Seth in his post today draws further attention to poor customer service and what people are often looking for - an acknowledgement and apology.

If you regularly read Seth's blog you will see he frequently gives great examples of how companies mess up and then miss the moment to deal with the failure. The adage 'A stitch in time - save 9' is apt here. Deal with the issue - fast and if you have made a mistake just admit it. Even more important if you make a promise - keep it.

My experience is that most people are not looking for immediate compensation but get frustrated and angry as they are ignored, made to feel they are making a fuss and are then forced to enter some long winded multi-contact complaints proceedure. As the saga progresses that is when they want compensation for all the extra nonsense they get subjected to. (See my earlier posts on some Customer Service experiences of my own.)

Seth then offers a statement that he suggests can be used to express regret (delivered with real sincerity). On the face of it this looks great and I wish many companies would adopt it but let's look closer at what some potential meanings could be.

What Seth suggested was saying was....

"I'm really sorry about the way you feel. We work really hard and do our best to avoid problems like this, but it's obvious you feel mistreated and I want to fix it. I'm really sorry about all this."

How could some people who are already aggrieved receive and process this?

I'm really sorry about the way you feel = they are not really sorry about the bad service but only that I may be over sensative and making a fuss. 

...we work really hard and do our best.... = I just don't appreciate how hard their job is. They are only human. I am being un-reasonable. Get a life.

but =  We work hard but you are such a pain that is just not good enough for you! I wish you have never been a customer of ours.

..you feel mistreated... = you are obviously over sensative. They think I am a wimp! 

I'm really sorry about all this = At last. That's all I really wanted. But it was obviously not what they really feel or mean or they would have said it first.

What would I have rather heard....

"I am really sorry about our failure and its impact on you. We messed up. What can we do to put it right and make you happy?"

That hits all my right buttons.

• They have acknowledged the problem with no excuses
• They have recognised I have been negatively impacted by it
• They do not use the 'but' word
• They give me back control in the relationship (for company they are asking permission to serve me - the customer in the best way possible. I feel valued and personally cared about)

In Seth's blog he gives a great example of how one company is handling a failure of service. I like the idea the customer can choose the level of 'compensation' but I much prefer a more open ended approach where a company wants to know what will make me happy to use them again. It is not without risks but my experience is most people do not ask for the impossible.