While this might be normal conversation in 'media land', I found a personal example in Domino's UK over the weekend. While I normally hate complaining about service, especially on a blog or microblog, I found myself both annoyed and intrigued with Domino's customer service. Given that Domino's has previously credited social media for a 29% spike in pre tax profits, e-commerce now accounts for 32.7% of their sales and their Foursquare promotion was hailed as an interesting effort, I thought the experience might make for a great personal case study on online/offline customer support.
Background
Initially, I must say that I consider myself a pretty typical consumer. Though I work in media, outside of the office, I have a pretty normal appetite for products and am probably below average in my readiness to complain about service. I do engage with brands on social networks more than most (out of professional curiosity), but as the normal consumer increasingly does this, it may mean I'm ahead of the curve more so than outside of it.
This is a version of what I wanted....
With that said, I found myself on the couch on Saturday afternoon, nursing a cold after a long week at work. Given that pajama pants and a hoodie aren't the best things to wander around town in, I decided to order pizza, a.) so that I could get a nice lunch without leaving the house and b.) so that I could get some Diet Coke for the evening without having to leave. Logging onto 'dominos.co.uk' I ordered a late 'lunchtime special', as well as a side and a 1L of Diet Coke. Optimally, my meal would have appeared looking like a thin crust version of the photo above, only with a slightly smaller Diet Coke & a side.
What showed up first (and wasn't bad)....
What showed up 50 minutes later...
However, once my delivery arrived, I quickly noticed that it lacked any drink. Given that this is probably a common issue, I notified the driver and was told he would return in 5 minutes with my 'Diet Coke'. 50 minutes later, he returned with a 'Coca Cola' classic and told me that as the store was out of anything else, this would do, before noting that 'it is the same price, you wont be charged any more!'. Being that I had used Domino's e-comm and paid by card, the common response of not paying for part of the meal was now off the table.
Domino's UK's portal for customer support...
While I found the entire issue rather trivial in terms of price & product, I thought that the response was bad enough that I would notify the manager. Logging onto the Domino's.co.uk website, I found this screen, which recommends three levels of customer response: Store level, Regional Level & Corporate. Given that the store level version of customer support wasn't the most encouraging thing after speaking with the delivery driver, I decided to try the middle option, which put me in touch with the regional manager.
Regional Information....
After ringing the number given, I was put in touch with the regional service representative who promised to rectify the situation, going as far as promising a refund (when all I really want is someone to drop off a Diet Coke). I was told that the manager of the store would be ringing my phone shortly and that everything would be quickly sorted.
After returning a missed call to the store manager however, I was greeted by a variety of wrong names 'Bobbie, Charlie, etc." before introducing myself and then met with a variety of wrong products he didn't include 'Desert? Ice Cream?'. A 2 minute conversation with him led me to believe that: a.) he was in no mood to help b.) he was quite peeved the regional service rep had called him and c.) he wasn't about to get me any closer to my Diet Coke. The conversation ended with the store manager promising that something like this wouldn't happen again, but not rectifying any of the current situation.
Finally lodging a complaint over something as small as a Diet Coke..
After this conversation and with no resolution, I finally decided to take my rather trivial issue and send a comment to corporate. Using the third option provided, I lodged a complaint and received an automated email that someone would be in touch shortly. Given that I had previously checked-in on foursquare during the beginning of their Foursquare campaign, I put a quick tip on the location about the bad service and tweeted a bit about my annoyance.
Oh how far I've come from being the mayor of this place...
Update (18/08/2010): Serendipitously, as a finished this section, I've noticed that @Dominos_UK's twitter page has messaged back responding to my two Domino's UK tweets.
2nd Update (19/08/2010): After speaking on Twitter with a very nice person operating the @Dominos_UK account, I referred them to this blog post, which described the experience in a more efficient way than Twitter could. After three messages, they nicely asked that I email their twitter@dominos.co.uk address for further conversation.
3rd Update (20/08/2010): I received an email from the corporate feedback form I left on the 18th, which stated that the matter would be referred back to the franchise owner for a 'personal response'.
Given that I just went ahead and popped down to the shop for drinks, I don't really want any other response from Domino's about my experience (and I especially never want to talk to the store manager again). An issue that could have been quickly solved by either: a.) notifying the customer that a product was out b.) picking up a 1L of Diet Coke from the myriad of stores that line the path between Domino's and my house or c.) refunding that part of the meal has instead become a journey through an interesting and reasonably complex response network with no real resolution. Given Domino's social credentials and the interest piqued during this journey fueled by a 1L soft drink, I thought that a few different implications for social customer response can come out of the experience.
What Domino's UK can show us about customer service and social media....
Domino's sits in a business model that doesn't lend itself to much of a delay in customer response. Before e-commerce, the path for response was pretty straight forward for pizza delivery, as the local store served as point of distribution and communication for most issues. Without online activity, each of Domino's 600+ UK stores represents its own personal relationship with the customer.
With online activity though, the direct link from customer to store is partially severed, with the brand's website, social media pages & associated networks becoming a port of call for customer communication.
The Domino's Support network as percieved through my consumer experience...Which point has the main license to solve my problem, how many of these do I need to talk to?
Linking together regional and local stores with each other and online communication is key to providing a timely response. Given Domino's focus on online activity, it was quite surprising to find that the website didn't mention the twitter page as a point of communication. However, by splitting avenues of communication, they put the responsibility on the Twitter page to respond quickly for scanned issues (something they seem to have done very well).In other examples though, the risk exists that without an 'always on' Twitter point of contact, responses run too late to provide timely support.
Given that I've gone through one channel of customer support and found it lackluster, whatever happens now on any other isn't as timely or effective.
The issue also highlights the strengths and limitations of Twitter for customer support. Given the short nature of Tweets, long retelling or detailed handling of issues needs to occur on another channel and the transition from Twitter to email/phone etc. needs to be seamless and not involve further action on the part of the consumer. Considering that I've already retold my experience on three forms and this blog post, I'm not too excited to revisit what at its heart was a small issue or go through yet another channel of support.
Overall, the Domino's experience shows the need for a coordinated response structure that provides a response in a timely and effective manner. No matter what outcome results from this, a small issue and a mixed response from talking with various brand channels and then an apathetic store manager has turned me off from that specific location forever. For me, the experience has shown that considering all touch points for support as a coordinated message is the only way to provide an efficient offline and online response.
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