The Power of the Blog

Bymayor

Five days ago, I wrote about my experience with American Furniture Warehouse in Fort Collins, Colorado. It was not a glowing moment for their customer service team.

This morning, my home phone rang and my wife informed me that American Furniture Warehouse wanted to speak with Joel Comm.

I had been anticipating a call from them. Surely they monitor the web for mention of their name, and just 48 hours after blogging about my experience, I was on the first page of Google for at least of their primary keywords.

That’ll get someone’s attention.

Anyhow, enter Levena McClay, the Assistant to the Director of Customer Service.

Ms. McClay was very nice (which is her job, but I’m certain she is also quite nice off the job…)

She explained that it was indeed a mistake to put me through so much nonsense when the clear choice should have been just to void the second delivery charge.

We spoke for a few minutes about their policies and procedures and then I asked how she intended to follow through on this situation.

She told me they would credit my card for the $30 delivery fee AND provide me with a $50 store credit as an act of good will and to invite me to shop at their store once again.

I graciously thanked her for following up with me and providing me with this offer, which I find to be quite equitable.

So, Jake Jabs, congratulations on hiring someone who understands that the customer is indeed always right, and far more valuable than a $30 delivery fee.

I went to American Furniture Warehouse to purchase the home theater seats that I had been eyeing before this happened and was more than happy to hand them my credit card for the purchase.

I doubt anything would have happened if I hadn’t posted my gripe on this blog.

The power of the press now extends to the Internet. Be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to let your voice be heard!

What do you think? Have you been able to use the web to affect a change?

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  3. That is great that you can use the power of the internet for this. Another thing that I have used in the same fashion is spreading word about a certain charity. Knowing how to get high in the search engines is a cool thing when it does work.

  4. I’m appalled each and every day at the depths to which customer service has sunk. It seems every company has automated, down-sized or out-sourced to the point that you can no longer get (qualified) assistance when needed before, during or after a purchase.

  5. Question about the furniture shipping charges.
    California charges sales tax on delivery fees. Does Colorado also ding you for such a consumer unfriendly tax?
    Also, my bias says that the customer may not always be right. Some years ago, after analyzing the source of a number of difficult* clients, I traced every one of them to my yelo pages ad. Stopped the ad … no more unpleasant* customers.
    Joe McTaggart.
    *Cleaned that up considerably.

  6. My mother was a waitress for 25 years and I was raised to believe that the customer is always right – even when they are wrong. I have carried this into my many years of customer service and into Joel’s office when I worked for him in Oklahoma. I can tell you that his view of customer service is the same as mine but with so many wonderful customers to service it is only natural to think some might fall through the cracks. He tries not to let that happen but it does from time-to-time. He strives to rectify situations, as they arise, in the best way possible.

  7. Hi Joel,
    Just checking in. What a way to go! Great strategy! Many companies try and get over on us all every chance they find. Plus we are All taken advantage of and treated like crap at least once by sorry business owners. It feel so nice whenever I run into a GENUINE loving business owner (like myself) ;o)- Just funning, but true. You certainly got even for all of us . Thanks & Congrat! Keep blogging. I love blogging! Will be back in touch soon!
    Bettie

  8. Well Joel good for you, I have a simular situation with a company called Dining Room Super Store
    http://www.diningroomsuperstore.com Its a long story but it amounts to getting a destroyed table after a five week wait and it was left on our pourch with several large holes in it and parts missing. I could get another one if I ship back the old one and pay a restocking fee and thats almost as much as the table cost. Why it takes weeks to get anything in todays supply on demand world. My company GBE Packaging or http://www.boxesandbag.com could have a semi truck of bubble Wrap to you tommorrow at the lowest price. 5 weeks lol. So now we have a nice box in living room. I’ll never buy Tables from the web and surly not from Dining Room Super Store
    http://www.diningroomsuperstore.com

