Customer experience stories Submissions

I recently experienced a customer experience (CX) failure with the Erie Insurance brand. 

My CX issue was via phone and in person.

Here is a brief summary of what occurred… We had bad storms in my area a few months back. My property was water damaged interior and exterior. I needed to contact Erie insurance to file a claim. First, we were told that certain damages were not covered even though we had inquired when we got the policy to specific riders to cover such instances and damages. Then it took several weeks for them to send adjustors. And they needed to send two separate people. One to assess the property damage and another to assess and catalog personal property damage. Neither communicated with our assigned adjuster in advance per details. Both worked for separate independent companies as vendors to Erie. Both lacked follow up with the assigned adjuster. This caused our adjuster to contact us and give us notice that if we don’t get Erie claim information ASAP then they will terminate the claim. The adjusters had come out to our home weeks ago yet had never contacted our assigned adjuster at Erie with details. Months later. And yet Erie was blaming us for lack of communication and threatening to terminate our coverage.

I feel this created a poor CX because… the process and communication sucked! First, we were required to deal with two different vendors to Erie and to schedule two different visits to our home. On top of that neither one of the vendors communicated with one another nor directly with Erie in a timely manner. This led to Erie blaming us and threatening policy terminations. In addition, we tried to be proactive in purchasing policy and coverage riders to protect us from the types of damages we incurred, yet we were told by Erie we were covered and also that no additional riders or coverages were available. Yet, we found out that was not accurate only after filing the most recent property damage claim. Again, awful communication and process. Months later we have yet to receive any written updates, any itemized details of the claim, and any payment for property damages.

My CX could be improved if they… bothered to communicate clearly and timely with the customer and with vendors. And if they facilitated frequent and open communication among all parties, inclusive of coverage limitations at the time of policy purchase. It would’ve also been better and more professional if instead of making the assumption to blame the customer for delays if the assigned adjuster first bothered to reach out to Erie’s own vendors for updates and details. Given the circumstances, all damages should be covered promptly and without issue nor attitude from Erie Insurance representatives.

This occurrence will impact my interaction with the Erie Insurance brand in the future. Come policy renewal I might not do business with them again.

I recently experienced a customer experience (CX) failure with the The LendingClub brand. 

My CX issue was via phone.

Here is a brief summary of what occured… I have a loan through LendingClub; it is actually my 2nd loan with them because I had a positive experience in the past, but this time not so much. Due to 2020 being the year of everything going horrible it turns out I was unemployed.  Around the same time, they had an offer to “pause” the loan due to Covid-19, which I took part in.  Not knowing how long this would be I paused it until August in the hopes that I would have gained employment. Fast-forward to July and I received and email reminding me that the loan was ending and I owed the August payment.  I called to speak with them and neophytes answered; it was easy to tell because of their answers to me was reading off of a script (I work in sales) and they seemed incapable of having a discussion on their own without a pre-written response that was given to them.  I was getting nowhere and frustrated so we hung up with a few weeks until the payment due, so I had time.
I kept receiving emails from them stating “For any COVID-19 or hardship related concerns, we invite you to contact our special care line at 877-644-4446” so I called again.  This time I was hoping to speak with someone that would be able to help, someone that thought on their own and could form a sentence without a pre-written down response in front of them.
Same conversation, but this time they refused to find out if I could extend the deferment. They REFUSED TO INQUIRE.
I decided to send an email explaining to them, hoping to maybe have a manager contact me, and I received a response from a representative “Unfortunately, we are unable to assist with deferral inquiries over email. To apply for payment assistance, you will need to call our special care line directly at 877-644-4446 Monday through Thursday from 5 am – 5 pm Pacific Time.”
I called AGAIN, frustrated as can be, and refused to speak with anyone except a manager.  The girl I was speaking with was confused as what to do and placed me on hold for over 3-minutes a few times and told me she could not reach a manager but did say “within 2 days I would get a call back.”  Day 3 of waiting and no response I sent another email that had in it “I was told that a supervisor would be reaching out to me which has not happened” and I haven’t received a response via email or a phone call from them. This was over 2-weeks ago!

