FLFireman wrote:I didn't want to spend time having a business practices debate, but I am genuinely curious as to why an espresso machine retailer would be expected to be any different from any other fine goods retailer or any other appliance retailer, and why I would have to give up good service if I didn't make a pricey initial purchase.

Good question. All the examples you cite are brick and mortar stores, which may have something to do with it.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like the customer service representatives could have explained their policy about parts inquiries over the phone more diplomatically. In the end, I find nothing unreasonable about their policy that such inquiries be queued via e-mail. I wrote Jim at 1st-line and half-jokingly suggested they craft a scripted response:

EspressoBiz wrote:I realize that you are in a hurry and I wish that I could respond to your question immediately. Unfortunately our parts expert is handling the inquiries of other customers at this time. We at EspressoBiz pride ourselves in exceptional customer service, so we want to get your order right the first time. To reduce the risk of miscommunication over the phone, we would appreciate if you would send us an e-mail to parts@espressobiz.com. If you have photos or parts numbers, please include them in your e-mail. Our parts expert will respond to your inquiry before the end of the business day.

Phaelon56 wrote:I've been doing post sale product support in an entirely different industry (high tech networking products) for years and if one spends too much time answering questions about a product that the customer bought elsewhere - it can be a slippery slope that results in that same person calling for advice when they're installing the parts.

Good point, I know of vendors who dropped selected parts from their online catalog simply because they generated too many post-sales installation questions.

FLFireman wrote:I buy lamps and other room accessories from Baer's even though I've never bought a piece of furniture there, which is their major business. I am treated like gold every time I walk into the store.

FLFireman wrote:The only place I can locally find a certain $5 cigar I enjoy having five or six times a year is an upscale tobacco shop called The Tobacconist in Boca Raton. They will not let me walk out without taking time to point out what's new....

FLFireman wrote:I don't think I'll ever make a large purchase from Sound Advice (due to the fact that their prices are simply higher most other places and I am in no need of support afterwards), but it's on my short list to visit when considering a home theater component,...

Do you see a pattern here? None of these are online businesses. You are demanding the right to telephone handholding by businesses that are premised on minimizing their sales staff and showroom space (if they have a showroom at all). Get over it. This is why Amazon.com undersells your local book store.

sweaner wrote:I am going to disagree with Jim/1ST-Line. A company can/should try to take care of non-customers, who then will become customers.

I can certainly understand the aforementioned point of view. However, on both ends of the equation

a) not assist non-customers at all, and
b) assist every non-customer

is short sighted. The reasons are...

One can not build good will when not assisting any non-customers. As mentioned by another member, it is cost-prohibitive to assist every non-customer. Resources are limited, and helping every non-customer would downright place any company into bankruptcy or negatively impact the service levels to existing customers. I have personal experience managing three different multi-million dollar organizations that I have managed across three different industries. From both a customer and business perspective, the key is to find a balance and/or find the most cost-effective processes and solutions to satisfy 'most' non-customers and all customers while maintaining some profit at the business level. If there are no profits, there will be no business, which means no support for any customers. So, a business' survival is not only important for the business owners and employees, but also for the continual support of its customers. There always needs to be a balance for the long-term.

We have been handling email inquiries for parts for the last 3 years. Most customers do email, and the great majority of those customers are satisfied. There are a few complaints here and there about emailing....
However, over the past year, we have focused more attention to parts. On our www.1st-line.NET web site, we are getting close to the 1,000 mark just for parts.

sweaner wrote:I bought a Vetrano on eBay. I called the service department at Chris' and arranged to ship the machine directly to them. The folks in the service dept. were always helpful. They checked the machine over, replaced the parts it needed, and shipped it right out to me. It is now taking up a good deal of room on my counter. (Much to the dismay of my wife!) They got paid for the service, the parts, and will get much of my business in the future. I feel this is clearly a win/win.

The key difference here is that your service was paid for. The OP could have sent his machine for service to 1st-line and pay for it. However, the above is clearly a different scenario. The OP desired immediate assistance for a part inquiry. We have a cost-efficient process to handle parts inquiries for non-customers and existing customers. And, these processes are different and they do change based on a number of factors.

The 'primary' focus of resources for a 'good to great' business is always its existing customers. Why? It costs 10x more to get a new customer than to maintain an old one. And, yes, part of that 10x cost is driven by assisting non-customers. As previously stated, there has to be a balance.

All I can say is that -- in the past 2½ years that I've been "serious" about espresso (as opposed to my "Gaggia days") -- I've dealt with several different vendors. They are well-known to all here. I've only ever had problems with one vendor, and that one has not been mentioned in this thread.

Based on experience, I would unhesitatingly recommend 1st-Line, Chris' Coffee, Stefano's Espresso Care, Espresso Parts NW . . . .

Perhaps this comment won't add much to the discussion, and I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings (or re-kindle anything), but...

this whole thread was so entertaining to read.

I think the OP did a reasonable job of laying out what he expected and why he was upset (it's his opinion after all), while Jim from 1st-line wrote unbelievably detailed replies regarding the service rendered and intended. Honestly, though, where else do the owners of entire companies debate with individual customers about singular instances of service. Both parties have spent more time here talking about what they talked about than the original conversation took. Oh, HB forums... this is just too much. Haha.