hanging from my own rope
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this bjturk.commentary: Not quite a year ago, I bought a Pro-Form treadmill from Sears. For reasons that were not clear even to me, I purchased the extended service agreement along with it, even though I know that such extended warranties are almost entirely profit for the store. The sum of the purchase exceeded six hundred dollars. The purchase has proven to be, if not a bad one, then perhaps an unintended adventure into the inadequacies of what anyone would normally call "customer service." The only thing that appears to have happened in the manner intended was the clearing of the check with which I paid for the equipment and the extended warranty. I mention the extended warranty again because its purchase proved to be critical to the purchase of the treadmill itself, as will later become painfully obvious to the reader. Upon purchasing the treadmill, I drove to the local Sears warehouse to pick up the large, heavy box, then drove it home. Between my wife and I, we were able to get the box into the house and I proceeded to put it together (being notoriously frugal, I refused to pay either for assembly or delivery). For the most part, assembly went without a hitch. It proved to be among the last things involving the treadmill that were relatively problem-free.
Within three days of the purchase, the first problem occurred, which necessitated our first service call. Four more service calls followed, requiring eight service visits to date. This includes the visit today to replace the control console for the second time. All of these service calls occurred within eight months of purchasing the treadmill. The total cost of these service calls, had we not purchased the extended warranty, would have exceeded the cost of the treadmill itself PLUS the extended warranty by more than one hundred dollars. Sears has been at times incompetently helpful (which means that they want to help but don't know how) and at times downright surly (hanging up the telephone on my wife at least three times). Among the few who have been competent and remained rational, there is a clear consensus that we appear to have purchased a "lemon." (For the benefit of those outside the U.S., Americans call something a "lemon" if it is of unusually substandard quality and remains so despite all efforts to repair its defects. The term is normally applied to automobiles, and most states in the U.S. have laws that permit owners to return such problem vehicles for refund. These laws, unfortunately, apply only to automobiles, trucks and other vehicles.) However, there is clearly no interest by any party in relieving us of this lemon of a treadmill. In fact, all parties are virtually insistent that we keep it.
Seeking some kind of relief, we have even sought help from the manufacturer. A representative of Pro-Form told us over the phone that, since the 90-day factory warranty had expired, all issues involving the treadmill that Pro-Form manufactured were Sears' problem with which to deal, and that Pro-Form wanted nothing to do with any of it. In other words, their responsibility expired simultaneously with the factory warranty. The Pro-Form representative did not seem to care that, no matter what, the Pro-Form name was indelibly attached to the equipment itself, and its poor quality reflected upon not Sears but Pro-Form. They seemed determined to stand behind their product only long enough to push it out the door. We were told by Pro-Form that, had we not purchased the extended warranty, we would be completely out of luck. It would be easy to believe that this is that to which customer service has fallen: The sale ends the relationship with the customer, and there is nothing more important than the next sale, past customers be damned. That would be easy to believe. Still, there are at least two companies of which I know that stand behind their products long after others have turned their backs. Those two, the A.T. Cross Company and the Zippo Manufacturing Company, remain at the pinnacle of their respective fields because they have placed customer service at a high level and have worked hard to keep it there. In my view, these two companies make the only U.S.-made products that are worth owning anymore.
When I was in the U.S. Army, I bought a Zippo cigarette lighter during basic training. Over about five years of use, the pin that holds the lid in place fell out and was lost, so the lid would no longer stay on. About that time, I bought a second Zippo. The first sat in a drawer unused for several years before I finally decided to test the Zippo "lifetime warranty." Zippo has proudly proclaimed that no customer has ever paid a cent for the repair of one of their products and I took them at their word. As the lighter was a memento of my military service, I hesitantly placed it into a padded envelope and sent it off to the Bradford, Pennsylvania Zippo factory on February 28, 1989. Frankly, I hadn't expected to see it again for months. I had no expectations of express warranty service. I fought off doubts that I would ever see it again. Imagine my suprise and delight when, exactly one month later, my lighter arrived with a new hinge pin in place. Not only that, but they had also replaced the entire functional part of the lighter as well — fuel cell insert, flint and flint wheel — with a new assembly. In nearly every respect, it was a brand-new item. All that remained of the original lighter was the case, which still bore the scratches and minor dents of use, but they had cleaned it the best they could. I was very pleasantly surprised.
The A.T. Cross Company has a similar lifetime warranty on its fine writing instruments. These companies stand behind their products regardless of age, and insist on having satisfied customers. They are proud of what they do, and that pride comes through in how they do it. As of today, I have three Zippo products (two are lighters: one is sixteen years old, the other is twelve) and six Cross pens and pencils. I am happy to be a customer of these companies because they seem to be happy to have me as a customer. I really do wish I could say the same for Pro-Form, but I cannot. I have only ever owned one Pro-Form product and I will not buy another. In fact, recently my wife successfully dissuaded a potential customer (in the same Sears store from which we bought ours, as it happened) from inflicting a Pro-Form treadmill upon himself by telling him about all the problems that we've had with ours over eight months. It used to be that companies recognized that word-of-mouth advertising was the best you could get because it was cheap and people will believe their family, friends and neighbors more than any company. While this is still true, there seems to be a greater emphasis on selling through advertising than advertising by treating people right and counting on your customers to tell others. Cross and Zippo, by their continued success, have proven that respecting your customers pays off. Pro-Form may learn the hard way that their hands-off customer service plan brings them small savings but at a far greater price. Cross and Zippo have been around a long time. Pro-Form, I am sure, will not be around as long. They deserve as much longevity as their products. That should be, what? A week? February 14, 2000
You'll always be broke if people don't pay you attention!
copyright © 1994-2010 bjturk.communications. all rights reserved. |
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