  9. Hi Joel readers n posters came across this excellent idea on this site where all your Adsense template users can gain eyeballs from prospects who are looking to attract 100’s of authentic, quality, targeted visitors per day for there clickable links for absolutely FREE? Talk about receiving valuable visitor feedback and networking opportunities with there peers? With over 85,000 members and a superior concept, this has to be the most successful traffic building program on the net. Simply to register to reap the benefits, like all the members get to see your web page … and temptations to click and get lots of link-backs … Joel we need you to set something up on these great idea..
    All my best to you and Yours
    Phillip Skinner

  12. Excellent post, that’s power to the people. For years in the 1970 and 1980 people were treated as of no account, the customer was dirt. Now in the 21st century we have power, it’s called customer revenge.
    the customer ia always right.

  14. To Sadie and Joel, both.

    You are correct, the Steve and Joel transaction is none of my business. Nor do I have any insight into the proper procedures or previous interactions between the two.

    My post was merely to bring to light the public appearance of potential hypocracy (as the post sat unanswered.) I have upmost respect for Joel and collect (hardcopy) every email he sends because his comments are invaluable to all forms of business. It irked me a bit that Joel would leave his reputation tarnished publicly and just had to comment. As hoped, and even expected, Joel has stepped through in shining armor with his public image stronger than before. Awesome.
    Perry

  15. Joel, glad you got this resolved, but you shouldn’t have had to go through all that hassle.
    The average customer doesn’t have a blog, let alone your skills in getting traffic to one, so I suspect if you had been an “average Joel” they never would have resolved this in your favor.
    It’s interesting how a company is so willing to give up thousands of dollars of business over a $30 charge. I’ve cancelled some credit cards when they didn’t understand this concept.

  17. After a bad experience online this past week, I felt like complaining, so I expressed myself carefullly in a forum. I didn’t mention the website where I had the experience. I guess I just wanted to express my views about hard-handed sales tactics. It’s awful when it happens live over the internet. I was nervous and tried to logout quickly. Even though I closed the page, the tech’s voice still came over. Frankly, I was frightened and turned off to what was probably a great product (for almost$2000!). And I can’t opted out without logging in. I guess I just keep deleting the daily emails. I don’t want to login because they know when you do and talk to you. don’t want to go thru it again.

  18. Hi Joel,
    I’m sorry to say I’m in the same boat with “Frustrated”. I cancelled my monthly templates membership through your help desk on Feb. 7, but the templates were shipped anyway on Feb.14.
    Now your ‘customer service’ (so-called) department wants to charge ME a re-stocking fee (whatever the *$#@ that is) for YOUR error of shipping a week after I cancelled. Plus they told me I would also be liable for the SHIPPING as well, even though I had cancelled a week before they were shipped (I have the dated emails to prove it).
    I realize you yourself did not actually do this, but your ‘customer service’ department reflects poorly on you. You’re certainly not practicing what you preach. I really expected better, and I’m disappointed.

  19. Brian,
    All you need do is bring it to my attention. Send back the templates and you will get a full refund, no stocking fee.
    See, that’s the difference between good and bad customer service. We have to have policys in place, but we must also be flexible to evaluate individual circumstances.
    I got you covered, my friend. No worries.
    Joel

  21. What an awful experience I had with American Furniture Warehouse, customer service made the issue worse. Now I am stuck with furniture I can’t use.

  22. I sympathize with the American Furniture problem. My only suggestion to Joel is to use the words “principal” and “principle” correctly. I seriously doubt that there was a principal involved, unless, of course, one of these people happened to have changed careers.

