Summary:
In his article, “The Customer’s Revenge” Dan Ariely uses the ficticious automotive company Atida Motors to provide insight to fledging attempt of many United States corporations to provide customer service. Historically, Atida Motors has provided quality customer service to all of their happy customers. In turn, the company has produced many lifetime clients who have purchased many automobiles. These repeat clients of Atida came back not just for their vehicles, but for the quality service and warranties that Atida provided. Yet in an attempt to cut costs and maximize profits, Atida begins to provide less and less quality assurance and moves its customer service call center to India.
As a result, Atida begins to experience a severe rash of customer service complaints. Many lifetime clients begin to vent their frustration through e-mail. Many argue that the wrong that has been done cannot be undone and that they will never buy Atida again. Many threaten litigation. Worse, many scorned clients began to vent their frustration on the Internet. Ariely ponders how so many companies knowing the dangers of providing poor customer service and the empowering of the client to provide so much negative feedback on the Internet, still continue to do so. What complicates the situation, Atida tries to
Synopsis:
Arguably, the successes of all companies are founded on product, marketing and customer service. Yet, it appears that many corporations have lost sight of the third factor. With customer service being such an important component of success, why has many companies lost sight of providing sound, quality customer service. The answer can be found in how many corporations view the American consumer and their spending habits. Many companies have lost respect for the American consumer. They feel that the ‘spend happy” American will continue to buy even if poor customer service is provided. Yet, the backlash is starting to be felt. The...