I feel this created a poor CX because… I have noticed that “customer service reps” that are the first line of defense for a company work just for the pay check, and not to help anyone. Customer Service has been going on a downhill trajectory for many many years, unless someone is trying to sell you something nobody does their due diligence in calling back or even following up. Big companies do not invest in customer service training or how to deal with customers because they know that no matter what they have you locked into their company by needed their services or you owe them money.
Having been the customer service industry for over 10-years I am appalled with what has happened, and what has been happening.  I would not dare tell a customer that a supervisor would call and them not, I would not dare treat a customer the way companies, Lending Club in particular, has treated me.The now “supervisors” are the ones from a few years ago that started the trend of “not giving a crap” so things aren’t going to change anytime soon.

My CX could be improved if they… hired people that could think on their own and hire managers that are accountable.  There is 0 accountability from businesses. The old adage, which I believe in, of treat your customers how you would want your mother to be treated is not being practiced anymore.

This occurrence will impact my interaction with the LendingClub brand in the future. I won’t do business with them again.

I recently experienced a customer experience (CX) failure with the Snapfish brand. 

My CX issue was online with outsourced customer service. 

Here is a brief summary of what occured… I had years of photos and albums stored that vanished from Snapfish servers and I was informed those memories are unretrievable.

I feel this created a poor CX because…Snapfish not only lost years worth of my memories, however, they also breached my trust as a customer. Their entire existence as a company is supposed to be safe and secure photo storage and products created from customer images. Customer service was not knowledgeable per the issue or resolutions. It took 2 weeks and 8 communications back and forth for Snapfish to even provide a partial solution and mediocre apology. My photos were never restored in entirety.  

My CX could be improved if they… bothered to train their customer service teams on how to handle and resolve issues in a timely and efficient manner and with a bit more empathy. If they spent more time resolving customer issues instead of informing a customer what they can’t do. And ofcourse, if they were able to restore my years of memories that were lost due to a “technical issue” on their part. 

This occurrence will impact my interaction with the Snapfish brand in the future. I won’t do business with them again.

I recently experienced a repeated customer experience (CX) failure with the TJX Companies HomeGoods brand. 

My CX issue was in person at the store in Olney Maryland. 

Here is a brief summary of what occured… The store only had one cashier working the register. This caused the checkout line to back up. I waited in line for over 15 minutes, on 2 occasions, when a store manager was present but took no action. I asked for assistance on one instance, during the other instance, another frustrated customer beat me to it. 

I feel this created a poor CX because… it was entirely unnecessary. I shouldn’t have had to wait more than 5 minutes. I only had 3 items. 4 other cashiers were available. But one was stocking shelves, one was on the phone, and the other 2 were both helping one customer. The store was not short staffed. Yet the manager and the employees saw no issue with the process nor did they bother to call for more assistance until they were notified by disgruntled customers who were sharing their frustrations with one another while waiting in line. A similar situation happened on both occasions. 

My CX could be improved if they… had the proper process in place to shift employees tasks to attend to customers. If the manager actually set a store policy that attending to customers in the store is the priority over stocking shelves and having multiple employees handling phone calls. If the other employees not working to reduce the line of frustrated customers took that as their primary responsibility and worked the register. 

This occurrence will not impact my interaction with the TJX Companies HomeGoods brand in the future. I will do business with them again, however, not unless I have extra time and perhaps not in that retail location. 

I recently experienced a customer experience (CX) success with… Wayfair Inc. brand

My CX issue was via online.

Here is a brief summary of what occurred… I ordered a new piece of furniture. When I ordered, I was notified the item was supposed to arrive within 5-7 days. After 3 days I noticed the item was packed and ready for shipping. After 12 days the order had not arrived and the shipping info had not even been updated. After 14 days I was notified the item was finally in route. It arrived 3 days later. Now I was already annoyed. That’s 17 days for an item I was told would take 7 and that sat in a warehouse with a label for days. When the order finally arrived, the box was damaged in multiple spots and ripped partly open and re-taped. When I took the item out of the box it also had minor damage. Now was even more annoyed. I decided given the item was on sale and the damage was not able to be seen once the item was in use, that I would keep the item. However, I did intend to share my issues with Wayfair customer service and see if I could get a credit or something. To my surprise, when I logged into my account and clicked the item, I was offered an option to notify Wayfair of any issues. It took me 3 clicks and easy mobile upload of a few photos. I was then presented with several different options from sending the item back and having it replaced to a partial credit. I clicked partial credit. The 25% off appeared on my credit card within 24 hours.