  25. Hey Joel-
    We too, have had issues with American Furniture Warehouse. We purchased a bed on June 13th, and were told it would be delivered between June 18th-June 30th (at the lastest). June 30th comes around and no response, so I call the store and they connect me with my sales person. He then informs me that it was shipped out on June 25th, and should be here any day and is probably sitting in the truck out back waiting to be unloaded. I am instructed to wait a few days and call back.
    I call on the 5th of July and speak to a customer service person who now tells me that the order has been pushed back and won’t be here until August 15th. Keep in mind, we ordered this on the 13th of June and will now have to go 2 months without a bed, when we were originally told 2 weeks. I ask what my options are, and am told I can select another bed, get a refund or wait. I let her know I will have to consult with my boyfriend.
    My boyfriend then calls, a little irritated and asks if there is a way to take a percent or dollar amount off for the inconvenience or have it delivered. The lady replies, nope, nothing they can do. My boyfriend, works in customer service and informs her she isn’t being very professional about this, that there has to be something we can do. He also, lets her know that he interacts with a ton of people and is not going to speak highly about his experience with American Furniture Warehouse. She tells him, that is against the law and he can’t do that. Then the “customer service” lady, says there are ways for the order to get lost and that things can happen. He asks to speak to a manager and is informed, that she is as high as it goes.
    Keep in mind, they never once called to let us know anything as to the status of the bed and offered no reason why it was delayed. My boyfriend, dumbfounded, says he will keep the order and is obviously very frustrated with the agent. She was extremely rude, unprofessional and threatened to have our order disappear. It gets better, we are checking our bank account and notice a credit of $585, which happens to be the amount of the bed. We call and are informed that they have cancelled our order and we are no longer welcome to do business there. Who cancels someone’s order and doesn’t even tell the customer, seriously, what kind of customer experience is that? American Furniture Warehosue needs to learn how to treat their customers.

  26. Joel, Important lesson learned – go directly to the top OR to the Sales Person (it hits their future commission when you DO NOT return) It also helps to be direct and vocal in a group setting if realistic expectations for service are not met. In the scheme of things – it is not the silly $30 charge, it becomes a serious principle and ethical issue in a business funtionality. Our hope is that it is utilized for coaching purposes in creating a better environment. I as well purchased an entire home full of furniture (thousands of $$$) after a flood destroyed my entire home of furniture. I worked with MIKE CULP – who is a ROCK STAR at American. I ran into several issues (2 very similiar to yours with respect to a stinky little delivery charge and once they brought the wrong product, eek), but each time MIKE came through with flying colors to resolve the situation on my behalf. I will return and refer people to him because #1 HE GETS IT (the customer service thing) #2 HE RESPECTS HIS CUSTOMER and their time. #3 American can learn from their ROCK STARS like Mike!!!

  27. ZERO STARS!!!!!
    DON’T BUY ANYTHING FROM DININGROOMSUPERSTORE AKA JAYS FURNITURE BARN!!!!!
    I ordered chairs in February 2007. I got the run around about them, order problems, manufacturing problems, cargo problems. I finally said forget it, just give me my money back in June. The said it would take 2 months. I fought and finally they said that they would refund me at once and said they did. I waited and checked my credit card and no refund. I called and they tried again. Then they said that the company that processes the credit cards was having trouble. Then they said they would send a check refund. Then they said they did send it complete with a check number. I never got it, surprize. Then they said I would get a check after labor day. It is now October and they still have not sent any check. It have been 9 months and I still don’t have my money back. Then they said that they would again refund my credit card. As of November they have yet to do anything!! PLEASE DO NO BUY FROM DININGROOM SUPERSTORE!!!!!!

  28. I just did a search on AMF online because I wanted to hear reviews on what other people where saying about them. I just ordered a coffee table, two end tables, and a dining room set last week to be delivered this past saturday. We’ll the coffee and end tables came and were fine. However, the dining room set I ordered came, but it was missing the hardware. There delivery guys said they would leave the table with the glass at my home and come back on monday when they got the hardware. I told them they were crazy to think they were going to leave a huge piece of glass just sitting on my floor all weekend with my 2 year old running around. They seemed very annoyed, but they did remove this unfinished dining set from my house. We rescheduled for Monday, today. My husband was very upset about the fact that we paid for something to be delivered at a certain time, and they didn’t follow through. We called customer service and they were extremely rude, saying you can either wait until Monday, or come back and return this set. That just astomished me that they would not even try to make there customer happy. This lady didn’t apologize for the inconvience it has caused us, she just said return it or deal with it. I will never again order from American Furniture Warehouse, as there customer service sucks.

