I I have never been so appalled at the horrific "customer service" from this or any company. I rent my townhome and the refrigerator has been acting up. My landlord contacted Keeven and then Keeven contacted me to set up an appointment. As we tried to work out a good time to make an appointment for them to come out, I was told that I would have to tell my employers that I might just have to be late. I told them this was not an option, and the lady replied, "Well, I don't know what to tell you." We agreed on an 8:30am appointment for the following week after I specifically stated more than once that I would be free and waiting at 8:30 and could not have it go over.
The appointment time rolled by and nobody showed up. I was upstairs waiting to hear the door knock and getting myself and my children fed and ready for work and the sitter. I had received a missed call at 8:20. I called back, asking why they had not showed up to the appointment. She stated that she was not sure if anybody was home. I said that was the purpose of an appointment, and that they had received more than enough assurance from me that i would be home at that time. I said my phone was downstairs, and if they wanted to know if somebody was home they should've knocked or rang the bell. She interrupted that it costs money to send somebody out, and I replied that they should charge if an appointment is set and nobody is there. I would have been alright if I received an apology and an effort to set up a new time that they could come. Instead, I was abruptly interrupted each sentence I started and was met with excuses and reasons why this was my fault. Then she hung up on me. My boyfriend called up and asked to speak with a manager. The same lady said, "Well, why?" He replied that it really isn't her business to know why a customer asks to speak to a manager. It wasn't a "Can I ask what the purpose of your call is so I can pass on the information as I transfer you", it was rude and condescending. The manager then got on the line, continued with the same patronizing tone which only escalated the situation. My boyfriend said he was going to leave a one star review on Yelp, to which she responded, "Why don't you grow the eff up?". He understandably hung up after that.
I told my landlord, who then called Keeven. She left me a voicemail detailing Keeven's response:
"They said that if they hung up, the only reason why they would've done so is because your boyfriend used profanity, and I don't think they would be the type of people to do something like that anyway because they are old."
First, Keeven, shame on you. You didn't hang up on my boyfriend because of profanity, you hung up on me. I did not use profanity. I called in as a frustrated customer. Having previous experience in customer service has taught me that there is a way to calm every situation, and if you really listen empathetically you have the power to turn any situation around to be in your and your customer's favor. I am not unreasonable and had I been met with an ounce of understanding and effort to remedy this, I'm confident that I would've been amenable to setting a new appointment and moving on.
Secondly, my beef is not with my landlord who mistakenly believes the stereotype that older people are generally sweet and mild-tempered. I applaud the want to believe that most people are basically kind at heart, though it is a sadly naive belief in some unfortunate circumstances. My beef is with the bold-faced lie that you told my landlord in order to make yourselves look better and not loose the business of a large client. You took a bad situation and exacerbated it. If we are to stereotype and judge a situation based on that, I might say that more than two handfuls of the older generation that I know tend to think that the younger generation is dumb and disrespectful and needs to be put it their place. I have seen plenty of impatient, intolerant, and demeaning people because of this. However, I chose to think that your actions are spurred on from a lack of education in business ethics, customer service, and general common sense.
Here is a tip in light of that: word of mouth is powerful. I am neither dumb nor disrespectful, and you have treated me as a peon. You are paid for a service. Make sure that you complete that service to the best of your ability. My job as a client (clients keep you in business, by the way) is not to be sure that I get reprimanded at work for changing my schedule. It is not to have my phone on my hip at every moment; as a single, responsible, hard-working mom I wouldn't be expected to. My job is to be sure I am present at the appointed time that we are both available. I did that. You failed.
I will now be sure to recommend Blankenship Appliances to everyone I know and deter them from your business.
I wish you the best of luck in your quality assurance endeavors. read more
