Integrity and doing the right thing are sometimes hard to understand or live by for some people. An employee that works for any company is at that point a representative for that company. In interacting with customers the information they provide is so that the customer can make a decision with the situation at hand. If their is a disagreement just take accountability for the mistake and do the right thing.
All that to explain my experience with AAT; simply put I was informed by a representative of a pickup date, departure date and an estimated window for arrival (notice the difference?). With this information I made the decision to go with AAT for their services in the shipment of my vehicle. A driver gets assigned the next day and coordinates his arrival date and time. Good to go - the morning of the pickup I am to call Matson to make payment for the shipping - no problem. Matson then informs me though my vehicle would arrive the next day; their next departure is not for another 8 days....I was informed by the AAT employee that it would be 4 days from now. Ok, so this doesnt match the agreement and conversation I had with the employee in which I decided to make my decision. So I disconnect with Matson and leave a message for AAT.
When they call back my conversation is an exchange of how AAT does not control departure dates and only transport dates - I understand. This however is not the information that was relayed to me in which I made my decision. This goes on for a few minutes before I am transferred to a manager. Then the next few minutes are spent discussing how regardless of what the employee told me; since it was not in the contract they will not return my $200. They only thing the manager does guarantee is that I would not get my money back and that regardless of what choice I made proceeding with AAT was still my best option.
This is so simple for a business - just take accountability and do the right thing. Your employee misinformed a customer whom was dependent on that information given to make a decision. At this point the agreement is tarnished and the customer no longer feels comfortable proceeding. Refund the money and part ways. Instead, it is clearly recognized that the manager was well versed in dealing with these type of situations as it was not his first rodeo. So I get the feeling this happens often in the mis-communication department with AAT. In the end regardless of the information communicated by the employee it seems they defend themselves with the contract and make it clear that they will keep the money.
