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Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
I'm sure you can find some examples.
One counter-example is AT&T, first established, under the current name, in 1885. They are regarded by some as right at the bottom for customer service today. Yes, I remember the break-up, but the pieces did well enough for that to be no punishment at all. And going back further, for the longest time they forced you to lease their brand of phone, and wouldn't give you a straight answer on whether a party line would really have another party. |
Customer service isn't that important when your customers have nowhere else to go. That's still a problem. I can go with the phone company, the cellular company, or the cable company. None of them have good customer service.
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An opposite type of counter-example consists of the many long-gone local department stores that asked you if you wanted to carry your purchase, or have it delivered for free. Try that at WalMart, now about 50 years old under that name. Whether they will last as long as the Philadelphia Wanamaker's did (93 years), we don't know, but I'd be surprised if they don't have at least another 20 years in their run, and they have already exceeded the averages:
http://csinvesting.org/wp-content/up...-firms-r11.jpg
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In that case, it's more customer service than I'd normally want. If I'm there at the store, it's generally easier for me to take my purchase with me than to arrange delivery. Why would I want to pay higher prices to enable them to give me the delivery option?
When I've needed customer service, Walmart has always come through for me. In my experience, dealing with them has been easier than Target or Best Buy.