Resolving Complaints is as Important as Providing Good Service

I took my daughters shopping this past weekend. We needed dog food, so we stopped at a big box pet store.

There were several cute cats available for adoption. Since my wife’s cat recently passed, the girls were really drawn to the feline display.

There was a cute two-year-old cat named Hiccup. He was black and white – like the recently deceased Buddy – and available for adoption through a local, non-kill animal-rescue organization.

The girls went in the introduction area behind the cages and played with Hiccup for 10 minutes. They really liked the cat.

We went back the next day with my wife. The girls immediately went to see Hiccup. I asked an employee – I’ll call her Janice – to let us in to play with the cat. Janice asked if we were planning to adopt today, and I said “No,” because I didn’t want to get the girls’ hopes up.

Janice said we could only look at the cats from outside the glass because “only people who are serious about adopting are allowed to play with the cats.” She actually said that the experience is the same on both sides of the glass.

My wife explained that her cat just died, and it would mean a lot if the girls could hold Hiccup. Janice stated that it was “store policy.” My youngest started crying. My oldest looked at me and whispered, “Why is this lady so mean?”

We left the store, but I went back to tell the manager what happened. The manager said he’d talk to Janice. I left the store with many thoughts in my head.

Was the manager really going to talk with Janice? Why did he not ask for my name? Why did he not invite my family to come back inside and visit with Hiccup? Why was this store with pets not smart? How much of my business will the store lose because of the actions of two people?

– This where our dogs get groomed – $700 a year
– Our vet is located there – The wellness plans and flea/tick/heartworm preventative run at least $1,200 a year and that doesn’t account for my out-of-pocket expenses when the dogs are sick.
– Plus the $65 the animal-rescue organization would have received.
– And then there’s Hiccup who missed out on a chance at his forever home.

They were certainly running low on compassion and were all out of common sense. And, apparently the customer is not always right.

In business, resolving complaints is as important as providing good service in the first place. The front-line employee and the manager didn’t meet my expectations on either count.

When I walked in the door, I was a brand ambassador. I walked out with wavering commitment. They had a chance to resolve the situation and either chose not to or they were not trained how. Either way that’s sad.

The only way the big box pet store can appease me at this point is for the manager to pay the $65 adoption fee and deliver Hiccup to my house.

It’s not going to happen, but imagine what a story I’d tell then.