Yet Another Reason To Avoid Lextech...

[jw11432]

so i asked a simple question, merely if for the 100 dollars i received the 4 needles so i could just do the fix myself, and rather than get an email back that has an actual answer, i get a response that is in block format, that someone probably just copied and pasted into. feeling very annoyed, that i the potential customer deserve an actual answer if im to give this company my business/money, respond again to tell them i wont do business with them, and suggested they learn some customer service skills. no swearing, no personal remarks; i just made it very clear that i was unhappy, and would not do business with them, and would tell others to do the same. the response i get from that is about as professional as a 10 year old's lemonade stand.

for those who cannot read the screenshot, i will copy and paste. just wanted to show that i was not exaggerating.

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"Your answer is the third question on the first link you lazy *BLEEP*

~Lextech Lighting Systems

On Feb 1, 2010, at 3:21 PM, jared wilson <jw11432@yahoo.com> wrote:

for the sake of customer service, and bearing in mind alot of awful reviews ive already read about this company, i might advise that you actually answer peoples questions. do NOT just send them to a link. that is NOT proper customer service. i will gladly avoid this company now, and be sure to tell others to do the same. feel free to try again once someone over there actually learns some customer service skills."

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[The G Man]

I guess that guy from Lextech had a bad day :)

[cduluk]

They're @sses over there...

I did some cluster repairs (replacing backlighting with custom LED, modifying the needles with LED) on ebay 2 summers ago. Few months go by, and i get a letter from them threatening to sue for patent rights.

It's a shame they do such crappy work too... They're hacks.

I did it the right way, honestly when i was done with a cluster it looked better than new. But they don't do very good work...

I guess they have a right to be moody since they're the only people who can legally do the cluster repairs

[amcdonal86]

You are a lazy bastid! You can't even capitalize and use punctuation... :P :D :D

Plus your holier than thou attitude was apparent in the email, which probably got you that response.

[jw11432]

holier than thou attitude? i am in no way wrong. i didnt get an actual response, just a cut and paste email. if he had said "please follow the link to find your answer" which would have been redundant, all he had to say was "no, sorry we dont just sell them, only the service" and i would have been happy. instead, i, the potential customer, was shown disrespect by not even getting an official answer. ive worked in customer service for years, and this is NOT protocol. i merely believe that when someone asks you a question, you have the friggin decency to answer it; if thats too much to ask for, then f**k me for my high expectations. secondly, despite how anyone speaks to you, when you are running a business, you dont directly insult a person who is inquiring about making you money. i certainly will go out of my way to ensure i never use them, and strongly discourage anyone from doing so, and its simply for principle. i remember reading that the lights themselves in the needles rarely go out, its the capacitors that need replacing. anyway...i dont feel ive done any wrong, or expected too much...anyone else who thinks so, i would seriously question the capacity of their mental acuity.

[SW03ES]

You definately had an attitude jw, and I do think you were a little out of line. I don't see the issue with sending you a link provided that link directs you to the information you need. Its not like Lextech is some huge company with dedicated customer service people. Its a guy in a garage.

HOWEVER, whatever the attitude there is no excuse for a company to call their customers a dirty name...as someone who does business with customers I find that response...incredible. To call him a b@stard? Wow.

I'd stay away.

[The G Man]

How many of you have work in customer service and sometimes want to tell a customer to F off, but cannot without getting into trouble. Well I guess this guy from Lextech is the owners and he can blow off steam on a customer if he choose to.

[SW03ES]

I'm the boss...and sure you want to say that sometimes but part of being a good businessman is being able to control your emotions and responses. It is NEVER appropriate to respond to a customer like that regardless of what the situation is. Simply never appropriate. Its bad for business, just look at this thread...

Anybody that works for me ever says anything to a customer like that is fired.

Had he just said "The information you are looking for can be found on the third post in the first link, let me know if you continue to have problems". But calling him a lazy b@stard? You don't want to do business with someone who talks to customers, even difficult customers like this guy that way.

[cduluk]

jw, it's not a simple fix, the needles do actually burn out. The capacitor issue you're speaking of has to do with an issue with the LS clusters, two totally different things.

All Lextech does is remove the needle guts and throw in a 5mm LED firing at the tip. They don't add any other optic units, just throw in an LED and take your $200.

Since they (he, whoever) has patent rights, they can do whatever they want. They can be mean, do a crappy job, ask high prices... they've got no competition. And i'm sure this "business" isn't his (or whoever's...) main source of income, it's definitely a side job. The way they do the repairs, they could bang out 3 or 4 in a day. So it's not like they "need" your business.

And having done the repair myself (it can never come out 'perfect') i never liked customers who were very picky and who expected perfect OEM outcome... I bet from your first contact he could tell you were the 'picky type' and didn't think it would even be worth doing business with you... i guess he's got that luxury.

I hate them more than you do trust me, only because i've had personal dealings with them as well. It's just a shame... :(

[eatingupblacktop]

How many of you have work in customer service and sometimes want to tell a customer to F off, but cannot without getting into trouble. Well I guess this guy from Lextech is the owners and he can blow off steam on a customer if he choose to.

Blowing off steam might feel good in the beginning, until you hear about it from one of your regular customers and find yourself having to explain the unpleasant details. In business, your reputation is the bottom line. Without it, you have no viable base for success. If you want to attract and retain your customer base, then protecting your rep is priority one! In measuring the effect of a shop's customer service policy/attitude on their business you can say: One complaint is worth 10 compliments!

I'm the boss...and sure you want to say that sometimes but part of being a good businessman is being able to control your emotions and responses. It is NEVER appropriate to respond to a customer like that regardless of what the situation is. Simply never appropriate. Its bad for business, just look at this thread...

Anybody that works for me ever says anything to a customer like that is fired.

Had he just said "The information you are looking for can be found on the third post in the first link, let me know if you continue to have problems". But calling him a lazy b@stard? You don't want to do business with someone who talks to customers, even difficult customers like this guy that way.

I'll agree with Steve that regardless of how difficult a client might be, resist the perverbial knuckle sandwich response. Deal with them on the phone, in an email, texting, snail mail, whatever, as though you were having a duscussion with them in front of your best customers. Would you want those customers to hear you belittle, degrade, intimidate a difficult client. Most likely they would side with your position anyway. However, being right doesn't make it right for you to lose control. Your problem solving techniques determines your rep for both the service you provide and customer satisfaction. Over the years, I've dealt with quite a few difficult clients, most of them only once. Surprisingly they would ask for my services again, whereupon I would become unavailable (because of prior bookings of course) and suggest another service. Keeping your cool and maintaining a high level of diplomacy goes a long way to surviving in the business world.

Often your reputation precedes you. Just look at some of the viral videos making the rounds these days. Do you want your biz to blow it's rep on someone's youtube complaint. A smart business will know when to pass on a prospective client because of the headaches they represent, but will do so intelligently, without incurring the wrath of a customer scorned. Kill them with kindness. Sounds utterly ridiculous when all you want to do is boot them out the door, but utterly works. You just need to cool yourself to reach that understanding!

The world would spin much easier if both businesses and customers did a better job assessing their mutual compatability and the chances for a satisfactory result.

[RX in NC]

Well put. I've fired horrible customers in the distant past, but I've always done it with a cool head and a controlled tongue. No business can afford the repercussions of a damaged reputation from even it's worst customer....