Forrester Research tally focuses on customer service on clarkhoward.com

A new report from Forrester Research speaks volumes about the value of a great customer service reputation.

One company that got a 58 -- an exceedingly low rating -- for the year of 2008 was Dell Computers. This is a company that had a great customer service reputation and threw it away. Poor Michael Dell retired at 38 and has had to come back and work tirelessly to restore the reputation of the company with his name on it.

Another company that scored low was Sprint. Theirs used be a respected name in the cell phone business. But now, Sprint is seeing customers leave in the millions because the company took its focus off the customer. They even rewarded managers for not helping customers.

Actually, it's important to note that the number of complaints we get about Sprint on the show has declined significantly in recent months. Clark thinks Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has returned a real customer focus to the company. But as the Forrester Research tally shows, the public perception of Sprint has not changed yet.

On the positive side of things, Apple continues to enjoy a good rating of 80. In fact, they're the only computer company that gets a good rating on the survey.

If you own a business, the reputation you establish makes or breaks you. It takes a long time to build a reputation, but only a short time to demolish it.

A CEO who communicates to employees that customers don't matter -- or that company honchos matter more than regular employees -- is the kiss of death.

Of course, hazard for a company may make opportunity for you. For example, Sprint and Dell both have to discount heavily to compensate for the customer exodus they've seen.

What others are saying

HP customer service
HP customer service has been awful. Tech support was able to fix my computer in less then a week but i have not recieved it from FedEx and HP won't help me in any way. They even said they would change the shipping address and 2 business days later Fed Ex has had no word from HP. HP is considered the owner until it is delivered and HP won't take responsibility or even apologize.
By Erin @ 07/16/09 12:10:21 AMreport abuse
On Elaine's Car Getting Booted
This is the "glass house" I referred to in my posting below.

Citizen's in McDonough, Ga. need to do 2 things:

1. Boycot, BOTH the restaurant AND the wig shop immediately. Take pictures of the area, try to get the license plate number of the guy in the boot vehicle.As well as start your own background check on the owners of both the restaurant and wig shop.

2. File a report at Rip Off Report dot com, and a local search engine for both the restaurant and wig shop.

3. If you can get other victims in your town to also file reports the better, you may want to check out picketing laws, and picket the wig shop during their busiest hours. (Wear cheap tacky looking wigs while you do this too)It should draw the negetive attention.

Get your monies worth of $100.00 extortion fees and fines I say....

Your background checks may disclose that the restaurant and wig shop are related in some way. Think about it, if you owned the restaurant wouldn't you be on the look out for the guy and the boot lock truck. Wouldn't you sue the wig gal for maybe harrassing restaurant customers?

The "cats pajamas" owner real business is the husband/relative who is making money on booting the RESTAURANT's customers cars. Also, the restaurant may be involved, getting kick backs too?
By Trixie Katz @ 05/12/09 02:56:15 PMreport abuse
People who own their own businesses live in glass houses!
People in small business or franchises need to conduct themselves at all times as if they live in a glass house. They need to be professional at all times. But often, the small business owner uses their position to be abusive to people they do business with. Thanks to customer review websites, like Rip Off Report and City Search, bad businesses are generally bankrupted when several victims come together that have suffered the same abusive tactics or stunts from a small business and its owners.
By Trixie Katz @ 05/12/09 02:36:02 PMreport abuse
perceived good will
I live in McDonough, GA and recently had my car booted. This is a quaint town with a town square, old buildings, etc. I parked just off the square next to the building housing the restaurant. Some spaces were marked for the wig shop "Cat's Pajamas" also in the building. When I got to the restaurant there was a notice on the door saying that the wig shop was booting cars parked there. I returned less than 3 min. later to find my car booted. The man calling himself Georgia Parking Enforcement would not let me move the car. He had been sitting in a running car beside where I parked and booted the car immediately. He insisted on $100 cash or said that he would have it towed. I appealed to the shop owner saying that I had not understood that ALL the spaces were hers. She had no mercy even though I had only been thee a minute or two. I told her that this was not fair, but she did not care. We are not downtown Atlanta, just a small town. I will never use her business after this. When I returned after paying and reparking my car several others in the restaurant came over to my table telling me stories of others who had been caught up in this. I also wrote a letter to the local paper which was printed. Business owners shouldn't burn bridges with potential customers.
By Elaine Chapman @ 05/12/09 01:05:37 PMreport abuse
Not Trying Harder?
Erick, I remember when Avis spent a boatload of ad money with their "We try harder" campaign. I don't remember any ads lately, so many they have decided to stop trying harder. Their website has that logo in the bottom right corner. I click on it, and it does nothing. lol.

