Bad LSM: Impersonal Customer Service

Let’s be honest, it can be hard to find a decent bathroom when you’re on the road as you’re mostly reduced to fast food restaurants and gas stations. And while I’ve never expected outstanding service or cleanliness from either option, I saw something today that really annoyed me.

While the owners want you to know that they personally promise the cleanliness of their restrooms, they provide a toll-free 1-866-number for you to call with any complaints. While the restroom I was in was part of a larger fast food chain, the individual locations are locally owned and operated. So, why not just give your customers the phone number for the location they’re in? Maybe I’m reading too far into it, but the idea of calling a corporate 1-866-number to file a complaint seems like a waste of time to me.

To really open the lines of customer communication (for better or for worse), they could go one step further and make a less permanent sign (that is easily editable) containing the name and contact information for either the manager of that location or the area manager. I’ve also seen restaurants and retail shops print this information on their receipts, so that customers have an easy reference point should they need to make a call for any reason. (Note: if you’re going to make a promise on the cleanliness of your bathrooms, your employees need to make that a priority!)

Oh, and one more thing – the bad grammar in the second sentence bugs me too. It should be combined with the first sentence to read, “We want you to be satisfied every time you visit our stores, so we personally promise the cleanliness of our restrooms.”

How does your small business receive feedback from your customers?