I'm starting to quite enjoy this

**Just noticed I got his name wrong. I'm sure that won't wind him up in the slightest!**

Response (Noel Mellor)23/11/2006 05:59 PM

Dear Tony

Thank you for your response. I apologise if you are not happy with the service offered by Ticketmaster, but communications of this nature are not helpful.

The full details of all bookings are made available to you at the time of purchase, along with terms and conditions that specify that tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded. By ticking the box you have agreed to the terms and conditions of the contract and by proceeding you agree that you have read and understood these terms. We can only assume that our online customers take the time to acknowledge this important information before choosing to make a payment.

My apologies that I am unable to help you further.


Discussion Thread
Customer (Tony Edgar)
24/11/2006 11:04 AM
"Communications of this nature are not helpful"

I think you've hit the nail on the head there, Neil.

I too work in a client facing environment and one of the first rules of service to appreciate is that a "one size fits all" approach simply does not work if you want to retain customer loyalty and reputation.

Are you aware that a client's opinion of your service is much more likely to improve in the event that they encounter a problem and it is professionally dealt with, rather than if they don't ever have a problem at all? Of course, the opposite is true, and if that person feels unvalued by the company, they are much less likely to use that particular provider again. Likewise, in terms of word of mouth, it is a given that people are more likely to spread stories of frustration and poor service than they are of "adequate" assistance or even good service.

We are a service driven society, and we expect companies to show that they value our custom. All this experience has done is to prove to me (and those who I have shared the experience with) that Ticketmaster places no value on the people contributing to their profits.

As you have stated twice now, and as I have accepted, you have a "no exchange" policy and I accepted the terms and conditions. However convenient it may be to hide behind these T&Cs, most companies appreciate the need for discretion when dealing with enquiries. I did not decide a month down the line that I could no longer make the showing I had booked and wanted to change it - I appreciate that as a business it would cause you untold headaches if you allowed this to happen.

However, I realised as soon as I got the confirmation up that I had made a mistake - everyone is fallible - and did my utmost to rectify it immediately. This in my mind is not the same thing. As a customer service department, your role is to service the customer. This means appreciating their circumstances and attempting to resolve their problem for them.

I hope that this communication proves more helpful for you than my previous email, or any of your correspondence to date has proven for me. Perhaps you would take these comments forward as constructive feedback from a very dissatisfied customer, and register it as a complaint. I am not convinced, however, that this will entail anything other than it going straight in the bin.

Regards

Tony