Service Review: GeeksMobile

It’s infuriating to live in a culture that is so dependent on technologies that I cannot repair.

Computers, cars, and homes…staples of our society, and I can’t fix any of them.

Remember Middle-Aged Man from the SNL sketch? He’d be disgusted with me.

And my ignorance always leads to frustration when I need to consult repair people.

• Can this person really fix my problem?
• Is this person over-charging me?
• Could I do this myself with 10 minutes of web research?

I’ve written before about avoiding the “bad idea” that strikes us all from time to time- the idea that we can tackle a project that we really should leave to an expert…usually resulting in calamity (see here and here and here) and wasted resources.

So heeding my own advice, I called GeeksMobile to help me out with some home computer repairs.

As far as I can tell, GeeksMobile is a middle-man company that connects customers with local tech people across the country.

So it’s a pretty streamlined business model. I imagine that they have a centralized call center, and all of the actual repair work is contracted out through local providers.

They charge the customer more than they pay the tech, and voila- profit!

Anyway, I called on a Thursday and had a pleasant conversation where I scheduled a home visit for the upcoming Monday at 11am. I even talked to their onsite tech to explain my problem and get an estimate of 90 minutes for the job.

At 10:30 on Monday, someone called and said, “GeeksMobile, I’m looking for Rick,” or something like that.

I explained that I WAS a GeeksMobile customer, but that I was not Rick. The caller mumbled a quick apology and promptly hung up on me.

As I pieced together later, that was an agent desperately trying to track down a local tech for my 11am appointment.

At 11:25 (well past our appointment time), that same person called me back to cancel. He stated without much apology: “We just can’t find a tech who is available.” As if that explained anything.

I mean, the whole idea of scheduling an appointment in advance is to make sure that a tech is available. I had even stayed home from work for the day.

But alright. Things happen.

A bit later, they unexpectedly called me back to ask if a 1:30 appointment that day would work.

At 1:45, they called back and cancelled that appointment, too.

They rep offered me a 10% discount if I could re-schedule for the next day.

Finally, on Tuesday morning a tech arrived. Despite what GeeksMobile told me, he had never heard about the 10% discount I was supposed to receive.

But otherwise, the tech did a great job and was a pleasure to work with. (Thanks, Ron!).

Unfortunately, the 90-minute estimate that headquarters had provided was off by 3 hours. And what they charge for 90 minutes is far less than what they charge for 4.5 hours.

So the bill was far higher than I had expected, and I called HQ to voice my concern.

The GeeksMobile rep said he’d call me back within the hour.

He didn’t call.

The next morning, I called him at 11am, but hung up after being on hold for five minutes.

I left another message for him later that afternoon, finally speaking to him 24 hours after he was originally supposed to call me back.

* * * * * * *

All in all, dealing with the actual GeeksMobile team was extremely frustrating. Cancelled appointments, confusion, under-estimates, un-returned c alls, etc.

Comically, when they called me a week later with their follow-up survey, two of the three questions were about the tech, not their in-house team (which is where all the problems occurred).

• ”Was the tech on time?” (Just a bit late, but he did call ahead)
• ”Did the tech fix your issue?” (Yup; he was great)
• ”Would you recommend our services to others?” (Hmmmm…)

Would I recommend them?

My tech was terrific. But the GeeksMobile team was very difficult to deal with. I explained my ambivalence to the interviewer, and he brusquely said, “Alright, I’ll make a note of that, and thank you for your time today,” leaving me with no confidence that he had actually written down a word I had said.

(He also missed a key opportunity to apologize, offer to let me speak to a manager, proffer a coupon for future services, or do something to redeem my experience.)

So not only was their survey misguided in focusing on the tech and not their in-house team (and even worse, it confounded the two in the final question), but there was not a dedicated place for me to rate or comment on the in-house team.

Yes, I needed an expert, as I could not have made these repairs.

But wow, I wish their customer service was as competent as the tech they contracted.

This experience: 2 Magnets

Service Review: Scheller’s Fitness & Cycling

It wasn’t exactly the perfect crime. But it worked.

Jes and I have been biking to and from the office for several months. We chain our bikes to the “Reserved Parking” signs outside our building since there is currently not a true bike rack or anything with an enclosed top.

Last week, an unknown gentleman manipulated her security chain until he had enough slack to hoist it up and over the “Reserved Parking” sign.