  29. Yet another story of not just poor customer service but boarderline criminal. Long story but a order with http://www.diningroomsuperstore.com back in march of 2007 has neither produced a dining room table or a refund for the over $900 which they charged to my card the day of the transaction. Dispite numerous emails and phone calls there has been NO response. I will loudly and fequently tell anyone who will listen of the absolute horrible service of http://www.diningroomsuperstore.com. I will be filling complaints with better business! Steer clear of this outfit!

  30. We just encountered exact the same situation in American Furniture Warehouse. There’re cracks developing on one bedroom set and we want to replace the set with diffrent selection. The sales person told us we have to pay for the delivery for the replacement purchase even though we still have a free back order delivery.

  31. Hi Joel,
    Thank you very much for your posts. The customer service of American Furniture Warehouse finally agreed to waive the delivery charge for replacement order after we showed them your posts last night.

  32. Joel,
    We live in Northern Colorado also and although I didn’t expect to, had a great experience at the Longmont AFW recently.
    Given the professional conclusion to your situation by AFW, I’d recommend showing a certain amount of grace on your own behalf and removing the last names of the folks who weren’t able to help you. It is entirely possible that they just aren’t granted the authority to do what you asked of them. Also, as you could imagine, they deal with many unhappy people every day and may have just ran out of patience or whatever it is that allows them to do that job. (I know I couldn’t do it)
    Anyway, when you win, it is good to win gracefully. If you’re percieved as a bully because you have a large blog audience, you might lose some of us, and who’d click on your google ads then?
    Best,
    Charlie

  33. To Jenny, (and a few of the other overly self-rightous posters here)
    You need to get over yourself a little bit here. Clearly you don’t own a business and if you do, you’re likely not very good.
    IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON!!
    Not all customers are created equal. Meaning, pain in the ass customers that waste a bunch of their customer service time and demand all sorts of concessions out of proportion with their purchases are not always worth having. Businesses want to identify and coddle good customers. (ie. those that spend a relatively significant sum of money on products or services that provide for a decent profit and have reasonable expectations about business.) You may be surprised to learn that many customers understand when a mistake is made and don’t jump up and down and demand money or concessions. When a mistake happens with a customer like that, good businesses jump to make it right.
    Remember, no business is required to do business with you. Generally in a free market, businesses have the right to choose which customers to do business with. (Provided they don’t descriminate on race and other obvious exceptions) So, if you really want excellent customer service become an excellent customer.
    No personal slight intended, but based on your posts as a business owner I wouldn’t even tell you where my store is. I actively try to weed out customers like you so I have time for good customers. Nothing personal, just business….

  34. I applaud you and your persistence. I don’t really applaud AFW for simply at last doing the obvious right thing.
    We also just moved to this area and were in need of lots of furniture. We went to AFW a couple of times but the vibe in there is ‘cheapy cheap cheap’, which scared us off. Cheap stuff almost always means something bad, even beyond the cheapness of the item itself. Your experience just makes me feel better about not having spent any money there. (We wound up at Kacey Fine Furniture which, while it was butt-expensive, was otherwise pleasant and highly customer-intensive.)

