How Was Our Service at Weight Watchers of Maine?

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect good customer service.

I love to get it and I hope my company gives it!

There are a few places where I can count on getting excellent service, but in general there seems to be a bad trend. Service in many companies is going from minimal, to bad, to just plain hostile!

I received hostile customer service from the owner of a company that does mold remediation.

His website displayed testimonials from people who were pleased with his work. Among the mostly positive comments were a few negative comments. His response to those customers in a public forum should have been a warning to me to skip him and look farther. I didn’t know then what I know now.

I learned too late that you should hire a different company to perform the mold remediation than the company that comes to do the testing.

I learned too late that you should hire a different company to perform the mold remediation than the company that comes to do the testing.

I entered into a contract for mold remediation and got a high quote, a lot of promises, and sloppy work for a price much higher than industry standard.

When I asked to have the company come back to fix something they disturbed and left so that it couldn’t work properly the company owner flatly refused.

I was accused of trying to make them pay to replace something that already broken before they got there. It wasn’t broken before they got there and they didn’t break it, they just put stuff all over it that rendered it inoperable. All I wanted was for it to be restored to the way it was before they messed with it. It never happened! My husband had to fix their sloppy work.

I’m looking for a Mother-of-the-Bride dress.

I walk into a upscale dress boutique on Front Street in Bath. I just left another dress shop because the the two women working there were having a good time chatting with a former employee and ignoring me. They’re discussing “the economy and how it’s killing business.” I’m listening and looking at dresses on the rack thinking, “the economy isn’t what’s killing your business, it’s your customer service!”

As I enter the next store, the only employee in the store walks past me without so much as a “hello” and out onto the sidewalk where she lights up a cigarette. I browsed around for a bit and saw a few possibilities, but the “puffer” never came back into the store. I walked out the door and through her haze of smoke never to come back.

In one dress boutique I saw a lot of dresses I would have liked to try on but the only person working in the store walked out to puff on a cigarette as I walked into the store! I would have liked to have an experience like the one pictured here!

In one dress boutique I saw a lot of dresses I would have liked to try on but the only person working in the store walked out to puff on a cigarette as I walked into the store! I would have liked to have an experience like the one pictured here!

I want to exchange a ring I bought for my daughter.

I had to wait 20 minutes because the manager of the store at the Maine Mall in South Portland, is arguing with a customer. If I hadn’t already spent money there I would have walked out, but they already had my money and I had the wrong item.

The customer’s family spent more than $2000.00 on a charm bracelet for her. The bracelet cut off the circulation in the customer’s wrist and she couldn’t wear the bracelet. She’s explained all of this to the manager (more than once as I stand there patiently waiting to exchange the ring for the one my daughter wants.)

The lady wanted to exchange it and pay for a larger bracelet but the manager insisted she wear the too small bracelet because they “stretch.” The customer insisted it was too tight and it hurt – a lot! She could not/would not wear it and therefore it could not/would not ever stretch.

It wasn’t until I made the comment, “I would never buy a charm bracelet here now that I know how difficult it is to make an exchange if it doesn’t fit,” that the manager finally acquiesced after shooting a withering, if-looks-could-kill glare at me. Basically she turned her hostility from that customer and gave it to me FULL FORCE!

I walk into many stores and search until I find what I want in the right size.

As I search several employees stand behind the counter talking among themselves. When I go to pay they have all miraculously disappeared from behind the counter. Finally I catch the eye of an employee who comes over to take my money. First thing out of her mouth is, “Did anybody help you?”

I go out to eat (and this applies both to chains and small, local restaurants).

Most of the time I get good to excellent service in restaurants but the bad experiences, unfortunately, are the most memorable!

Most of the time I get good to excellent service in restaurants but the bad experiences, unfortunately, are the most memorable!

After sitting for far too long a server comes with menus and takes drink orders. Drinks arrive fairly timely but then it’s a long time before the server is back to take the order. When the food arrives it’s not what we ordered.