A witness saw him awkwardly carrying it away, since he couldn’t ride it due to the fact that the security chain was still attached to the front wheel and frame.

That’s how Jes and I found ourselves visiting bike shops last week.

We checked out several stores, but our best experience came at the Clarksville location of Scheller’s Fitness & Cycling.

Nathan assisted us, and afterwards I thought, “Wow, I hope we buy a bike from here just because this guy has been so terrific.”

If that isn’t the dream outcome of every sales experience, I don’t know what is.

In fact, I’d argue that leaving customers with a desire to purchase from you is even more important than landing the sale.

Sure, Jes ended up buying elsewhere (it wasn’t the sales person; she simply found another brand of bike that felt more natural to her).

But in the future, anytime anyone asks us where they should go to look at bikes, we’re going to direct them to Scheller’s.

Our recommendations will cause other people to stop in. And if Scheller’s delights them as well, then they’ll tell their friends to go there, and boom, soon they’re opening another location.

Actually, Scheller’s was on our radar for just that reason. A while back, a family member visited a different Scheller’s location and raved about his experience to us afterwards.  

So they’re already seeing the impact of their dedication to customer service.

(For more corroboration, remember this outstanding Lowe’s experience? It didn’t lead directly to a sale, but it certainly developed loyalty and increased the likelihood of future sales.)

Nathan did several great things to make me root for Jes to purchase a bike from Scheller’s:

• He was incredibly patient
• He shared vast amounts of knowledge and really educated us
• He was genuine & sincere

As Jes tried bike after bike, Nathan educated us on different options for frame adjustments, wheel widths, and seat/pedal alternatives, so that we felt deeply educated as customers.

All of this information made us comfortable purchasing a bike from him, plus we felt gratitude for all the knowledge he shared with us.

The sale didn’t work out this time, but Nathan’s efforts were definitely not wasted, as we’ll keep sending people Scheller’s way.

This visit: 5 Magnets



Service Review: Jimmy John’s

Last week, I needed a break from my nemesis, a computer that usually works against me rather than with me.

A sandwich sounded good, so I ventured out to Jimmy John’s on West Jefferson for a quick lunch.

I’ve eaten there many times, and as in the past, I was greeted with friendly faces and polite, efficient service.

The cashier took my order promptly, and my sandwich was ready before I had time to get a drink. (I guess the slogan “Subs so fast you’ll freak” really is true!)

When I grab a quick bite at lunch, I’m not looking for a deep, meaningful customer experience. My only expectation is for a quick, tasty meal, and Jimmy John’s delivered.  

However, something different happened during this visit that really stood out.

I noticed a female employee busily straightening chairs and bussing nearby tables. All the while, she was smiling and quickly interacting with some of the customers.

Moments later, she removed the empty bag of chips from my table and asked me what I was drinking.

I told her and she grabbed my cup and asked if I would like some more ice. She walked away and quickly returned with a full glass of Diet Coke.

She even retrieved a lid and straw for my walk back to the office!

Then, just as quickly as she had approached me, she smiled, told me to have a nice day, and then walked away.

Proactive. Thoughtful. Helpful.

She turned a routine experience into something more.

The smallest gestures sometimes leave the biggest impacts, and you can bet I’ll be back for another Jimmy John’s sandwich!

This experience: 5 Magnets

About That Review…

Ever try listening to music with someone who’s in a band?

It can get annoying, as they constantly bring their expertise to bear on subtle aspects of the experience that the rest of us don’t usually contemplate.

I like music a lot. But I don’t find myself thinking, “Wow, the reverberation on that snare drum is set way too high.”

But people who play and record music have a hard time turning that perspective off. They can’t not experience music on a deeper level.

Which brings me to my main point…

We’ve received a few emails asking about our series of “service reviews.” And with a new one coming out tomorrow, it’s probably a good time to clarify a few things.

We spend our days evaluating and improving customer service experiences, and admittedly, it’s sometimes difficult to turn that focus off.

So the reviews reflect the intersection of our professional lives with our personal experiences.

But there are a few rules.

• We don’t take requests
• We don’t review active clients
• We don’t wear leather pants

Why no requests? The reviews are just our way of ruminating on our experiences and our work in a fun, casual manner. Plus, these are not substitutes for formal evaluation and coaching. (You can’t teach a kid to play baseball based only on three highlights from Sports Center.)