  35. Thank God someone got some resolution from American Furniture Warehouse! As a new customer, I was referred there by my interior designer. When I went to preview furniture at the Douglas County Mega Store, I was literally “attacked” by sales people wearing red. Within 10 minutes, 11 sales people approached me. To the last sales person I kindly responded, “just looking,” to which she rudely replied, “of course you are.” She then walked over to a group of sales people, pointed at me, and they all started laughing. What had I done? At this point, I went to the restroom to splash some cold water on my face, but I couldn’t even do that. Their public restroom was being used by employess as a beauty salon! Two employees were “coloring” hair, and the sinks were full of gunk. The smell was horrible, I couldn’t breathe. I immediately left the store (along with 5 other customers), and vowed never to return. Is this what Jake Jabs pays his employees to do? I went home and wrote a letter to the Customer Service department, to which I have never received a reply. American Furniture Warehouse doesn’t care if they lose customers, they obviously make enough money selling CHEAP (and I mean SHODDY) furniture, to let us good customers walk.

  37. Isn’t is always the case of the squeaky wheel getting the grease?
    Customer service and the power of the internet, especially blogging and ‘tweeting’ about a gripe is truly powerful stuff.
    In fact, one of the cable TV giants has people hired just to monitor the web about customer complaints. There was an instance where a complaint spread like wildfire over the internet.
    I have not yet used the internet to affect change, but to bring to attention some of my causes, especially for our blog-driven, charity-based site that we created to honor the men & women of our Armed Forces.
    Our site has been up for nine weeks now and our Alexa rank is already around 1.21 million, mostly due to the power of us blogging on the site since it’s not even yet optimized for keywords. No PPC campaign, either.
    Best,
    Your fatter, grayer, and squeakier ‘twin’.
    -K
    http://www.for-the-troops.com/?page_id=136

  38. Great info Businesses want to identify and coddle good customers. (ie. those that spend a relatively significant sum of money on products or services that provide for a decent profit and have reasonable expectations about business.) You may be surprised to learn that many customers understand when a mistake is made and don’t jump up and down and demand money or concessions. When a mistake happens with a customer like that, good businesses jump to make it right.

  40. Even though the original post is now quite old, I still feel (compelled may be too strong a word, but certainly) inclined to point out that there is a reason we Native Coloradoans refer to the company as the American Furniture Whorehouse.

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  44. Glad you were able to get a resolution to your problem, I am still waiting on one.
    I am military and in between transfer from Seattle to Pittsburgh and we stopped in to look at furniture. We found a nice over-sized ottoman that fit what we had been looking for for a while at a good price. We paid for it and told them that we would have to come back with our truck since we didn’t have room for it in our car.
    A day or so later we head over there and after waiting about 10-15 minutes they inform us that they can’t find it. Two salesmen, a warehouse guy, and myself spend 45 minutes scouring the store for the ottoman and come up with nothing. One of the sales managers tells me that when he comes in the next day he will get to the bottom of it and if he can’t find it he’ll try and get approval to Fed Ex it to us when a new one comes in. He also offered a credit equal to what we paid plus a $40 credit. I told him that the credit wouldn’t work since our movers were coming the next day, but the FedEx option would work great.
    The next day I received a call not from the sales manager that I had spoken to, but someone else who didn’t have any ability to provide answers or the power to resolve the issue. He said that FedExing the ottoman was ruled out by the Store Manager, and continued to go back to a store credit despite reminding him that all of my possessions were on a moving truck that was about to drive away from my house.
    I finally resolved for them to just give me a refund and now a day later they insist that the refund has been issued, despite the fact that my bank account shows no refund. I sure wish that they could have used the $40 credit that they offered me (that they knew I couldn’t use) could have been used to ship the ottoman and call it good.
    It puts a sour taste in my mouth that a company that bears the name of our country can operate without the honor and integrity that it should; particularly to those who have sacrificed to give them that right.

  45. I have been reading your blog now for quite a long time and really like it. I don’t know if it’s your style or not , but do you think you could perhaps do a post on the oil spill in the gulf?
    I love your thoughts and opinions, and would love to see your commentary on this tragedy.

