BSAD 431 – Service Marketing
SERVICE ENCOUNTER JOURNALS
March 13, 2009
Service Encounter Journal Form
Tim Horton’s
March 2, 2009
Journal Entry #1
Restaurant
9:00 am
My Tim Horton’s encounter on March 2nd was frustrating due to the excessive
time spent in line. I was in a hurry but decided to stop for a coffee on my way to class.
The time from door to door was approximately ten minutes. Perhaps my expectations are
too high, but I expect a line in a coffee shop to move quickly and to complete my
transaction in less than five minutes.
I would estimate that at least 60-70% of the people ahead of me were unsure of
what they wanted and ended up ordering either a bagel or a sandwich. Tim Horton’s has a
policy to make these items from scratch, which takes at least five times longer than a
typical coffee order. I would rank this encounter a 3 primarily due to the fact that this is a
re-occurring problem that they don’t seem to want to fix.
The main issue with their service is the lack of design within their ordering
system. Their expanded marketing mix for services should have more focus on the
process aspect. Their greatest competitive advantage is the ability to produce
inexpensive, high-quality products. However, I perceive service alternatives such as
Timothy’s and the Second Cup to generally have faster delivery which lowers my overall
customer satisfaction for Tim Horton’s. They had two cash registers open and one
additional employee to make the food items, this lead to a backup because they were
taking more orders than they could handle. They need to develop their ordering system to
speed up the process. The employees were also walking into each other in order to get all
of their items due to the small area behind the counter and the proximity of the cash
registers in their servicescape. It looked more like a scene from the Three Stooges than an
organized delivery process.
Another major component of my poor experience was the fact that the other
customers ahead of me weren’t fulfilling their roles efficiently, a particular pet peeve of
mine. Customers waited at least five minutes before the employees would take their
order, they should have looked at the menu and decided what they were going to get
before they actually got the counter. Making the people behind you wait even longer
because you haven’t decided on your order just delays the process and frustrates other
customers.
Tim Horton’s should decide who their specific target customers are through
marketing techniques to best serve them. They could solve similar waiting issues by
creating a separate line for drink orders only. I would argue that their core business is still
coffee products, even though they may not be as profitable as sandwiches and larger
orders. Tim Horton’s recent addition of offering a full breakfast and lunch menus deter
many potential customers because it largely increases wait times.
My personal emotions probably helped to elevate my negative experience as well.
Having to walk thirty minutes to a Monday morning taxation class doesn’t exactly excite
me. By the time I arrived in Tim Horton’s I was cold and tired which allowed a relatively
minor problem, having to wait an additional five minutes, to affect my emotional state.
Had I been in a more positive mood, it would have taken significantly more to effect my
emotions and experience.
I will definitely continue to return to Tim Horton’s because I’m a coffee drinker
and I enjoy their product (7-7 chance). However, if there’s a competitor nearby, I will
pick the store with the shortest line because I rank the speed of delivery higher than the
quality or taste of the coffee.
Service Encounter Journal Form
eBay
March 21, 2008
Journal Entry #2
Online shopping
I used eBay to purchase an autographed LP of Kris Kristofferson’s “The Silver
Tongued Devil and I” for my father’s birthday last year. I bought the item immediately
using the “Buy it now” option on eBay a week before his birthday. I told the seller that I
needed it as quickly as possible; he immediately replied that he would send it out as soon
as he could. His auction information stated that it usually took between 5 and 7 business
days for customers to receive their products. I was pleasantly surprised when I received
the product on the third business day, I rank the service experience 7 out of 7.
I hadn’t used eBay before this encounter so I had no past experiences to
benchmark my expectations against. I knew a lot of people who had, but their
experiences ranged from excellent to disastrous, which didn’t help to form derived
service expectations. Therefore my zone of tolerance was wide, my minimum adequate
service level was that I would eventually get what I had purchased and my desired level
was to receive it before my dad’s birthday. The seller and eBay had combined to exceed
my desired level by delivering so quickly.
eBay is a unique operation, since both the buyer and the seller are their customers,
they must rely on them to perform their service roles efficiently in order to deliver quality
service. If I were to be ripped off by the seller, I would likely blame eBay even though it
wasn’t the company’s fault. I paid and provided my address information promptly and he
sent out the package immediately after; we worked together to make the eBay process
very efficient.
