The Limo That Couldn't

Good Morning,

 

This past summer my wife and I took our daughter and her friend to New York City for her Sweet Sixteen birthday. The trip was supposed to start in real style with a stretched limousine picking us up at the airport. Unfortunately it did not end up that way….

 

The Lincoln Limousine service was contracted to pick my daughter, her friend, Karen and I up at the airport when we arrived with a stretched limo.

 

The day before our trip, I received an email saying our 6 AM flight was now departing at 12 Noon. I immediately called the limo service and notified them of the change.

 

They were to pick us up at baggage claim. Our flight ended up being delayed by 30 minutes due to weather, and when we arrived. No limo.

 

When I called, they said that we should wait outside, in the rain, in the heat, for them to pull up to the middle island outside of LaGuardia Terminal and they would be by in 15 minutes.

 

The invoice we received included parking, so why would they need to park if they were only going to stop and pick us up.

 

After 25 minutes, I called again, and was told they were close, give them another 5 minutes.

 

20 minutes later we called again, and we were told the first car was in an accident and new car was being sent, give it 15 minutes.

 

30 minutes later, no car.

 

We called again, and the person said another 3 minutes. We told them cancel the service, and we took a cab.

 

I was livid to say the least.

 

Repeated failure to deliver what was promised, repeated miss-information given.

 

When I called later that day from the hotel to cancel the planned return trip, they not only did not even act like they were sorry; they had already cancelled the return drive…. It figured that the only proactive action taken by this company was cancelling our return trip.

 

It is hard to take a company seriously when they clearly are not telling the truth, or coming across as such. It is possible that our limo would have shown up a few minutes after we left in the cab, but after waiting over an hour and 15 minutes I believe we gave them ample chances to make good.

 

To keep customers coming back to you, you need to deliver what you promise and be honest and up front in your business dealings.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford

What a way to get what I was originally offered

Good Morning,

 

I am reminded about the Visa rewards program I have with my wife and our bank. The rewards program is tied to our purchases and normal banking activities. We have been able to cash in on this program with some very nice gift cards. We like the program, but we did have a bought of bad service.

 

One month about a year ago, I received an email promotion stating 5000 free Visa Rewards points for opening a Savings Account. So, well, I opened a Savings Account. I was informed that the 5000 points would come in about a month. I double check with the bank representative who helped set up the account that everything was in order, and I am told it is. I have the emails to prove it!

 

A month came and went, and no 5000 points. So I called the rewards program again and they advised me to wait another month, that I signed up the Savings Account towards the end of the monthly cycle so it was delayed.

 

Another month came and went and still no 5000 points. So I called the rewards program again and was given another tale that ended up with me waiting another month or so, and so I waited.

 

Another two months pass and I check and see that I cannot even get into the awards website at all. So I call the rewards program and they tell me there is an upgrade to the site going on.

 

Another month passes and I log into the Visa Rewards site and still no 5000 points. So I call the rewards program again and they tell me this time that my request will be delayed another month or so because it was queued up behind the scheduled change that just finished and it should be done in another month.

 

Finally after another month I log into the Visa Rewards site and again, still no 5000 points. I call Visa Rewards to find out what is going on with 5000 bonus points and the representative tells me that the Savings Account I set up was not eligible for the 5000 points bonus. I proceed to go through each previous calls and that I even have the emails saying that the Savings Account was eligible for the rewards bonus.

 

After about 10 minutes on the phone, the representative I am talking to gets real gruff and says ‘this ain’t worth no 5000 points’ and gives me a balance correction for 5000 points.

 

I received the bonus points offered to me nearly a year before only because the phone analyst did not want to hear me complain about the service not giving me what they promised.

 

I got my points, but what an adventure.

 

Any company that offers rewards or incentives should clearly market these programs throughout their own companies and make sure that they deliver what they promise. While all of these points were extras and the rewards program gave gifts which the customers did not pay for, there is something to be said about customer expectation. If a customer expects something, then they will normally be upset when they don’t get it, no matter if it is paid for or not.

 

The bigger picture is trust. Can you trust a company which does not deliver what it promises? No, it gets a lot harder. The company has to make up for their failures. And with the 5000 bonus points I am still not sure if I am trusting of the Visa Rewards program enough to ever try another promotion again.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford