I am writing this because I have today spent nearly 6 hours dealing with everyone’s favorite camera shop, Jessops regarding a minor issue.
2.5 years ago I bought a camera, memory card and insurance from Jessops in Epsom, following this I had a wonderful time using my camera, until it recently had a problem, in fact it wasn’t even the camera at all. It was the £79.99 SanDisk memory card I bought to go in the camera.
The trouble was that because of what I consider a manufacturing defect the plastic had slowly cracked on the card allowing the write protect switch to come loose, fall out and go missing.
I have taken the card to the shop, called their customer services, emailed their customer services, had several calls back and forth from customer relations and then been emailed to say:
…we are of the opinion that the fault described may have occurred due to the condition of the memory cards and possible improper use…
I then contacted the manufacturer who told me the same thing, all through this process everyone has been accusing me of being, effectively a liar, because they do not belive that I have cared for this memory card well.
However today a break through, the crazy people at SanDisk asked for some photos to be emailed, so I borrowed the family macro lens, and took some mega high quality, detailed macro pictures, which on first glance made it look all my fault, but then I thought, what would it look like if it were actually damaged by me?
It might have:
- Major scratches
- Dents
- Strech marks from bending
- Gouges
- Chips
I now beg of you, how many of these did I see from the photos alone, thats right NONE!
I now have photographic and deductive reasoning which prove my innocence, however I am still waiting for a reply from Jessops or SanDisk regarding this.
I think the lesson to be learned here, is that whilst many customers, will try it on, others will be telling the truth and whilst it may for a small company be impractical to replace every device at a whim, I think that customer service and satisfaction far outranks the small amount of loss made on replacing a device.
I think ultimately its a vicious cycle, the more unhappy customers you generate, the more call to complain, the more that hasel your suppliers, and the more that bring legal action against you.
Where as the other side is also true, the more happy customers you generate the more that call again to buy more stuff, the more that tell their friends what a great service you offer and overall you have 100% more customers and recommendations and 100% less complaints, unhappy suppliers, and legal threats.
Jessops: Learn from this experience, refund my bloody memory card, offer me a bit of compensation and apologise for the inconvenience – is it any wonder you had to be taken over by you (now) parent company when you drive people away like this?