I hope you sent a letter to your credit card company to dispute the charge. Pay the correct amount (total less the $100). And it sounds like it's time for you to write the CEO.
By z @ 05/12/09 08:56:07 AMreport abuse
Ed - HP isn't so hot
A year or so ago I bought a HP laptop. It was dreadful & I wasn't able to get the problem solved by talking to Costco customer service & HP customer service. I took the HP laptop back to Costco & got a 100% refund. My opinon is that Costco customer service is great but I do not have that opinion about HP's customer service. BTW I'm now using a Dell laptop & it's great.
By Warren @ 05/11/09 05:49:35 PMreport abuse
AVIS-BUDGET CUSTOMER SERVICE
I rented a car from the Avis store in Gladstone, Or on 3/19/09. The Avis store forgot to register my $100 rental certificate ahead a time. So I could not get credit. I called Avis CR to get the credit. They said sure just mail it in and I will revise the rental agreement. 6 weeks later No Response!! I called them on 4/15/09 and the CR said the girl that handled it, her line was busy. She would email her to call me before closing time. Still no response!! I called again on 4/23/09 and the CR said the certificate was lost then found and sent to financial. They would look for it and give me the credit. Avis not only did not give me credit but stole my $100! I talked with the CR manager on 5/1/09 and he said this would be ended today and that I would get a call back that day. STILL NO RESPONSE!!
I have called 6 times and sent 6 emails. Still no response. Customer No Service!!
By ERICK LURIE @ 05/11/09 05:15:01 PMreport abuse
Isn't Clark the typical Dell customer?
Dell customers expect a quality machine at a low price, IOW, something for nothing. Like anything else, customers typically get what they pay for. If you want a quality machine with great after-sales service and support, pay a few hundred more and get an Apple product or split the difference and buy from HP. Otherwise just buy a Dell, claim your bragging rights to "Ibought the cheapest XYZ" laptop, and then suffer years of pain and frustration.

Oddly enough, for some people saving a few bucks up front is worth it -- right Clark? LOL
By Ed @ 05/11/09 04:56:09 PMreport abuse
Well Duhh!!!
There is no value assigned to good customer service and reputation in modern corporations (was there ever). It seems the business model is buy the good name from someone else then make it cheaper buy screwing the consumer and losing customer service. It doesn't work in the long run, but the CEO's keep on truckin'. The smart ones get out with multi-millions (billions) in compensation for running a good company into the ground. I'm not very old and I can't count the number of times I've seen this model. Too bad they will not be honest with the stockholders about it. Too bad many of us own crap stock via mutual funds and can't have any inside influence at all. Too bad the stockholders can't oust the ruling regime anyway.
By Brian @ 05/11/09 04:23:39 PMreport abuse

HP customer service

HP customer service has been awful. Tech support was able to fix my computer in less then a week but i have not recieved it from FedEx and HP won't help me in any way. They even said they would change the shipping address and 2 business days later Fed Ex has had no word from HP. HP is considered the owner until it is delivered and HP won't take responsibility or even apologize.

By Erin @ 07/16/09 12:10:21 AMreport abuse

On Elaine's Car Getting Booted

This is the "glass house" I referred to in my posting below.

Citizen's in McDonough, Ga. need to do 2 things:

1. Boycot, BOTH the restaurant AND the wig shop immediately. Take pictures of the area, try to get the license plate number of the guy in the boot vehicle.As well as start your own background check on the owners of both the restaurant and wig shop.

2. File a report at Rip Off Report dot com, and a local search engine for both the restaurant and wig shop.

3. If you can get other victims in your town to also file reports the better, you may want to check out picketing laws, and picket the wig shop during their busiest hours. (Wear cheap tacky looking wigs while you do this too)It should draw the negetive attention.

Get your monies worth of $100.00 extortion fees and fines I say....

Your background checks may disclose that the restaurant and wig shop are related in some way. Think about it, if you owned the restaurant wouldn't you be on the look out for the guy and the boot lock truck. Wouldn't you sue the wig gal for maybe harrassing restaurant customers?

The "cats pajamas" owner real business is the husband/relative who is making money on booting the RESTAURANT's customers cars. Also, the restaurant may be involved, getting kick backs too?

By Trixie Katz @ 05/12/09 02:56:15 PMreport abuse

People who own their own businesses live in glass houses!