  46. hey, I have been emailing questions, and appreciate if you would respond to me.
    I’d like to see what other people are asking as well.
    Is this a good place to post, or is there a forum somewhere else?
    Thanks

  47. So … you threw a great big hissy fit because you didn’t get your way and now that you did get your way you’re buddies with AFW? All they had to do was bend over and let you give it to them, huh? Screw policy. Screw the slightly-above-minimum-wage customer service reps you trampled in your quest to get your way. Screw the fact that they were doing what they were trained to do. Screw everyone that stands between you and your $30.
    I deal with people like you all the time in my line of work (I’m a loan officer). Someone that’s been blessed with a little success in their life and suddenly they develop a self-righteous sense of entitlement and throw temper tantrums when told “No” while those that struggle to get by are thrilled with the very little they have.
    I work waist deep in federal regulations. I know a thing or two about enforcing policy even when it doesn’t make sense. God knows I’m met with situations on a daily basis that cause me to roll my eyes that the regulations that govern my profession are so illogical, but you know what? No matter how illogical they are, I have to enforce them because it’s my job. I don’t have authority to overturn policy, and yes, I’m thrashed nearly everyday when I have to tell someone, “I’m sorry, but that’s policy. I can’t do anything about that.” Is that bad customer service? Nope. It’s me doing my job to the best of my ability.
    You make me sick, Mr. Comm. I hope that one day you regain touch with reality. Just because YOU feel you’re right doesn’t mean you ARE right. And even if you are … logically speaking … make sure to aim your hissy fit cannon at the people that can do something about it instead of the poor schmucks that are just trying to put food on the table.

  49. Many years ago I was an AFW manager for many years, including Customer Service Manager. Based on my inside experience I’m confident the blog had nothing to do with you getting resolve. I doubt they even knew of it unless you threaten them with it. The simple truth is AFW has a history of giving in to the customer once the issue rises high enough up the flag pole. Many times this is in total violation of policy and to the dismay of under-managers, but it gets done for the sake of pleasing or appeasing the customer in order to bring them back. Usually, by the time it got to me, I would compromise and give in to the customer’s wishes if they were half way reasonable. There were a few times, however, when they were very unreasonable, and yet when it reached Jake Jabs, he ordered the customer be refunded 100%. Jake is a complex man with both good and bad sides, like all of us, but I never saw him hold out on a customer even when I thought he should.
    Being new to the area at the time, Joel, I’m sure you now have a better sense of Jake’s local popularity being more liked than disliked. He didn’t get that over three decades of doing business in a challenging industry by cheating people. Trust me when I say I have seen those types come and go in this industry and yet Jake maintains his position at the top – that doesn’t come easy.
    As in all businesses, some representatives can have an ‘off day’ and poorly represent their company. And you of all people should know it often takes an extra effort to get heard and get some resolve. Every educated consumer knows they may have to hit the ‘up button’ once or twice if they truly feel deserving. That’s just what you did… that’s just how they responded… that’s a typical consumer situation where complexities exist. No big deal.
    If there’s any lesson here, it’s not about the power of a blog – especially in light of the gazillions of them that exist and often get people no where with their opinions. The real lesson is to persistently and respectfully keep hitting the up button to run your complaint higher in the company to get resolve. I’ve done it many times with companies that range in size from a local furniture company to General Motors. It works. And in the case of AFW where they proactively ran it higher up the flag pole for you, all the better. Sometimes you get lucky.

  50. Dear mr. Comm!
    I live in Russia (Moscow city). Here in Russia we have a department called “RosPotrebNadzor” – in translation that is Russian Consumer Supervision. Only one telehpone call to this department – and all your problems are solved immediatelly!Up to disablement of lisence of the store. That`s why most shops in Russia (including internet shops) are very afraid to be simply closed by authorities if someone claims to “RosPotrebNadzor” even by phone, immediately!
    Do you have such service in USA? Or in such cases you only have to blog in the internet to restore justice?
    And, only one example from my experience.
    Recently i purchsed a professional series Caio sinhtesiser

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