No Service

On a cross country flight a year or two ago, my seatmate started telling me about his truck. It was a top of the line deluxe model with all the bells and whistles. It sounded pretty slick until I learned that the engine had been replaced twice in about a year. It didn’t seem to bother him much, he was really happy with the way the dealer had taken care of it. They were first-class, there were no charges for the new engine, included a loaner car, the works! He couldn’t say enough about the great service.

I kept my mouth shut but that’s itched me ever since. Good service is critical, both strategically and tactically. It distinguishes a great company from an average or a poor one. In a manufacturing plant, each day that is delayed getting back into operations is tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of dollars in lost production. I knew how my seatmate felt. We all feel glad when we get such great service.

However…

Great service isn’t really the point, is it? Remember “Ol’ Lonely”, the Maytag repairman? I loved those commercials because they captured exactly how I think customer service should be. If needed, he is standing by ready to do whatever it takes. On the other hand, he was bored to tears and lonely because the Maytag washers just ran and ran and ran, never requiring service.

My car, a Hyundai, has a 100,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warrantee. A lot of people will look at this warrantee and figure “Well, if it breaks, they will fix it.” Me too. That is the whole purpose of a warrantee and I expect them to make good on it is the need arises.

On the other hand, I tend to see it less as a statement that I am covered and more as a statement by Hyundai of their confidence I will not have any problems requiring service. After 3+ years and 40,000 miles I haven’t.

That is exactly what I want from any company. The best service will always be no service.