Tell a Thousand People

Our neighbor, Laura, dropped by last evening. Our Friday night ritual is to lounge in our screened porch and discuss the week's events over a glass (or two) of our favorite beverages.

This week Laura had yet another bad customer service experience at our local gas station. She had filled up her car and purchased a carwash at the pump. The driveway to the carwash is tucked neatly behind the gas station - a one way single lane strip of pavement leading to the carwash. Once you're in line, you're in line.

Upon arriving at the kiosk where you enter the carwash code, she realized that the receipt had misprinted and did not include her code. The keypad has no facility to call into the station to report any problems, so she had to back down the narrow entrance way, park outside the station and enter the store to talk to a clerk.

And then things turned ugly.

Despite the fact that her credit card receipt showed her gas purchase and her carwash purchase, the clerk refused to give her a carwash code, stating that her card wasn't charged for the carwash. He said she could purchase a carwash for $6. (Even more insulting, since a car wash only costs $5 when you fill up!) After several minutes more of heated debate, she had to leave the station, already late for a business meeting - without her carwash.

Now, I'm sure that some unscrupulous customers try to scam free car washes from time to time - but I'm guessing that they typically don't do it after putting $45 dollars worth of premium gas in their Porsche.

So the gas station "won" that round.

Or had they?

Laura is a consultant who handles community outreach communications for major metropolitan construction efforts, like big highway construction projects and major sports venue construction. She's very good at her job and she knows everyone.

Before leaving the gas station parking lot, she placed a call to the Better Business Bureau and reported her complaint. And then she decided to make it her personal mission to tell one thousand people about how lousy our local gas station is.

The old adage is that an unsatisfied customer will tell ten people about their experience. Laura is raising the bar.

2 down. 998 to go.