I attended CPY Gold Coast the week of April 14th, 2014. Lizzie checked me in and taught the class. I spend $1,000 per year on yoga at CPY but I rarely go to the Gold Coast Studio. For the record here, I will state that LIZZIE did a pretty good job in terms of teaching the class and handling the business aspects of checking me in. Everything went well during check in with the exception that she could not access my account in the CPY accounting system to see that I have a credit on the account that should be decremented for a towel and a yoga mat. I was quite unsure of how safe it was to pay ahead and have "an account" to draw from when she said she couldn't access it. It made me wonder if their computer system is user friendly enough that I should take the risk to even have an account. But the alternative is always carrying cash in $3 or so amounts, which I rarely do. At any rate, after some back and forth and a minute or two past the class start time the issue was resolved when I paid cash. I wound up a few minutes late to class but there was space for me so at this juncture I was generally a happy customer.
After completing the one hour class, I lollygagged around the locker room and showered pretty slowly. Finally I emerged about 20 minutes after class and Lizzie inquired about how as the class. I told her it was good and I looked forward to coming back. There were 5 people in the lobby within earshot of this conversation, when another employee of CPY walked in to the lobby and said, "Is Brett still here" while addressing the 5 of us in the lobby. I acknowledged that I was still there, and she proceeded to tell me she wasn't sure if they had billed my account properly for my class. I asked her if she WAS SURE there was a problem, and she said, "Well, I am not certain, but it looks like we might not have charged your account for the class. We have problems with our computer and I can't tell for certain. I will need for you to pay for your class with cash since I can't figure out how to access your account."
??? Seriously? BEFORE the class I was checked in by Lizzie and she verified that there were credits on my account for the class, I took the class, and now, 30 minutes afterwards when I normally am back at my hotel working, you are asking me to pay for a class that I Lizzie already charged to my account? It was VERY CLEAR TO ME that this woman made 3 SERIOUS errors in judgement:
1. She did not SOLVE THE PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM, AS I IDENTIFY IT, is:
CPY computer systems don't work, she doesn't understand them, or Lizzie didn't understand them (could be all 3).
SOLVING THE PROBLEM in a way that a well managed company SHOULD solve the problem entails IDENTIFYING THE ROOT CAUSE and SOLVING IT. By making sure that the staff know how to use the computer systems properly for all clients, the problem will be solved. If your computer systems are not understandable to you, CALL CORPORATE OFFICE AND EXPLAIN PROBLEM, don't ask the client if they know whether or not their account does or does not have credits on it for the class.
2. She made a SCENE out of it, and effectively made it look like I was at fault in front of 5 people in the lobby. I DO NOT NEED TO COMMENT ON HOW THIS CANNOT BY ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION BE CONSISTENT WITH CPY CUSTOMER SERVICE POLICY.
3. She suggested the proper solution was for her to call me later in the day once they got it sorted out and take a credit card for the class.
CONCLUSION OF ACTION STEPS CORE POWER YOGA CORPORATE OFFICE SHOULD TAKE WITH THIS STUDIO AND ANY STUDIOS WIT THIS PROBLEM:
1. EDUCATE STAFF THAT ACCOUNTING PROBLEMS ARE TO BE OWNED BY THE CPY, NOT THE CUSTOMER.
2. EDUCATE CPY STAFF THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR KNOWING HOW TO SEE IF THE COMPUTER SYSTEM SHOWS THAT A CUSTOMER IS PAID IN FULL. IN THE EVENT THE STAFF DOES NOT KNOW HOW, CPY IS A CONVENIENCE BASED YOGA BUSINESS AND THE CUSTOMER SHOULD NOT BE HARASSED OR EXPECTED TO RESOLED TRAINING GAPS FOR THE STAFF.
3. NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, DISCUSS BILLING PROBLEMS WITH CPY COMPUTER SYSTEMS IN FRONT OF THE CLIENTS. IT IS INAPPROPRIATE AND IT CAUSES CUSTOMERS TO BECOME DISILLUSIONED WITH THE STABILITY OF CPY COMPUTER SYSTEMS ACCURATELY ACCOUNTING FOR MONEY THAT THE CLIENT SPENDS. read more