As consumers, we believe that business’s number one key advantage in competition is customer satisfaction. After all, we are the clients in the market that they pursue. Yet sometimes some retailers lack the customer service needed to uphold a valuable reputation. Though I’ve been a loyal United Dairy Farmer customer for many years to fuel up and purchase many on the go necessities, my consumer purchasing at UDF came to a halt last December 16.
We can all agree that there are some situations that can make an impact on us as consumer-citizens. I had fueled previous to this date and decided to obtain a car wash receipt. Having done this many times before, I made the drive to the car wash since snow and salt had made my car look less than presentable.
I registered my numerical code and proceeded with the car wash. When the cleansing was completed, the machine failed to let me exit from the car wash. I sat there for five minutes thinking that surely there was some kind of delay. Having already been stressed out from my prior shift at work, I called 411 to direct dial me to the United Dairy Farmers on Route 4 next to Jungle Jim’s.
I had to let the lady know that I was stuck in her car wash, unable to get out. After making out laughter in the background, she then placed me on hold for ten minutes. I waited for some time to pass to only realize nobody was going to get me out.
Here I was stuck in a car wash with the lack of mobility because my car was off the tracks and couldn’t even back out. So I then decided to call my father, who had just arrived home from work, to come get me out from the car wash.
I was neglected for almost an hour of my time and was very much disturbed.
After my father cautiously drove my car from the area, I then took time out to vent my frustrations before going into the store. I approached the closing shift leader to express my concern for poor service. After her sarcastic responses and telling me in conclusion that the car wash was closed, I became very upset.
I then left the store to see if there was such a sign of the car wash closing, and there was not. The machine was on and therefore left no indication that the car wash was not in function.
After a couple of minutes, the shift leader came out with a cardboard sign labeled with a marker that read closed. The shift leader declared, “It must have blown off.”
I thought it to be a convenient answer.
This was my encounter with a retailer that had little customer satisfaction. And it is experiences like these through life as a consumer that hurt the market of such a business.