Then there’s another long wait for the server to come with the check and there’s the “have a nice day! (smiley face) written on it as though that will make up for the lousy service and ensure a good tip for deplorable service.

I leave 15% because I know servers don’t get paid minimum wage by their employers (and wonder how that can be legal!) Normally I tip 20% for adequate service and 30% for excellent.

These are just a few examples of bad service.

I have had excellent service experiences.

I love it when I walk into a store and immediately get greeted by somebody who seems genuinely happy that I came into the store. Macy’s at the Bangor Mall is exceptional! 

I love when somebody asks me what interests me and makes thoughtful suggestions based on my answer. There is a children’s store on Front Street in Bath called Pitter Patter. I go into browse and the wonderful woman in the store notice what interests me and show me things that logic says if I like that, then I’d want to see this. I go in to “look” and walk out haing $200.00 on toys and clothes I’m so excited to give to my grandchildren! She wasn’t pushy. I don’t respond to pushy. I made my purchases because I was shown cute clothes that will thrill me to give to the grandchildren and thrill the kids and their mothers too. Oh! And to make this experience even better everything was beautifully gift-wrapped for free.

I love it when somebody draws my attention to a new menu item or a new product. That’s not being “pushy.” It’s being thoughtful, helpful and considerate. If somebody is enthusiastic about a new product or service I am pleased to learn that it’s available. A happy voice at the drive through window at Burger King in South Portland tells me about a special sandwich or new dessert on the menu.

I’d like to complain about TimeWarner Cable because it’s expensive, but the few times I’ve had to go into their office in Saco, the people in there have gone out of their way to be friendly and helpful. I can complain about the cost, but not the customer service.

One time the friendly, helpful woman gave me the wrong modem. After installing it and spending 45 minutes on the phone getting tech support to get it set up we discovered it wasn’t the right modem to hook a telephone line into it. I had to return to get the correct modem, and called to ask that it get installed for free because it was a lengthy process that we already did one time with the incorrect modem. My request was fulfilled promptly and at no charge!

I love when it’s easy to give my money to a store because they have enough cash registers open so that there’s no searching to find somebody who can ring up my sale. Once again, Macy’s at the Bangor Mall excels at this too!

When an employee takes time to explain the features and benefits of a product I’ll purchase it without investigating if I could find it somewhere else for less. I compliment people who give me good service and let their supervisors know whenever I can. I repeat business when I get good service and suggest friends and family trade with these establishments.  I go out of my way to avoid places where I received poor service and likewise, tell friends and family to do the same.

I am the general manager of an independent Weight Watchers franchise operating statewide in Maine.

Even though we have a name that makes us sound like a big, national corporation we are actually a small Maine business. We only have 6 full time employees. Our franchise only runs the meeting room services; we are not responsible for Weight Watchers online subscriptions and products.

I believe I have the best and most-caring people working in each of our meeting locations.

We train all of our service providers to ensure they deliver exceptional customer service. They far exceed our training and expectations because all of our field staff are Lifetime Members of the program.

Only Lifetime Members work in our meetings because they have the empathy, insight, and insider's experience to guide members to goal!

Only Lifetime Members work in our meetings because they have the empathy, insight, and insider’s experience to guide members to goal!

They literally “worked their way down” to become a Weight Watchers service provider.

In other words, they started as overweight members, worked the program to reach their personal goal and continue to live the maintenance plan to keep off the weight they lost. To ensure our high standard of service we regularly observe and coach them if necessary.

If you have had an experience with us that was very, very good or very bad (and I hope that’s never happened but if it did I definitely want to know) please share it here! We love to hear about your excellent experiences and want to fix any bad ones if necessary!

Jackie Conn

About Jackie Conn

Jackie Conn is married and has four grown daughters and four grandchildren. She is a Weight Watchers success story. She's a weight loss expert with 25 years of experience guiding women and men to their weight-related goals. Her articles on weight management have been published in health, family and women's magazines. She has been a regular guest on Channel 5 WABI news, FOX network morning program Good Day Maine and 207 on WCSH.