People in small business or franchises need to conduct themselves at all times as if they live in a glass house. They need to be professional at all times. But often, the small business owner uses their position to be abusive to people they do business with. Thanks to customer review websites, like Rip Off Report and City Search, bad businesses are generally bankrupted when several victims come together that have suffered the same abusive tactics or stunts from a small business and its owners.

By Trixie Katz @ 05/12/09 02:36:02 PMreport abuse

perceived good will

I live in McDonough, GA and recently had my car booted. This is a quaint town with a town square, old buildings, etc. I parked just off the square next to the building housing the restaurant. Some spaces were marked for the wig shop "Cat's Pajamas" also in the building. When I got to the restaurant there was a notice on the door saying that the wig shop was booting cars parked there. I returned less than 3 min. later to find my car booted. The man calling himself Georgia Parking Enforcement would not let me move the car. He had been sitting in a running car beside where I parked and booted the car immediately. He insisted on $100 cash or said that he would have it towed. I appealed to the shop owner saying that I had not understood that ALL the spaces were hers. She had no mercy even though I had only been thee a minute or two. I told her that this was not fair, but she did not care. We are not downtown Atlanta, just a small town. I will never use her business after this. When I returned after paying and reparking my car several others in the restaurant came over to my table telling me stories of others who had been caught up in this. I also wrote a letter to the local paper which was printed. Business owners shouldn't burn bridges with potential customers.

By Elaine Chapman @ 05/12/09 01:05:37 PMreport abuse

Not Trying Harder?

Erick, I remember when Avis spent a boatload of ad money with their "We try harder" campaign. I don't remember any ads lately, so many they have decided to stop trying harder. Their website has that logo in the bottom right corner. I click on it, and it does nothing. lol.

I hope you sent a letter to your credit card company to dispute the charge. Pay the correct amount (total less the $100). And it sounds like it's time for you to write the CEO.

By z @ 05/12/09 08:56:07 AMreport abuse

Ed - HP isn't so hot

A year or so ago I bought a HP laptop. It was dreadful & I wasn't able to get the problem solved by talking to Costco customer service & HP customer service. I took the HP laptop back to Costco & got a 100% refund. My opinon is that Costco customer service is great but I do not have that opinion about HP's customer service. BTW I'm now using a Dell laptop & it's great.

By Warren @ 05/11/09 05:49:35 PMreport abuse

AVIS-BUDGET CUSTOMER SERVICE

I rented a car from the Avis store in Gladstone, Or on 3/19/09. The Avis store forgot to register my $100 rental certificate ahead a time. So I could not get credit. I called Avis CR to get the credit. They said sure just mail it in and I will revise the rental agreement. 6 weeks later No Response!! I called them on 4/15/09 and the CR said the girl that handled it, her line was busy. She would email her to call me before closing time. Still no response!! I called again on 4/23/09 and the CR said the certificate was lost then found and sent to financial. They would look for it and give me the credit. Avis not only did not give me credit but stole my $100! I talked with the CR manager on 5/1/09 and he said this would be ended today and that I would get a call back that day. STILL NO RESPONSE!!
I have called 6 times and sent 6 emails. Still no response. Customer No Service!!

By ERICK LURIE @ 05/11/09 05:15:01 PMreport abuse

Isn't Clark the typical Dell customer?

Dell customers expect a quality machine at a low price, IOW, something for nothing. Like anything else, customers typically get what they pay for. If you want a quality machine with great after-sales service and support, pay a few hundred more and get an Apple product or split the difference and buy from HP. Otherwise just buy a Dell, claim your bragging rights to "Ibought the cheapest XYZ" laptop, and then suffer years of pain and frustration.

Oddly enough, for some people saving a few bucks up front is worth it -- right Clark? LOL

By Ed @ 05/11/09 04:56:09 PMreport abuse

Well Duhh!!!

There is no value assigned to good customer service and reputation in modern corporations (was there ever). It seems the business model is buy the good name from someone else then make it cheaper buy screwing the consumer and losing customer service. It doesn't work in the long run, but the CEO's keep on truckin'. The smart ones get out with multi-millions (billions) in compensation for running a good company into the ground. I'm not very old and I can't count the number of times I've seen this model. Too bad they will not be honest with the stockholders about it. Too bad many of us own crap stock via mutual funds and can't have any inside influence at all. Too bad the stockholders can't oust the ruling regime anyway.

By Brian @ 05/11/09 04:23:39 PMreport abuse

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May 11, 2009 -- Forrester Research tally focuses on customer service

What others are saying