A couple of weeks ago I went to fill up my car with gas at the Costco gas station across the street from my office. When I went to swipe my membership card for authorization it read as “card expired”. This was not really a surprise to me as I had just renewed my membership online the day before. I still had a quarter tank of gas so I decided that I would go into the store that afternoon and get it straightened out with customer service (member services I think they call it.)
Late that afternoon I trekked to the Costco near my home to get my card activated, fill up with gas, and do a little grocery shopping. I had my three year old daughter with me so I loaded her up in the shopping cart and stood in line, waiting for member services. A few minutes later I’m called up to the counter and I explain my predicament to the Costco customer service rep. I explain my recent renewal and that I understand that the “expired” hold probably hasn’t been removed from my account. In a very “matter in fact” way I’m told that my payment had not shown up in the membership system and that I’d have to wait several more days before I’m able to use my membership. At this point I’m starting to get irritated. I had checked my checking account and Costco took the money from my account shortly after I hit enter to renew the membership. I had purchased and paid for this renewal but here is Costco telling me that I must wait to use the service I had paid for. The Costco customer service representative told me that my only option was to purchase another membership and then when the first one became activated, I could come back in and they would refund the amount of the second membership. Not really my idea of how to service the customer. In sales we’re programmed to solve the customer’s problem. Real, imaginary, big, small, it doesn’t matter. What problem do I need solved at this point? A working membership card? An explanation as to why my card won’t work? No, the problem that I need solved is my inability to purchase groceries and gasoline. Plain and simple. We’ve probably all seen the “one-day-shopping pass” that Costco gives out, many of you have probably used one at some point in the past. Had one of these little gems been proffered up at this point, I would have been happily on my way loading up a shopping cart full of goodies and filling up my vehicle on the way out. But sadly this was not the case and Costco lost out on those sales.
So why am I telling you this? Two reasons
1) To vent, to bitch. As petty as it may be, it is rather cathartic to get it out and it’s my blog so I can do as I please.
2) More importantly, as a sales “teaching moment”, or a reminder that every interaction with a customer is a chance to sell, or lose a sale as the case may be. Up and down the organizational chart, we’re all in sales, all the time.
In conclusion, what now. Will Costco lose my business? More importantly does Costco care? The answers are no and probably not.
I’ve had a long relationship with Costco, unblemished until today. I’ll cut them some slack. You never know when you’ll need 8 gallons of mustard, a fishing boat and a coffin on the same shopping trip.