The seller’s auction details had outlined several explicit service guarantees. He
promised that the product would shipped within a certain number of days, the condition
would be exactly as described, and that he would be availably for any questions. By
living up to these promises, he increased my satisfaction and likelihood of repurchasing
not only from him individually, but eBay in general.
The entire process aspect of eBay’s marketing mix was great. I dread buying gifts
for my father because nobody knows what to get him. I had wasted a lot of time wading
through physical stores. eBay’s service design had allowed me to find and purchase a rare
item that I couldn’t acquire elsewhere in less than an hour. Everything was delivered
efficiently; the searching criteria had allowed me to find a gift, the “buy it now” option
allowed to skip the auction period, and the PayPal feature allowed me to pay for it
immediately. I can’t think of anyway that eBay or the seller could have improved upon
my experience.
This pleasant experience has resulted in the likelihood of me using eBay again to
be 7 out of 7, although I’m fearful that the next time my expectations may be a little too
high because of the high level of service I received from this particular seller.
CiRCA Nightclub
December 27, 2008
Service Encounter Journal Form
Journal Entry Number
Nightclub
11:00PM
I was in Toronto over the Christmas break and went to CiRCA nightclub. I paid
$5 for the mandatory coat-check service. When I went to retrieve my coat at the end of
the night it was gone.
The coat check employee did not seem to care about my loss, I was told to come
back the next day because CiRCA can accommodate 1000’s of people had 100’s of coats,
it would be pointless to wait for my coat that night. When I returned the next day, it
wasn’t there. I would rank this encounter 2 / 7.
I’m very familiar with missing coat check items. I have lost more than my share
jackets over the past years. I purposely wore an old jacket rather than one of my nicer
ones because of this. However, despite my past experiences, I still expect to receive my
property back at the end of the night.
The major issue leading to this poor experience is the physical servicescape of the
coat check. CiRCA is a massive club, with multiple floors and rooms. However, they
allocate minimal space for their coat-checks; they have three levels of coats stacked upon
each other and they are packed tightly together. When the club closes, there is a large
rush for the coat check which results in the employees having to move quickly, inevitably
this leads to a few jackets being knocked on the floor or having their tickets accidently
removed. If they had larger rooms, it would allow for better organization of the coats so
the employees are better prepared for the sudden withdrawal of jackets.
The other main issue was the lack of service recovery. The jacket was a complete
loss, they referred me to the familiar “We aren’t responsible for lost or stolen articles”
sign located above the coat check window. I always hate this sign because they may as
well post a sign saying “We’re able to steal your coat”. The fact that I had paid them for a
particular service, safeguarding my coat, and they had failed to perform it should entitle
me to some compensation.
Perhaps the worst part about this experience is the fact that I know it will most
likely happen again. CiRCA, and night clubs in general could prevent these situations by
giving them more physical space and hiring more employees to help with peak times, but
the reality is that most customers don’t think about coat checks in evaluating the service
provider alternatives. It isn’t seen as an area to spend additional money on by most club
owners.
I will try to leave my jacket at home when I go out, but since this has a large
dependence on the weather and the fact that it’s mandatory at CiRCA (a favourite club of
mine), the likeliness of me using this service again is 4 out of 7 even though I’d prefer
not to.
Service Encounter Journal Form
Bell Canada / Aliant
September 2008
Journal #4
Mobile Service
I renewed my Bell Mobility contract in Toronto a few months prior to returning to
Antigonish, this locked me into a new three year contract. When I renewed the contract,
they told me that I would be able to switch my service location and receive a local
number if I ever moved anywhere in Canada.
However, when I tried to switch my number at the Antigonish branch, they said
that they were unable to transfer my current plan because Aliant didn’t support my plan,
even though Bell owns Aliant and claims to be a nation-wide provider. On a scale of 1-7,
I would rank this particular encounter a 2.
My expectations for my mobile service are fairly detailed because I make sure to
read and understand my contract; I expect them to provide the services which we agree
upon. They told me that I would be able to switch locations for a $35 number change fee,
but I was forced to cancel my current plan and sign a new one if I wanted a local number.
Over the years of our service relationship, I have added additional features to my
plan to take advantage of special rates, at the expense of extending the length of my plan.
