Washwell a dry cleaning chain in Bangalore gave me one of my most irritating experiences as a customer. An outlet of this dry-cleaning chain opened recently in my neighbourhood and I checked-in my family clothes a couple of times. On third or fourth visit I gave some clothes including stuff like shirts, trousers, sari etc. for dry-cleaning. When I went to collect them back on the 'delivery date', I found the sari missing. On enquiry, the executive at the counter admitted the missing piece of cloth but seemed equally clueless about its whereabouts. He made some unyielding call to their washing factory etc but to no avail. He asked me to check for the sari the next day. Next day however nothing changed and still no information. A couple of days passed like this and finally when I showed my signs of irritation, he acknowledged that they had actually missed the tag (that they put on every cloth that comes to them) on the sari and hence it has become really difficult to locate the same. However he assured me that he would get in 2-3 days. After nearly two weeks had passed, still the dry cleaning fellow told me the same story on my nth visit (by the time, I would have burnt fuel thrice that of the dry cleaning bill). This irritated me and I expressed my anger. Then he put me on to his supervisor who was there in the store on that day. I told him my plight and told him that this was not at all acceptable. He instead of being empathetic to my cause said that this was a pretty normal thing and I should not worry too much and should wait patiently. On receiving such a disgusting response, I asked him that how many tags did they missed on a particular day. To this he said missing 10-15 tags was pretty normal. By this time my simmering anger came to the surface and I threatened him to disclose the same to consumer court and local media. He was pretty cool about the same and asked me to go ahead. In the argument that followed, I used all the management lexicons such as unprofessional, Customer service etc. but he seemed to be least bothered by anything even remotely close to the same. Leave alone being sympathetic or apologetic about their service his behaviour seemed to be a graver concern. Finally after much hassle I got that sari back after 3 weeks.
Quite contrary to Washwell, another dry cleaning chain Fabric Spa in Bangalore gave me a delightful experience. One of the clothes whose stains they were unable to remove on the first wash was not only automatically sent for a re-wash but also I was not charged till they could give me the piece of cloth back to me with the cleaning done. Their executives at store were very courteous and despite their gesture apologized for being unable to deliver the cloth in time.
Which drycleaner do you think I would visit again? Do I need to tell you that? Of course on the surface it appears the difference between the two is customer service. But how does that difference occur in the first place is a bigger question. And that is what the former dry cleaning chain needed to learn.
Training and engaging front-office customer facing executives is so important. Their engagement to their organizations, where they may not get paid very highly, has to be more than the job that they do. The HR (or is there an HR in such organizations in India) or anybody in charge of managing people must understand that their chances of creating pleasurable customer experiences stand very little chance if they cannot create the same first for their employees. Most of the times such employees are poorly paid and put on demanding schedules with little concern for their work-life balance and their family security. Then why be surprised if they go back and treat your customers the same way. No customers, no money, no business. Think and choose...
