Re: Stringer Pushing through bottom of Boat?
Out of all of the people commenting here, I think SnappingTurtle "gets it" the most. I also find it completely without surprise that someone with such good grasp of the basic problem, would be a guy who has spent a career in corporate communications.
In business, you live and die by your reputation with customers and Tahoe has done an abysmal job of protecting its image. It has left a customer, who spent a considerable amount of money on one of its products, wondering just what is going on for months. All should remember that bainyg is due to get his boat back soon and he still hasn't been told how it has been fixed! This sort of behavior reeks of a business that really doesn't give a damn about its customer. The fact that "good old home boy owner" doesn't know that this is how his business runs, just reinforces the idea that Tahoe is in serious need of management overhaul.
I have no sympathy for Tahoe at this point. Yes, they have been beat up pretty well here, but they deserve it and they get a big fat "F" in customer relations. It is also true that problems happen with other manufacturers, but that doesn't change the fact that the communication and slowness to react in this case, has been a huge issue.
As for the Walmart example, I think Snap also hit a home run - Walmart is famous for customer service. Like many people, I have had a problem here and there with a Walmart product, but they have always stand by those items with few questions asked and a great big smile. The following is just an example of this.
I once bought a lawn mower at Wally World and something was missing when I assembled it. I took the whole thing back but forgot my wallet, which had both my ID and the receipt in it. When I went to customer service and realized that I didn't have the receipt, the clerk simply asked when I bought it. When I told her that it was only about 90 minutes before, she asked me what the associate who helped me looked like. I described him and she called the dept. to see if he was still there - he was. The man soon appeared at customer service and promptly said that he remembered me and that he would be glad to exchange the product. Note that I have said nothing about a manager thus far. That's because there never was one involved -the associates were empowered by their employer to make a decision and act.
Another example is Winn Dixie grocery store v. Walmart groceries. At Winn Dixie, if I don't "prove my loyalty" by getting one of those dopey customer cards, I pay outrageously expensive prices. At the same time, Walmart asks me for the privilage of having me for a customer by simply offering good prices without conditions. Which store do you think I buy groceries in?
Customer loyalty isn't really all that hard to develop but, amazingly enough, most American corporations have very little clue how to garner it. In the case of Tahoe, I would modify that statement to indicate "no clue."
I would think that he should have found this out first and accepted only a new hull. I would have been calling every day if necessary until I had the answer. Now that the boat is ready it looks like baineyg might be stuck with whatever course of action Tracker decided upon. I hope that he is getting a new hull.
