Things that make you go Hmmmmm....

If you're my age or older, you probably remember Arsenio Hall and this famous catch phrase. I was reminded of it just this morning.

I called my local newspaper where I had an advertising account for their internet site. I had been on a monthly payment plan for a year-long agreement. I ended up paying it off early and let it ruin out since I wasn't getting value from it.

Well, the end of the agreement came and went and I started receiving invoices showing a $50 credit. I had obviously overpaid. This continued for a couple of months as I kept looking in the envelope for a refund. Finally, today I had enough after receiving another invoice showing my credit.

I called over and spoke with a very nice young woman who when looking at my account, confirmed they owed me money. "Would you like us to mail that to you?", she asked. I felt like responding, "No...I'll just drive 20 miles each way and pick it up!"

My frustration stemmed from the fact that they made me call to ask for my own money back instead of just mailing me a check months ago. Poor customer service in my eyes.

Our customers are our lifeblood. Making sure they are satisified should be our number one goal. Good communications is the key. Had they at least written and said "We require you call or write us to get your refund", that would have been better than doing nothing. It's a good lesson for all of us to remember to make it easy and simple for our customers...not ourselves.

Dan