in mid-May so I was expecting the Nexus 10 back by end of July at the latest.

Four months later at the end of September, I was still waiting for the tablet to be repaired and returned. As the supplier couldn’t give my anything definite, I contacted Groupon via their website and after a few days of correspondence to confirm my side of the story, Groupon refunded my money. That’s how you do customer service.

Thank you very much, Groupon.

(And yes, I’ve ordered a Nexus 9 with the refund.)


Excellent Customer Service from LinkedIn



LinkedInGood customer service has become quite rare. That’s why I wanted to point out the excellent customer service I got from LinkedIn. They were incredibly helpful even though I wasn’t actually one of their customers.

I used to have a LinkedIn account. It wasn’t something I used very much, and I had honestly forgotten that I had one. About a year ago, as you may recall, LinkedIn had a security breach and suggested that users change their passwords.

When I went to do that, I realized that I used the service so infrequently that I had no idea what my password was. I managed to sort that out, and then cancelled my LinkedIn account. I just wasn’t using it.

Since then, I’ve gotten email from LinkedIn that tells me that one of their current users wants to connect with me on LinkedIn. For a while, I just ignored them. This week, I got tired of it. Out of frustration, I sent a Tweet to @LinkedIn.

Jen LinkedIn Tweet

I wasn’t expecting a response, but I got one. @LinkedInHelp replied with a link that I could click on to fill out a ticket that would stop the contact invites. Doing so would put me on their Do Not Contact list. I immediately filed a ticket.

A few days later, I got yet another email from LinkedIn letting me know that one of their users wanted to connect with me. So, I sent another Tweet to @LinkedInHelp about it. The response was fast! @LinkedInHelp asked what my ticket number was, and followed me so I could sent them a direct message with the ticket number.

Not long after that, I got an email from LinkedIn that said my email addresses had been placed on their Do Not Contact list. (I’d been getting contact requests at more than one address). This is impressive, especially considering that they knew that I wasn’t actually one of their customers anymore. Kudos to LinkedIn for great customer service!


Ring for Service with Wirelesswaiting



WirelessWaiting LogoIn my experience of eating out, it’s all too frequent for the waiting staff to disappear once the main course has been cleared away. By the time a waiter or waitress does eventually re-appear, any desire for dessert or coffee has gone and all I want is the bill. Not only has my evening been spoilt, the restaurant has lost money that I might otherwise have spent with them.

Wireless Call ButtonRecently, I was dining at Olio in Belfast and this restaurant seems to have found a solution to the problem with Wirelesswaiting. On each table, there was a small call button to alert staff that attention was required and I found the system worked well. Perhaps the best example was when ordering. Rather than the staff checking to see if we were ready to order and having to go away when we weren’t, once everyone was ready, we pressed the button and a waiter appeared within seconds. Also, when we needed some more drinks, again a quick press of the button and the waiter was back.

I contacted Wirelesswaiting for more information on the product and I was surprised at how inexpensive it really was. A 32-button receiver is £500 ($775) and each wireless button itself is £40 ($60). Obviously installation is straightforward, with only a power socket required for the receiver, as the wireless call buttons are battery powered. From their experience, customer spend typically increases by around 10% and Wirelesswaiting points out that this additional spend is usually on high margin items such as drinks, teas-and-coffees and desserts.

Obviously, this isn’t a perfect panacea as inattentive staff will always be inattentive staff and I suspect that I would be an even more annoyed customer if when I pressed the bell, no-one appeared. Overall though, it seemed to be a good idea that improved the dining experience. Apparently these systems are commonplace in Asia but this was the first time I’d seen the system in the UK so it will be interesting to see if it appears in more restaurants and diners. I can also imagine applications in other service areas, such spas, clubhouses, nursing homes and hospitals.


Broken computer or operator error?



25242_3732A friend of mine’s elderly mother experienced “car trouble”.  She backed up out of her drive accross the street and into the ditch.  Finding herself in the ditch she thought “The steering must have gone out!”  Leaving the car in the ditch she went into the house to call her son for help.  Upon his arrival she explained that something in the car had broken. So like a good son he crossed the street to inspect.  He got in turned the key and it started.  He turned the steering wheel and the wheels turned.  He put it in drive and pulled the car across the street and back into the drive.  His mother of course asked “What was wrong?”  My friend replied, “Nothing much, just a short between the seat and the steering wheel.”  True story.

The tech application?  How many customer service type calls do you field from friends and family about “broken computers” that turn out to be a short between “the seat and the keyboard”?  Here is what usually replays for about 80% of my contacts.

  1. Your computer isn’t working?  “Yes . . .yada yada yada . . . MAYBE I JUST NEED A NEW COMPUTER.”
  2. Well I don’t think it is that severe. “Well I’ve tried everything.  It’s never worked right from the beginning.”  (Two problems here is that they tried to fix it and made it worse, and the mentality that suddenly it has NEVER worked correctly.)
  3. I’m pretty sure we can get it straightened out. “I knew you could you are a computer whiz.  Why I was just telling. . . .”  (Used to give me good feelings now my eyes just roll.)
  4. Ok what happened is that you did this and this and this. “No I didn’t!  You mean that I caused this?  I hate these things.  Why don’t they make them . . . .”
  5. So click on the “X” in the upper right hand corner of that window.  “What is a window?”

So my thesis of offering computer support?  Most of the time it is a short between the seat and the steering wheel.