a tale of poor customer experience

After having lived in the US for a couple of years and then moving (back) to the UK, I still remember what a shock it was to feel the difference in level of customer service between the 2 countries. [Not saying Belgium is better, it just happened to be that I moved from US to the UK]

I am not just talking about service in restaurants (as you can argue if it is right or wrong to pay waiters minimum wage and let them live on tips) but let’s just say that overall there is no comparison.

In fact, every time someone moves over from the US to the UK, I tell them beforehand: forget what you have come to expect as service in the US because you will just get annoyed. Most often heard complaints: banks turning you away as a customer as you are a foreigner (and these are employees of well known global companies such as MS and Yahoo) and the length of time & effort to get broadband set up.

I have now adapted to the different standard and quite happy in UK but yesterday, however, I was again taken aback by an example of poor customer experience.

I am a long term gym member at my local David Lloyd’s and rent a locker for which I pay 60 GBP / 6 months additionally. When arriving at the gym yesterday, I find a note in my locker that they have removed all of my possessions and I need to go to reception to pay 5 GBP for “abusing the system” to get my clothes back.

So I go to reception, where they tell me that my locker had expired and they had left me a note in my locker 4 months ago to say that it had expired. For the life of me, I don’t remember receiving that note (I am one of these people that pays their bills when they arrive) but I was baffled by the fact that they would not put a reminder, or simply tell me at reception the multiple times I scan myself into the premises during the past 4 months.

No, they rather have their long term gym member paying good money every month feel like a criminal by being called to the “principal” to pay its fee for “abusing the system”…

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