Remember the 10 minute guarantee?
Well folks the time has come to share yet another thing that's been bugging me for a couple of weeks now.
I am a bit too lazy to change my own oil. And since someone out there was smart enough to open a shop that would perform that service for me I figure why not give them some of my money.
Well I'm starting to figure out why not.
First I'll start with my e-mail to Oil Changers. I will then show you the e-mailed response. Read on. See you in a couple of minutes...
From: angrybaldguy@thirteenwide.com
Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2008 4:26 PM
To: info@oilchangerinc.com
Subject: Customer Service (Poor that is)
I am a bit too lazy to change my own oil. And since someone out there was smart enough to open a shop that would perform that service for me I figure why not give them some of my money.
Well I'm starting to figure out why not.
First I'll start with my e-mail to Oil Changers. I will then show you the e-mailed response. Read on. See you in a couple of minutes...
From: angrybaldguy@thirteenwide.com
Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2008 4:26 PM
To: info@oilchangerinc.com
Subject: Customer Service (Poor that is)
Let's not beat around the bush. I am not happy.
This afternoon I paid a visit to your XXXXXXXX location. This is a location I have been to many times. The staff has always been pleasant to deal with and service has always been performed well and in a timely manner.
Until today that is.
We (my family and I) pulled into the Oil Changers 3000 driveway at 2:15. There was already a car on the left and the car on the right had just pulled in as we arrived. A gentleman came out and motioned for us to pull toward the left "tunnel." After about 10 minutes he motioned for us to pull forward. (Both of the other cars were still there.) He came to my window and said it would be about 5 minutes. A white truck pulled in behind us. It was then that I really started paying attention to the clock. It was now 2:28. I told my wife about this location first going in and how they used to guarantee 10 minute service. I even mentioned the LED timers that used to be on the counter inside the store.
My children were already asleep. I nodded off a few times. At 2:43 I decided I had waited long enough. We had already waited half-an-hour. I figured I would be twice as upset if, after waiting this long to get my oil changed, it took another 20 minutes to actually change my oil. (Both of the other cars were still there, as well as the white truck behind us.)
As I stated before I was around when this store was built. I have gotten MANY oil changes here before. I knew there was a driveway on the left that I could use to leave the location. As I pulled around the side of the building I realized I could not go through because someone had parked a car there. I honked my horn to get an employee's attention. After a couple minutes one finally sauntered over and said, "You're up chief." My response was that I was tired of waiting and would like to leave. He said, "There are only 2 of us working."
(It is at this point in my narrative that I would like to point out that if someone had told us when we arrived that there were only 2 people working and that it could be awhile I may have just left and come back later. Unfortunately such was not the case.)
I told him that wasn't my concern. I also said that you don't tell people it will be 5 minutes and keep them waiting for 20. I then asked if someone would move the car so I could get out.
His answer was simple and unapologetic: "No. That is a parking space. You'll have to back out."
Luckily the truck that was behind us had pulled in to the right side and the way was clear for us to back out. (The car that was there when we arrived was still there when we left.)
I'm now upset that I will have to drive an additional distance to get an oil change somewhere that doesn't require an appointment. I enjoy the convenience and (used to) enjoy the fast service of this location.
A possibly former customer,
Name and
Address withheld
Subject: RE: Customer Service (Poor that is)
From: Sokny Tek region1@oilchangerinc.com
Date: Mon, July 7, 2008 9:44 am
To: angrybaldguy@thirteenwide
Cc: LARRY oilhead@thegrid.net , Eric Frankenberger operations@oilchangerinc.com
angrybaldguy,
good morning my name is sokny tek regional manager for oil changers. I want to apologized for the inconvenience yesterday. The reason why it took so long on the 2 vehicle ahead of you because they had a lot of services done. Regardless my employees should of communicate that to you. I also appreciate your loyalty to oil changers as a customer. I want apologized again that we did not get to service your 2002 santa fe but I would like to offer a complementary oil change for the inconvenience and to ratain you as our loyal customer. Please give me a call so I can arrange for the service. I also apologized for the remark concerning the parking situation. Your satisfaction is my 1st priority. My phone # is XXX-XXX-XXXX
thank you
sokny tek
So now you folks have seen the printed goods. Now here's some more fun stuff...
I called Sokny on the afternoon of July 14th. He told me he was sorry and would speak to his people about the parking thing. I told him there was plenty of parking across the street and that I had worked places where I had to park further out than that. He also got my address and assured me he would send a card (or something to that effect) for a free oil change.
Well here I am over a week later and guess what? That's right, no mail from my bud Sokny. I can't imagine it would put him out that much to put a card in the mail. Possibly he's too busy running damage control for his other locations.
Also, I took these photos yesterday (July 22nd.)
The photo on the top (or left) is proof positive that the employees at this location pay absolutely no mind to anything the regional manager has to say. (Yes, that's a car blocking the driveway.) The photo on the bottom (or right) shows that at least one employee knows what the parking spaces are for. That's right boys and girls!!! They actually have spots to park in.
Notice the arrows in the picture on the bottom? Those arrows point to the exit that is on that side of the building. They do not point out the exclusive parking spot of some lazy employee.
So now that you all understand why I am so pissed here's the last little part: I'm sending a link of this blog to the folks at Oil Changer. I'm curious if this might promote some changes. (Not oil changes. Well, mine at least.)
By the way Sokny, Larry, and Eric...I have two cars and they both need oil changes.
Address withheld
Subject: RE: Customer Service (Poor that is)
From: Sokny Tek region1@oilchangerinc.com
Date: Mon, July 7, 2008 9:44 am
To: angrybaldguy@thirteenwide
Cc: LARRY oilhead@thegrid.net , Eric Frankenberger operations@oilchangerinc.com
angrybaldguy,
good morning my name is sokny tek regional manager for oil changers. I want to apologized for the inconvenience yesterday. The reason why it took so long on the 2 vehicle ahead of you because they had a lot of services done. Regardless my employees should of communicate that to you. I also appreciate your loyalty to oil changers as a customer. I want apologized again that we did not get to service your 2002 santa fe but I would like to offer a complementary oil change for the inconvenience and to ratain you as our loyal customer. Please give me a call so I can arrange for the service. I also apologized for the remark concerning the parking situation. Your satisfaction is my 1st priority. My phone # is XXX-XXX-XXXX
thank you
sokny tek
So now you folks have seen the printed goods. Now here's some more fun stuff...
I called Sokny on the afternoon of July 14th. He told me he was sorry and would speak to his people about the parking thing. I told him there was plenty of parking across the street and that I had worked places where I had to park further out than that. He also got my address and assured me he would send a card (or something to that effect) for a free oil change.
Well here I am over a week later and guess what? That's right, no mail from my bud Sokny. I can't imagine it would put him out that much to put a card in the mail. Possibly he's too busy running damage control for his other locations.
Also, I took these photos yesterday (July 22nd.)
The photo on the top (or left) is proof positive that the employees at this location pay absolutely no mind to anything the regional manager has to say. (Yes, that's a car blocking the driveway.) The photo on the bottom (or right) shows that at least one employee knows what the parking spaces are for. That's right boys and girls!!! They actually have spots to park in.
Notice the arrows in the picture on the bottom? Those arrows point to the exit that is on that side of the building. They do not point out the exclusive parking spot of some lazy employee.
So now that you all understand why I am so pissed here's the last little part: I'm sending a link of this blog to the folks at Oil Changer. I'm curious if this might promote some changes. (Not oil changes. Well, mine at least.)
By the way Sokny, Larry, and Eric...I have two cars and they both need oil changes.
Why do you keep going to these people? There are other oil changer shops that do the same with better customer service, it sounds like this shop need to do some cleaning!
Reply to this
Wow! This guy is a Regional Manager? I think my nine year old could write a letter that is more grammatically correct.
What has happened to customer service? Are people too busy these days to be considerate of other people's time? Don't these techs have a job because they have customers? If the customers go away, so do their jobs. I wonder if that ever crossed their mind.
Companies spend tens of thousands of dollars on customer service training. I don't know if Oil Changers does or not, but if they are, they need to reconsider what they are teaching their techs. If they are not spending some of the money they earn every year on customer service training, then perhaps their operations department needs to take a look at how much money they are losing by not providing their customers with great service.
I've used the Oil Changer on numerous occasions myself. I've usually been met with smiles and decent service. I can say that the last couple of times I have been though, the service has not been so wonderful. I go because of the convenience. It's pretty funny that it looks like we may use the same Oil Changer shop. I recognize the car in the driveway. What ever happened to that sweet African American man that used to work there? He was kind of short and a little heavy. He was the nicest guy that worked there and he always had a smile, even when his day wasn't going so well. He knew what customer service was all about!
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i would like to say that i never go to oil changers because they suck at service! every time i went and that was once !
Reply to this
Once again we see both how a service industry is suffering from the calibre of people that are now the ones performing services.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that because someone is a mechanic at an Oil Changers that they are someone that is of a lower social status. What I am saying here is that we have a prime example of how the wrong damn people are in the service business.
First and foremost, the location. It's one thing to have to "tow the company line" however if you are going to take a while to do something you don't tell people it will be five minutes. You don't block a driveway with a car and claim it is a parking space if for no other reason than for safety... in an emergency someone may need to leave through that driveway or a medical vehicle may need to come in it. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Second, the regional manager. Seriously, if you are going to respond to an email that someone who, clearly, has a greater command of the English language than you shouldn't you have someone proof read your email and correct the spelling, grammer and punctuation? I know that I am no word smith, nor am I a collegiate expert on who to communicate effectively but I do at least know how to properly form and complete a sentance.
I still give Sokny some credit in "trying" to remedy the situation, however as a little green man once said, "Do or do not, there is no try." In other words if you say you are going to do something than do it... especially in the information age where someone can reach everyone they know at once to quickly complain about your business.
I'm proud to say that until this situation is rectified formally I will not be utilizing this chain any longer.
-Will
Reply to this
First, I can say that I do not blame you for being upset about this. The whole way this was handled is absolutely ridiculous! What ever happened to *good* customer service?
I can assure you that I will not be giving this particular company my business.
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