This is the core of our customer relationship; I guarantee a higher life time value for Bell
in order to receive additional benefits. I had adjusted my plan to get it to a level that cost
me up to half of what my friends would pay per month for similar usage. We had a level
3 relationship bond, a customization bond. They would provide me only with the services
that I need. However, they wanted me to give up all of the benefits I had accumulated;
this broke the basis of our relationship.
The greatest problem in this situation was with the provider gap 4; not matching
performance to promises. I had specifically asked the sales agent in Toronto if I would be
able to change my local area if I moved. He assured me that I could, this was obviously
an example of poor horizontal communications between sales and operations across the
country. Employees should be informed about their plans and any changes that occur
between different areas, especially when they use incorrect information as a way to sell
their service.
It is also an example of a failure in provider gap 2 because they have poorly
designed service standards. Bell is supposed to be a national communications provider;
however, by not aligning their services between Aliant and Bell, they can’t offer a
standardized product to meet their customer’s needs. Both companies offer the same
products and services, but apparently they don’t offer the same ways to use them.
Bell could have rectified this issue by allowing me to have a local number as they
promised or they could have prevented this situation by simply telling me in advance that
they wouldn’t be able to switch my plan if I moved to Nova Scotia, in which case I
wouldn’t have extended my contract in Toronto.
The likeliness I will return to Bell lies around 5 on a scale of 1 to 7. The switching
barriers and costs for mobile communications are high so I will wait until the end of my
contract to avoid additional fees. For the most part their service is within my zone of
tolerance, I have yet to meet anyone who is 100% happy with their cellular provider, so
the lack of superior alternative providers creates a sense of indifference. It will ultimately
depend on the competitor’s available rates and products when my contract expires, my
loyalty has diminished because of this encounter.
Service Encounter Journal Form
Porter Airlines
January 2, 2009
Journal #5
Airline
4:30pm – 12:00am
I flew from Toronto to Halifax on Porter airlines, it was supposed to be a direct
flight but we had an unscheduled stop-over in Montreal, where we experienced several
delays. The most frustrating part of this encounter occurred after my flight when my
brother informed that the Halifax airport employees had no idea that my flight had
stopped in Montreal, they had no information regarding my flight status, and they had no
explanation why it hadn’t arrived yet. The entire experience was a 2 on a scale of 1 to 7.
The major underlying service failure of this encounter was due to inadequate
horizontal communications between the employees in Toronto and Halifax. The fact that
they didn’t inform all levels about the four hour stopover in Montreal created
unnecessary concern for my brother who was waiting for me in Halifax. Their
communication onboard was excellent, we were updated every ten minutes, but they
never relayed this to Halifax. My personal service philosophy for airlines is that they
must do everything possible to ease concerns of everyone affected by their service, not
just the passengers. I am willing to dismiss issues such as long lines and rude service
because I have minimal service expectations for them. However, my zone of tolerance is
narrower for safety and communication issues, these types of failures have a large impact
on my overall satisfaction.
Porter also expanded customer gap 4 by not delivering on their service promises.
On their website they make a non-personal explicit service promise regarding their flight
schedules. In the past, their flights between Halifax and Toronto have always had
stopovers in either Ottawa or Montreal so I tended to use Air Canada and WestJet due to
their shorter flights. I booked the flight with Porter this time because they were offering a
direct flight. They claimed they had to stop to re-fuel in Montreal, which was frustrating
to me because if they know a full plane cannot make it all the way from Toronto to
Halifax, they shouldn’t have sold it as though it could. I felt this broke their promise of
now being able to provide direct flights. This would also be an example of customer gap
3,’ they weren’t able to deliver their service as it was planned.
This communication problem could have been easily corrected. They simply
needed to communicate to Halifax that our flight was held up in Montreal. I wouldn’t
have arrived in Halifax any sooner, but at least it my brother would know what was going
on.
I often experience poor onboard service and delays while flying, however this was
the first time that I felt a critical issue had been breached. I can accept personal
inconveniences while flying, but I won’t tolerate putting my family through unnecessary
stress and concern on account of my service provider. Therefore, my likelihood of
returning to Porter is 2 out of 7. * I have upgraded this to 5 out of 7 after receiving
service recovery from Porter. Their apology and credit towards a next flight has satisfied
me that they are concerned about the communication problem and are going to rectify it.