Almost nothing bugs me more than bad customer service. I mean, it's not hard to be nice, or helpful, or apologetic when things go wrong. I've worked in retail, and while I might not have been 100% chirpy and helpful all of the time, I was well aware that if I was nice and helpful to the customers, it made their day better, and more importantly, mine!
This morning, I was booked in to get some new tyres fitted at Jim Steel Garages in Beeston, Nottingham. It was an order through black circles (www.blackcircles.co.uk), who I've used before and have excellent customer service. Jim Steel, on the other hand, are awful. I got there at 9:15am, and the guys were just opening the shutters. I walked into reception and explained that I had a booking through black circles, my name, reference number, and all that stuff. I could tell straight away that the girl on reception was not happy, nor optimistic about my chances of getting the tyres fitted. She said that i might not be able to get them done straight away, so I was crossing my fingers, hoping she meant i'd have to wait 15-20 minutes until they could do it. That's fine - i've got my emails to go through and a few calls to make.
She went to check with the mechanic and came back to say, essentially, i could either leave my car there for the morning and come back at 1pm (i live 30 minutes drive from this garage, so that's not happening), or come back mid afternoon. Mid afternoon is not a morning appointment, by my reckoning. After some (well, not much) deliberation, I said I'd have to leave it, and see what I could organise.
Back at the (home) office, I was able to ring black circles to rearrange fitting. I have to admit, they are really efficient. Answered the phone straight away, found my order, apologised for the hassle, and rearranged for a week or so at a much more local garage.
I can definitely recommend black circles for ordering tyres online, as they're not just cheap, but have a great range, and good service. Incidentally, my last tyres from them were Toyo Proxes (similar to Eagle F1s), and they're amazing. This time, I've got some Falken FK 452s - they look good and have great reviews, so it'll be nice to see how they go.
I like having new tyres.
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