Death by Comment

I bought a new car last week. Ok, I'm leasing a new car. We picked it up Wednesday, December 28th. In the following few days my tire pressure sensor lit up. Now, I know that temperature fluctuation can affect tire pressure, so I didn't think anything of it. By Sunday it was still on, so on Monday I checked the pressure on the front passenger tire, it was at 25 PSI.
So, I think to myself, crap, I could have a nail in this. Fast forward to today. I call my dealership, say what's going on, and the guy on the other end of the phone says to bring it in. I ask if I need an appointment, and he says no. So after work, I drove there and they can't help right away I'll need to wait an hour.

I ask if they can just put air in it and I'll make an appointment to come back later in the week. The woman at the service counter asked what was going on and was like "yeah, but if the weather turns bad, you don't want to be driving around with a nail in the tire" and she asked me to wait. So, I waited. I ate some snacks. I tweeted. She came back out in about 35 minutes, said all of the tires were low, none had any nails, and that they put air in all of the tires. I was on my way.

5 minutes into my drive, the woman called me. She explained that my paperwork, whatever that's going to be, will be in the mail but that I'll be receiving a survey in my email about my service and experience with her. She explained, again, what they did to the car and asked if there was anything else I needed. After I responded, she again stated that I'd be getting a survey about her customer service.

I once worked where my life was dictated by surveys. I know of two people who were fired because of customer comments. I've been a secret shopper, in both a professional capacity and as a paid customer. I understand the need to get customer feedback. I get it from the leadership perspective. But, I also know the life that hinges on positive feedback and that life is stressful.

This woman was so busy that she couldn't get my car on a lift for over a half hour, but felt the need to take time to call me to make sure I was satisfied out of fear of a survey. A survey. This isn't people-first. This isn't customer service. This is fear-based leadership. We can do better.

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