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Lessons in Customer Service for Target

Written by: Alan McLaren

Article Overview: A true story about the importance of customer service

Lessons in Customer Service for Target

My wife and I were at Target in Niagara Falls NY this weekend buying up the store (as usual) and we came across a good buy for a blender (50% off). We didn’t really need one, but since our son is always making protein shakes we thought at this price it was a good idea since it had a smaller footprint than our current mixer/blender, which takes up too much of our counter space.

As luck would have it (not) the store only had the floor model left and they could not sell that to us – still not sure why… But we knew of another Target store up the road in Amherst and we would check them out to see if they had the model we were looking for.

Lesson one: Maybe the associate could have offered to call the other store to see if they had that model? Never offered, but we were in a good shopping mood, so we didn’t ask.

Lesson number two: We were in a good shopping mood – spending money is good for Target, right?

On to the Amherst store…. When we arrive we head straight to the kitchen appliance section, and as luck would have it we find three in stock! Oh wait, its 10 bucks more, must be a pricing mistake? We use the customer service phone and an associate meets us in less than 60 seconds as promised (very good).

When the associate arrives we point out the issue and she tells us that unfortunately each store has their own clearance items and reduces the price based on their local inventory. Seems like a plausible explanation except… lets see, same company, same exact product, location within 10 miles of the other store, but a different price? I don’t want to tell Target how to manage their inventory or profitability, but it doesn’t make sense!

Now its only 10 bucks, I could have paid it and moved on with a nice new blender. But I just could not believe that they would allow us to walk out of the store unhappy. Could they have not done a special price adjustment as they would if they were doing a competitor price match. Guess not!

Well, I bet the folks at Target would be a little embarrassed. We spent a ton of dough at the store and for 10 dollars they let us leave unhappy. I guess Wal-Mart will enjoy the future business.

Last lesson: In business it’s the little things that count. Not the 10 dollars, but the fact that they would not get a little creative to make a customer happy.

Now… Target….Let’s see if you are “listening….”

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Article Tags: customer service, shopping, target, true story



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