I had the misfortune to do business with US Assembly, which was subcontracted for a repair by the maker of my home elliptical trainer. At this point, two prior US Assembly technicians had already failed to repair my elliptical in at least 3 visits. So another repair was scheduled, to replace my elliptical's mast.
When I called to request a particular technician, US Assembly's phone rep dropped the shocker that my appointment had already been completed — with my signature and a detailed technician report on file from this "visit". I took this for an innocent error — I still had the unopened box with the untouched replacement mast!
Where it became mind-blowing was how US Assembly handled this next: the technician apparently stood by his story and insisted he'd been there for a visit. So I got a call from their service manager in which:
* She adamantly refused to reassign the work order to an alternate technician & even though I made it clear that I absolutely did not want a man in my home who appears to have illegally forged my signature, lied about conducting a visit, and then refused to come clean about it.
* Despite my repeatedly emphasizing that I had a voice mail from the technician which countered his story provided to US Assembly, she adamantly refused any interest in listening to it.
* She insisted that the technician who forged my signature return to "finish what he started" and for an apology to take place (my recollection was that she didn't indicate which direction this apology would happen in!).
Basic practices in service recovery involves first acknowleging that a mistake took place, then fixing it by the customer, and finally showing the customer that the input provided was given serious consideration and the processes leading to the failure were fixed.
In this case, US Assembly violated every one of those basic recovery principles: they refused to take ownership of their contractor's behavior, and when presented with the opportunity to receive evidence that could resolve any uncertainty over what happened (the voice mail), they repeatedly and directly stated that she had no interest in listening to it. At this point, I have received not one word of apology from US Assembly.
If this experience is any guide, US Assembly lacks respect for integrity and honesty as foundational business values. I would never consider doing business with them again. Next time I buy home equipment, I will confirm that my warranty does not involve this company.
Eli
Seattle, Washington
U.S.A.
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