Capital Merchant Services called again...

Follow-up: today, Capital Merchant Services called again to my cell phone, from the same number (505-830-1082) as yesterday. This was after I went to their home page and sent them a nasty gram yesterday via their contact form. I even gave them a link to this blog so they could see what I had written aboutall this. No response so far, and so I'll continue to report them to the National Do Not Call Registry each time they call.

Beware of Capital Merchant Services!

Thankfully, I have not done any business with Capital Merchant Services. But they called me on my cell phone to offer credit card processing services. I didn't answer, and they didn't leave a message. But I called the number back because it was a local number (505-830-1082) and I thought it might be someone trying to reach me for the services of my quartet. When I called the number I realized that it was this company and they had called to solicit me, I let them know that my number is listed with the National Do Not Call Registry. Usually, this works like a charm and people have even apologized to me for calling and vowed to take me off their list.

Not so with Capital Merchant Services! The woman on the phone told me "your number is not on the do not call list". I asked her again the name of her company, so I could write it down. Then I told her that indeed my number IS on the list and that I would be reporting them to the National Registry. I also decided to look for their information online, so that I could perhaps send them a nasty-gram stating that A) they are full of crap, B) that they had called a cell phone, and C) that I had reported them. Interestingly, what I came up with in my search was a number of references to this company as being fraudulent.

The first listing I found was on the KOBTV web site for businesses that have received an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau. OK, so CMS hasn't only annoyed me. Then, I found a listing on the Ripoff Report where several people had claimed that this company had perpetrated fraud.

Don't companies know that now, with the web, google, and blogs, that it is ever more difficult to hide?

Customer Service Still Makes a Difference

I recently discovered that one of the tires on my car had a slow leak. After filling it with air once, then realizing a few days later that it was still leaking (i.e. it wasn't dirt in the valve) I took it off the car and attempted to patch it (there were two nails and one screw in it!) The patch seemed to hold, so I drove it to work the next day. At the end of the day, however, I realized that it was still leaking - and I was leaking explitives...

A friend of mine here at work, David Thomas suggested that Discount Tire will patch your tire for free, as long as you take it off the car and bring it in. Needless to say, I was skeptical and figured that there had to be some string attached. So I called them and they confirmed that patching a flat tire was free.

I brought the tire in at the end of the day to the Discount Tire location right near my house. And they were slammed, with people bringing in as many as four flat tires to be fixed... and their bays were full. The guy behind the counter asked me if I could leave the tire, which was fine since I have a full-sized spare. I left the tire and went home with a claim ticket.

The next day I stopped by at the end of the day on the way home again to pick up the tire. I parked the car and started walking across the parking lot to the office. A young guy came out from one of the bays and greeted me, and asked what I needed. I mentioned picking up a tire, and he took my claim ticket, checked to see if it was done, and then offered to take my keys and put the tire on the car. I gave him the keys and sat down in their waiting area for about 10 minutes.

They drove my car around to right near where I was sitting, and when I came out, the guy said "have a nice day!". Needless to say, this kind of overall customer service seems to be out of the ordinary. It reminds me, though, that I also see that kind of thing at the new Raley's Supermarket where the young clerks offer me a shopping cart, and offer to take my groceries out to my car after I make my purchase. All I can say is this: it matters. I like this kind of thing and I think most people do. I strive to offer that kind of service with my string quartet and it seems to make a difference to the customer.

I'd like to hear your stories about good customer service - maybe by spreading the good news, we can make a difference.