Nokia Care Center Brisbane: I'm Deeply Sorry for Having an Opinion

You'll be aware of the issues I've been having with my two month old Nokia N8. If you're not, then please check out the original blog entry about the issue here.

I have the N8 back now from the Nokia Care Center in Brisbane.  The remedy for my issue was to replace the handset with a "warranty replacement unit".  Apparently the software was also upgraded on the new handset.  I'm still a little bit hazy about how upgrading the software could possible solve a hardware issue (again, read the original blog entry), but they are the experts.

I'll start this entry by saying the following positive things about the Nokia Care Center Brisbane:

• They met their customer charter of returning the phone in under three business days.
• They did offer me a collection of complimentary accessories to compensate me for the inconvenience.

It appears that the Nokia Care Centre in Brisbane are aware of this blog.  How do I know this?  Did they comment on the original blog entry. No. 

I found this out by the sarcastic customer service I received when picking up the handset.  When I entered the store, it had no other customers in it except for another customer looking at the wall of accessories.

After providing the job number (BRI098880), the young lady on the counter that day (at about 4.10pm on Jan 6th 2011) said in a sarcastic tone:

"Oh, so you're our 'blogger', are you..."

I must say I was taken aback. I stammered a response back:

"Aaah.  Well.  Yeah, I guess so." 

She then responded with a drawn-out:

"Yeahhhhh"

At this point she disappeared into the back office for about 2 minutes to retrieve the phone.

She returned and sat down.  She explained to me that they had replaced the handset with a new one.  Then she said something that truly astounded me:

"So we have given you a Nokia Care pack with some accessories in it so you stop ragging us out online"

Wh-what? I just couldn't quite believe it.  I haven't received "customer service" like this for a long while.  I thought that companies realised that their customer service is one tweet or blog post away from public scrutiny.

It seems that the Nokia Care Center Brisbane hasn't quite got this yet.  So let me help them understand.

There are a few points I can offer here to help the Nokia Care Center get with the modern age of word-of-mouth:

• If you know your customer is a blogger, DON'T be rude to them when you interact. No matter how annoyed you may be.
• Give customers the finest customer service you can possibly muster. Customers will then not only be impressed, but will also share this experience with others.
• There's a time and place to take out your frustration on customers.  That is around the water cooler or coffee machine in your break room; not while the customer is in front of you.

The sad thing is, if the person on the front counter had remembered her training in customer service, then I probably would have been writing this blog post instead.

If I ever have to deal with the Brisbane Nokia Care Center again, hopefully I'll have a more positive customer service experience.

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