Consumer Public Relations on the Ground
Although this blog is primarily about social media and public relations issues, from time to time, I get a thorn in my butt about customer service. After all, customer service is the front line of public relations for any company. It’s where those relationships with a company are either formed or fragmented. Unfortunately, myopic corporate policies designed — probably with good intentions — put the brakes on my relationship with Firestone. In my case, the relationship came to a screeching halt.
Grinding brakes are never a pretty sound. When my truck’s brakes started grinding, that was cause for a trip to a local Firestone repair center. All was well until after the diagnose. The mechanic told me I’d need new calipers on both sides of my front brake system, new pads too. On the rear braking system, he recommended I replace them as well. Given the laundry list of repairs, I wanted to know more about what “actually” needed to be repaired, and what was “recommended.” So I engaged the mechanic in a discussion about the condition of my brakes. That’s when things went awry.
The mechanic insisted that I needed to purchase two new calipers for the front. One was broken, the other worked fine the mechanic admitted. However, he said, “It’s Firestone’s policy to replace both.”
I questioned the policy and replied, “It doesn’t make sense to replace both calipers if only one is broken.” I asked the mechanic to replace just one of them. He refused. In our discussion about the rear brakes, he admitted they did not need to be replaced immediately. The next day, the manager insisted I replace EVERYTHING, and quoted Firestone policy chapter and verse.
In Favor of Policy: Flushing the Customers Concerns Down the Toilet
Frankly, when a company tells me it’s “policy” to do something, I’m skeptical. Especially when that policy is in direct conflict with my needs and clearly positions the company with the upper hand. When I prodded for more information about the policy the manager gave me a litany of “reasons” (they sounded more like excuses) to accept the company’s policy and move forward with repairs. These reasons included:
- My safety (clearly an emotional appeal).
- It’s just the way we do things (clearly an appeal to authority — we know best and that’s that).
- We want to do the job right, or not at all (clearly an appeal to bolster the company’s perception of integrity in my mind).
There is nothing inherently wrong with these appeals. But I’m a skeptic when a company starts arguing its point instead of listening to my problem. Fixing cars is a mechanical process, I thought, and if something isn’t broken, then why fix it. Is that unreasonable? So it was the same with a third-party mechanic I talked to. Second opinions are always good and add extra validity to one’s argument and to deciding whether to move forward. In this case, having Firestone repair my brakes.
When I shared with the Firestone manager that a third-party mechanic validated my assumptions. The mechanic dismissed my comment and told me the cost of repairs would be $1100 and some change. He said, “I know of other places in town that will do that kind work, but your vehicle won’t be safe to drive.” Then he refused to do any work on my truck because, “we do it right, or not at all.”
After the manager mentioned that he “knew of other places in town,” I asked him to point me in the right direction.
His reply? Classic. “I’m not going to give you that information.” And snide. “You can open the Yellow Pages and find another mechanic yourself.” This followed by a rehash of Firestone’s “policy” sermon.
At $1100 and some change, after the Firestone manager continued to thump me with policy, it was clear he neither had my best interest in mind, nor was he listening. It looks like customer service had been flushed down the toilet to preserve policy.
Taking his cue, I found a competitor of Firestone that did the job wonderfully, and saved me $600. I also Googled Firestone corporate customer service and filed a formal complaint. Which, incidentally, spurred a call from the assistant to the President of Firestone.
It gets better folks. She was “obviously” concerned about my experience and wanted to help. Yeah right! After I explained my problem (this was before I took my truck to Firestone’s competitor), she quoted policy scripture from the Holy grail of Firestone — as if hearing that again from the anointed office of the Firestone President would make be a believer. Nice try!
Just Listen for Once
The simple facts of the matter were these. I needed my brakes fixed, and I wanted to save money. I didn’t want to be beaten into submission with the holy grail of a company’s policy. I didn’t want to be persuaded — I came to Firestone with a specific problem that needed attention.
Picking up my truck to take it to another mechanic would have been fine if the manager would have kept his mouth shut and handed me the keys. Instead, he said. “Looks like you’ve caused a a lot of trouble, corporate has called.” Snide? Yes.
