Small Irish businesses - why so unreliable??

slowsnail

Hi,

Not sure if this is the right place to post this so please mods let me know if its not.

In the current climate I consider myself lucky to have a good job and to be in a position to select the irish product/supplier whenever I can. However something has been bugging me over the past few months and the final straw was today.

Marketing for Irish small and medium business focus on local convenience and reliability. So can someone please tell me why are so many Irish small businesses so unreliable? From furniture companies, courier services, fence suppliers, building material suppliers, equestrian suppliers etc there seems to be a view that they will meet the cusomers needs - when they feel like it!! Agreed delivery dates are not just a very moveable feast but one that you don't even need to keep the customer in the loop about! Then the attitude adopted when the customer has the cheek to ring looking for the delivery that hasn't turned up or service providers haven't materialised as agreed is galling to say the least.

In this current climate you would think that this would have stopped but no....today the response I got when I phoned regarding yet another delivery that had been expected all week but didn't materialise was ' are you really stuck for the delivery - can't it wait till Tuesday?'

This at a time when we are constantly listening to representative bodies for small and medium businesses bestolling the virtues of buying Irish and supporting local business.

What really kills me about this is that I know I could place an order with an alternative supplier in NI and have it delivered on the day agreed without any hassle....because thats what our neighbour who's given up buying Irish does.

So perhaps some marketing by those small businesses in Ireland who actually meet their commitments might be useful. Until then - I'll wait till next Tuesday - and when (not a typo) my delivery is missed again I'll place my order with a company I can rely on.

J_Wholesale

Customer service and customer satisfaction have never had a place in Irish business. It didn't matter that much when the economy was booming, as there was always money to be made, regardless of how shabby and unreliable a business proved itself.

Circumstances may have changed, but the mindset and ways of doing business have not, and they won't until they're forced to. And by forced to, I mean forced out of business by leaner, smarter companies who are prepared to treat customers like their UK counterparts do. But there's no signs that that's going to happen anytime soon.

These companies don't deserve to survive.

Spinnaker

Nothing about the OP's post surprises me. It reminds me of a former Irish boss who used to say Ireland would benefit from a temporary German occupation. All his experience was from Europe and the US.

I worked in support and service funtions in the US for 6 years. "Commitment" took on a whole new meaning for me there. Do NOT make one you can't keep. It's dishonest and dishounourable and it will bite you in the ass they say there.

Later still I managed support and service here to US multinationals. The first task I found I had was to change the attitude of the management and staff around me towards their one paying customer who kept them all in jobs! I justified and diagnosed 'service failure' and had to implement a formal 'service recovery program' Yes there are techniques but maybe our economy is too 'smart' ?PAH!

Shame on us all that the OP has make such a post on boards

slowsnail

Hi folks,

Well just an update. Incredibly the missing delivery did turn up today - much to my surprise and relief. I couldn't stop myself laughing however when the driver got out of the cab and the very first words out of his mouth was him complaining about how far outside the local town we were based (despite me giving a full set of directions and distance from the town when placing my order and it being factored into the delivery price!). When I told him how long we had been waiting on the delivery he just shrugged his shoulders - said the schedules were nothing to do with him - I got the distinct impression this problem was not unique to our order.

The products are of excellent quality - its a real shame they are so unreliable - pity really.....

Spinnaker

In the US I and Japan I used to see banners on canteen/ cafeteria and production floor walls that went some like: "Your wages are paid by our customers". I wonder if anyone has ever seen one in Ireland ? Of course it takes much more than a banner. . .

MarysCross

I think it's just part of our national pyche, a more relaxed, it'll get sorted in the end attitude. On the whole I quite like it

In the states they wish they still had their 'mom and pops' stores.