Why don’t we review active clients? Because we want the reviews to stay honest and impartial.

Why no leather pants? Too conspicuous. But we might reconsider.  

So enjoy Ryan’s upcoming review of Jimmy John’s, and thanks for hanging out!

Service Review: Brown House Bakery

A quick scan of the website for the Brown House Bakery is enough to send your salivary glands into overdrive.

But the pleasure of this wonderful New Hampshire bakery is that their customer service is every bit as enjoyable as their incredible brownies, cookies, & cakes.

For being so organized in other areas of my life, I’m always scrambling for birthday gifts at the last second. So I’m often that pain-in-the-butt customer who calls a business and asks if it can deliver its wares in ludicrously short periods of time.

For my dad’s recent birthday, I found myself in the usual bind. It was Tuesday afternoon. His birthday was on Friday. I hadn’t done anything. He lives in New Jersey. Trouble.

With guilt quickening my online search, I stumbled upon the Brown House Bakery’s website and immediately knew that my dad would love their food.

But could they get something there in time?

I called and spoke to Cheryl and explained my time crunch, not expecting much sympathy.

Cheryl was delightful. She was scheduled to bake the item I wanted later that afternoon, and she worried that it wouldn’t arrive in time.

So she offered to send my dad an assortment of other items that she already had prepared.

As I later learned, she included many different treats, and individually wrapped and labeled them all.

And even though my order required this additional work (and last-second work, at that), she still charged me as if I had ordered a single item.

Best of all, her urgency to help me out resulted in my dad’s goodie box arriving on Thursday, a whole day early.

Cheryl, you are the personification of excellent customer service for over-delivering to please an anonymous, late-planning customer like me. Thank you!

This experience: 5 Magnets

Service Review: Louisville Science Center

The desk associate at the Louisville Science Center could have just handed us our IMAX tickets and said, “Have a nice day.”

He could have ignored the fact that the movie was seconds from starting and that we were 3 floors away from the entrance.

He could have thought, “It’s not my problem they’re running late.”

He could have done the bare minimum (just hand us our tickets), and went about his day.

Instead, he proactively called a co-worker at the IMAX theater and informed her that there were two more viewers on their way up. He even called us “guests.”

He never told us he was doing this. If I hadn’t overheard his conversation, I never even would have known.

He just did it.

When you start going above and beyond out of habit, you know you’re offering outstanding customer service, and it's clear that this organization has created a culture dedicated to making customers smile.

This experience: 5 Magnets

Service Review: LG&E

[editor’s note: one of our service evaluators is so passionate about his work that he voluntarily wrote this to express his gratitude for a tremendous experience with LG&E. Note the hallmarks of great service; it’s effective, personable, proactive, and fun. Sort of like the evaluator himself.]

Upon returning home after work one night, we noticed our kitchen reeked of natural gas.  Putting safety first, we immediately left the house.  Luckily for me, I already had LG&E's phone number programmed into my cell phone and was able to call from outside.

After going through just one automated phone menu, I spoke with a warm, friendly, and knowledgeable after-hours dispatcher.  Although she had to gather a variety of information and read several advisory messages that she's probably gone through thousands of times, she remained compassionate and concerned during the interchange.  I asked about how long the response time might be, and she said that with gas leaks, they usually respond quickly.  

She was right -- I didn't wait long, which I was thankful for as I was standing outside in the cold.

LG&E needs to know that their man, Dan, is a really great with customers.

I had never had a major gas leak and was concerned about it.  But Dan's professional, yet playful, attitude quickly put me at ease.  

When I asked about the noises his detection device was making, he replied, "Oh, that's just the idiot sound.  It tells me it's on."  Dan and his device, which he kept calling Steve, checked every connection in my kitchen and cellar until he finally discovered the source -- the stove.  

Boy howdy!  

I think Dan went out of his way for me.  Our cellar is not easy to navigate, and we joked a little about how to get in and out of it.  I suppose he could have called for backup, but he went down and back anyway.  

When the time came to start checking the stove, he was always took care when moving the unit or removing parts. After finding the leak and explaining to me that my stove was done for, Dan offered to help me move it outside, which we did.  

Finally, before making sure the gas line was properly plugged, he gave me some tips and advice to use when getting the new stove and flex line installed.  

Dan: I'm thankful you were on duty that night. I hope you and Steve are doing well these days. 

This experience: 5 Magnets