I feel this created a good CX because…even though the item was delayed and arrived damaged Wayfair made the process to notify them of my issues and resolve them, simple, easy and efficient. The ease of the process and offering me options and the ability to rapidly resolve my concerns, instantly turned what could’ve been a poor customer experience into an acceptable one.

This occurrence will not impact my interaction with the Wayfair brand in the future.

I will do business with them again.

I recently experienced a customer experience (CX) failure with the BMW brand. 

My CX issue was in person at the Silver Spring, Maryland dealership. 

Here is a brief summary of what occured…I took my car in for service for a recall notice I received. I’ve used this dealership for service in the past with minimal issues. I followed the process I always did when scheduling the appointment and requested a complimentary loaner car. After I checked in with the service advisor I went to the usual counter for the loaner. It was closed. I was directed to a new counter. I handed the only employee at the counter my paperwork. I was told I need to wait as 4 people are ahead of me. When I expressed that I never needed to wait in the past I was informed the process and technology had changed. I never received any customer communications about this. I was under a time crunch as I alloted my usual 15 minutes for the standard process and had an upcoming business meeting. After waiting for 20 minutes I asked for and spoke with the service manager. I was told they’ve had lots of customer complaints about this issue and received more detail on the issues with the new process and technology. Mainly, lack of employee training and lack of planning regarding how this change in process would impact other processes. He was apologetic and immediately asked a porter to take a car and drive me to my meeting. I made it with three minutes to spare.

I feel this created a poor CX because…I was almost late for an important business meeting. Only one employee was working the counter. I received zero customer communications regarding changes to the process and technology, the reasons for the changes and how they would benefit me as a customer, or the fact that while they worked out the kinks in the new way of doing things that I may need to allot more time at the dealership. 

My CX could be improved if they… simply bothered to send out customer communications well in advance. I would have been less annoyed and planned better if the communications notified me of the changes, reasons and benefits for the customer, and informed me to please be patient and allot more time while employees get up to speed and they work out the kinks with the new process and technology. Or if when I arrived I saw similar communications posted or my service advisor told me immediately. 

This occurrence will impact my interaction with the BMW brand in the future. I might not do business with this dealership again.

I recently experienced a customer experience (CX) failure with the Samsung brand. 

My CX issue was online. 

Here is a brief summary of what occured…I ordered a small part for a Samsung device as a gift. I received a confirmation email. After about a week or so the part had not arrived and I had not received any updates. In my original confirmation email was a link to customer support. I clicked it. It took me to a page with a form that asked for the order number. I put in the order number and received an error message, three times. I emailed customer support. I specifically asked them to reply with the status of the order. I received an email reply that the part was on backorder and I could give them a call for further details.  

I feel this created a poor CX because…of the poor communication and lack of specifics which led to delays. The order was a gift. It needed to arrive by a certain time. If the item was marked online as “on back order, expect delivery in 3-6 weeks” then I wouldn’t have ordered it as a gift. If the initial confirmation email said the same then I wouldn’t have ordered it as a gift and canceled the order. If the error message I received actually informed me it was on backorder I wouldn’t have had to email and await a reply. I asked for a detailed reply via email. Telling me to have to call to get additional info is a waste of my time.  

My CX could be improved if they…were transparent about the backorder from the beginning and provided clear and concise communications and timelines. And if they provided this and specific responses via my preferred form of communication. 

This occurrence will not impact my interaction with the Samsung brand in the future. I might do business with them again.

My CX issue was online and via phone. 

