Stinks to be them

I read in the Seattle Times a few weeks ago (February 20, to be exact) about a law suit that Home Depot just lost. They lost a $1 million suit because they failed to correctly report a customer’s credit information. I guess it wasn’t all Home Depot’s fault, entirely. Apparently, someone was trying to use this customer’s social security number to get a Home Depot credit card. The customer (whose name is Alan Sporn) told Home Depot about it, but it went on for a year or two and it prevented Mr. Sporn from getting a loan someplace else.

I find this article interesting because every time I have shopped at Home Depot, I have found them to have excellent customer service. They are just like their commercials say – their sales people are always so helpful and knowledgeable. They has staked their reputation on their good service and they almost always deliver – at the store level at least.

Because I am a “back office” employee (my staff and I don’t deal directly with members), this story struck a cord with me. While member service is really important to our credit union, it is sometimes hard to see how we play a part in providing that service. It is examples like these that hit home the fact that if we don’t do our jobs correctly, it can really diminish not only our member service standards, but our reputation as well (and cost us millions of dollars, I guess).

What is my point with this blog post? I’m not really sure. I guess it is to simply muse on our role of member service in the bigger picture and to pause for a brief moment to give thanks that I don’t work in Home Depot back office operations right now.

Cheers!
Randy