I was waiting in line at the store to pay today and there was a lady in front of me attempting to return a jacket that she had purchased at another location. The customer service rep told the lady that they could not return the item because the detachable hood that came with the jacket was missing. The lady was then told that she had to go to the other store to return the item because it was the other store that had sold her the jacket without the hood.
Needless to say, the lady raised a fuss and a manager was called over. The manager took a look at the receipt and said to the lady, "Since you've been a loyal cardholder for quite some time, I'll go ahead and return the jacket for you. But next time...."
My friend later tells me a story of a time that she called her bank complaining about some fees that she did not agree with. Since she has been a customer with the bank for over 20 years, the bank went ahead and reversed all the fees for her.
So what about the new customer? Kevin Meyer offers his lesson:
"Rewarding your best loyal customers is appropriate, but keep in mind that you also want to convert every customer into a loyal customer. Don’t sabotage this by offering substandard standard service to new or lower volume customers."
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