Here is a brief summary of what occured…I made an online purchase for some professional training. I got a confirmation email from the vendor that the purchase was completed. A few moments later I got an automated fraud alert email from Chase. It asked me to authorize the charge if it was legitimate by pressing the “yes” button in the email. I pressed the yes button and received an automated “thank you” response. A few days later I got an email from the vendor, also a professional colleague, politely asking me when I intended to pay for the training. Embarrassing. And here I thought I already had paid. I called Chase Business customer service. I was informed that although I clicked “yes” in their email that they don’t place a temporary hold on purchases in this case to await a customer reply, they just deny them, and I’d have to go back and make the purchase again. So, I did. I was then double charged.  

I feel this created a poor CX because…not only did it inconvenience me as a customer and in no way provide a helpful service, however, it was also embarrassing. I can understand providing fraud protection, however, the process is flawed. The charge should have been placed on hold until I responded or they should have contacted me via another communication vehicle and asked me if the charge was legitimate. The charge should not be denied immediately if they are contacting the customer anyway. If I had not seen the email or been contacted via another way by Chase then I would’ve had no clue the charge was denied. When I clicked “yes” in the email alert then the charge should have been released to be processed. I should not have had to make the purchase again. And I certainly should not have been charged twice which required the vendor to issue a refund for the duplicate purchase. 

My CX could be improved if they…had a functional and customer friendly process and clear concise communication. If the email alert clearly communicated to me that simply pressing “yes” would not release the charge but that I’d still have to make the purchase again. Or if in these instances if the process is improved so a temporary hold is placed on the purchase until the customer replies and if the charge is legitimate then it is released and processed. It would have also been helpful if the customer service team supplied me with accurate information and I was not double billed for making the purchase again after it was flagged as fraud and I authorized it as legitimate.  

This occurrence will impact my interaction with the Chase Business brand in the future. I might not use their card again for purchases of this nature. I might do business with them again.

I recently experienced a customer experience (CX) fail with the Harris Teeter brand.

My CX issue was in person and via phone.

Here is a brief summary of what occurred… I usually shop at the same store. Given COVID-19 I’ve been have my groceries set for pick up so I don’t have to go into the store. I don’t see all the items until I’m unpacking them at home. Sometimes items are missing or forgotten. I can understand this. I just let Harris Teeter know and they apply a credit toward my next order. However, when certain items are not in stock, I add a note to replace them with similar items. Not ignore it entirely or replace the items with something not even close! This has become a common occurrence. It’s like the shoppers just aren’t paying attention or don’t care. In addition, the deli consistently either doesn’t read the notes or ignores them as my deli items arrive incorrectly sliced and packaged. I’ve already had to call the deli manager several times.

I feel this created a bad CX because… This defeats the entire purpose of saving time and trying to remain safe during a pandemic. Not to mention it’s continually frustrating feeling like the employees at Harris Teeter either can’t be bothered or aren’t paying attention.

This occurrence will impact my interaction with the Harris Teeter brand in the future.

I may not do business with them again. At least at the current location.

I recently experienced a customer experience (CX) success with the Yankee Candle brand.

My CX issue was… via online and phone.

Here is a brief summary of what occurred… I ordered several large candles on sale for the holidays. They were seasonal scents that I wanted as soon as possible. Given the pandemic, I wanted to add some cheer to the house. When I ordered the candles, they were supposed to arrive within 5-8 business days. This would have been well before the Thanksgiving holiday. After 8 days the candles still didn’t arrive. My order status had not even been updated. I contacted customer service online and was told they think the order was lost and they would reprocess, yet my order status was not updated. A few days later (10 business days from when I ordered the candles) I had to call. I again had to explain the issue. Customer service was apologetic and said they would ship a new order, again. The order finally arrived, a mere 2 business days from my call to customer service. 

I feel this created a good CX because…even though the order may have been lost, this wasn’t the fault of Yankee Candle, but the shipping vendor. Although I had to reach out several times, Yankee Candle customer service was also polite, apologetic and responsive. They didn’t try and play the blame game. They did what they could to resolve the issue. And even gave me a credit.

This occurrence will not impact my interaction with the Yankee Candle brand in the future.

I will do business with them again.