The Office Jester: Customer Service Goes Wrong

The Office Jester… every office needs one to elucidate what happens when customer service goes wrong

One of the most wilful and, dare we say it, arrogant perspectives of business is that product is all that matters. Entrepreneurs who think like this believe that so long as their product lines are unique and full of quality, they can forget about all other aspects of their businesses. With this kind of thinking, the first thing that outwardly happens is that customer service goes wrong.

Even when customer service goes out of the window, these types of entrepreneurs and businesses don’t pay it much heed. However, when customer service goes wrong, the backlash can manifest in a variety of ways. The worst of these is, of course, the bad review. Studies reveal that for every bad review, the business has lost at least 10 other customers. So, when customer service goes wrong, the majority of the damage is caused by loyal customers jumping ship.

While bad press may be the worst that can happen realistically, fictionally a lot more can happen. The following video should give entrepreneurs nightmares pertaining to what can happen if their customer service goes wrong.

When Customer Service Goes Wrong

This clip on what happens when customer service goes wrong is from the legendary show, Seinfeld. This clip presents the same argument that we started this post with. Seinfeld starts with explaining the quality of the soup from this “Soup Place”. As he puts it very eloquently, “you can’t eat this soup standing up; your knees buckle”. So there’s the excellent product.

The catch is the customer service, of course. The “Soup Nazi” has become so cocky about his soup that he thinks he can do without good customer service. He requires things to be a certain way. He even prefers his customers to move a certain way, talk a certain way, and behave subserviently to him and his soup. Everyone wishes their business, job, or value in relationships was so high that they could do just whatever they wanted. Don’t you?

The Soup Nazi has become so overconfident that he thinks he can get away with telling them off and denying them their soup. He got away with it for a while with people like Kramer, Seinfeld, and George but ended up in the docks with Elaine. What did she do? He didn’t give her soup, so she stole all his recipes. The clip ended with the implication that the Soup Nazi’s business was ruined. The underlying message for business owners is clear from this clip.

Mess with your customers and some day one of them is going to return the favour. People can get very vindictive, if they think they have a reason for it and when customer service goes wrong, some actually look for reasons to remain pissed. At the very least, they’ll never deal with a business whose customer service goes wrong; a few will write reviews which will affect the business’s branding and some really mean ones will find ways to get back at you.