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X-Pole Customer Service …. which, apparently, is non-existent
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Dear Veena’s
X-POLE is a service orientated company. We pride ourselves on the level of service we offer to our customers and all the staff are directed to support our customers in every way. We are not saying we are perfect; mistakes, misunderstandings and problems happen, but we will do our utmost to give the best service we can. If we don't we need to know about it.
We sincerely apologise here and now for any problems any of you have encountered and we assure you that all areas of customer service will be looked into. We know there have been some slip ups over the last couple of months, hopefully now rectified, these have been due to growing pains which have taken longer to address that we would have liked.
Around the world, X-POLE offices operate during normal working hours and there are dedicated service/support email addresses on our websites, so we find it hard to understand why people seem to be experiencing so many difficulties in contacting us. We receive multiple phone calls on a daily basis – calls about our products, sales calls, tech support calls, etc. – so someone has been getting through to us!!
In some instances we may not be able to respond to all emails on the same day and many of our offices are only staffed by a single member of our team, as we may only sell a limited number of poles in that country, so an instant response may not be possible. All our offices will reply as soon as they can. However, being expected to answer the office phone or reply to an email on Thanks Giving or Xmas day is somewhat unfair and yes, that does happen regularly.
X-POLE is not a major corporation, it is a small company, trying hard to help grow a superb new industry. Even with the likes of major corporations such as Apple, you have to book your service appointment in advance, which from our personal experience can often take up to a week or more. So, even with that in mind X-POLE does respond to the majority of communications the same day and we are always trying to improve on all our response times. We too know how infuriating it is not to get a response email or call back – we are consumers to!!
One major problem we do face is that users do not read or follow the instruction manuals. A large amount of the questions or ‘problem calls and emails’ we get are already answered in the instructions (we know they need improving and they are being worked now) and so if you experience a problem, as we have stated above, please call us before going any further and damaging your pole. We are at the end of phone every ‘working day’ i.e. Monday-Friday but not on National holidays like Xmas, Thanks Giving or Chinese New Year.
In specific response to ‘upandovers’ comments on being threatened: X-POLE to our knowledge has never threatened anyone nor have we sent threatening letters pertaining to a civil suit to anyone – especially over a brass issue. That type of action or response would have to come from the overall Managing Director of X-POLE and from his understanding that has never happened – we have checked with him!
However, where people have been importing and/or selling fake or copy X-poles, claiming they are X-POLE itself, we have advised those companies that we will take legal action and indeed in some instances have taken successful legal action against several of them and we are still pursuing others. If, ‘upandover’, you have been threatened by one of our offices over a brass issue, as you advise on this site, that is a matter we take extremely seriously and our International Managing Director would like to see the emails you have received immediately. Please send them to mailto:xpoletech@x-pole.co.uk as soon as possible and they will be forwarded to him.
As to the brass issue, the first thing to get correct once and for all is that there is no such thing as 100% brass. So, it is impossible for us to confirm that our poles are 100% Brass. Brass is an alloy, which means it is Copper and Zinc mixed. So whatever ‘anyone’ says there is no such thing as ‘Pure’ or 100% Brass!!!! Just to re-confirm to everyone X-Poles are made of Brass (alloy) tube with the same/similar properties as any other Brass pole and they are not a thin brass tube over a steel sleeve as has also been advised on this site nor are they plated!! X-Poles competition Brass poles do however, have secondary ‘Dual Lining’ for rigidity, but this is put into the Brass tube after the manufacturing process and is not part of the brass tube itself.
We have many customers who love the original brass finish (and have even asked us not to change it on this very site) but as always with so many different skin types that finish did not suit everyone. So, always striving to improve our products, we have spent a considerable time testing different finishes and polishes, one of which we now use on our latest brass poles. That same finish can be achieved by re-polishing the brass, if you are unhappy with your current brass finish. We have put a video up on our UK web site of how to do it, it is not difficult just takes some time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swbfsLoWfJA&list=UUoo9Z0IxkkooTT1yQK634Sg&index=2
Finally, we would like to say a few things from our side of the counter. 99% of the communications we get are pleasant and ask for help. However, there is a small percentage that start by threatening us, telling us that someone close to them is an engineer, that our products are rubbish, they don’t work and that they, the customer, has done everything correctly etc. etc. and that if we do not answer the same day, give them a new pole, they will set the local legal system on us! We even get people swearing in emails and down the phone at our customer support team.
Whilst we treat every enquiry in the same way regardless, we would say that this type of communication is unnecessary and does not start the dialogue off in the right way. Normally, from experience, this type of initial attitude (not all) is due to customer misuse or similar and so it sets ‘bells going’ before we have even started actually understanding the problem. X-Pole’s target is for everyone to be happy with their X-POLE. We would never intentionally sell a ‘problem product’ or refuse to support a manufacturing problem, we regualrly replace products/parts often without question – so please, contact us with a positive demeanour and we will respond and sort your enquiry as soon as we can. And importantly, if we made or make a mess of it we ‘will’, and do, apologise.
One request we would like to make is to be sent photos of a problem immediately – in focus please! Photos, as they say, are a thousand words and often, the problem the customer thinks they have is not actually the case and so photos allow us to sort an enquiry out quickly and without too many back and forth emails.
X-POLE is a responsible company, anyone who knows the CEO or the management team know that and so service and customer support is built into X-Pole’s culture. Any problem or complaint will be dealt with as soon as humanly possible and sorted to the best of X-Poles ability.
Growing pole worldwide has been the aim of X-POLE since day one. We like to think that we have been a contributory factor to where pole has got to today and so, why would we want to threaten this development by upsetting our customers, the very people who are part of that growth?
Please contact your local office if you have a problem, we ‘are’ here to help. The local contact information is available on the http://www.xpole.com/web site – if that fails or you cannot get in touch with your local office please email us at mailto:xpoletech@x-pole.co.uk and we will guide you in the right direction and get your request sorted asap.
Best Regards
X-Pole Tech Support
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The reason I fully support X Pole.
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I've had major issues with my x pole's, but I can say that the people I spoke to were very willing to help me. I've actually had great customer service from all the pole companies out there. They are fairly willing to help me when I have an issue.
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For what it's worth, I just called Xpole to discuss my own technical issue with a pole, and the experience was great. It seems like it really depends on who answers the phone when you call.
I used to work customer service at my last job, and ended up in a management position where I was training and evaluating other reps. Unfortunately, not everyone is a pro from their very first day, even if they are trying very hard to do a good job. If someone is inexperienced or hasn't been adequately trained, mistakes can happen and incorrect information can be given out. Also, if there is an issue with a specific employee and it's brought to their manager's attention, it is much easier for the manager to retrain the rep or provide additional guidance on how to handle that issue, than it is to immediately fire that person and hire a brand new employee (and then have the inexperienced new-employee problem all over again).
It's very easy to judge a company on one negative experience. I have certainly been guilty of it myself. Now I work for a company that does thousands of online transactions per day, and invariably there are a few where something goes wrong. Trust me when I say that the reps do care about you and want you to be happy. It's good to remember that the reps you are talking to at any company are not only there to help you – they have many other customers to serve, and perhaps you are not the first person to complain about your issue. Perhaps they are collecting data on how many people have reported the same issue as you, and at what point in the product life cycle, to help their engineers solve the root cause.
There's also an expected failure rate with any sort of manufacturing process. Newegg.com is a great example of this concept. Even their best reviewed products have a few zero-star reviews, from people who got a computer part or a toaster that was dead on arrival. It doesn't stop me from buying a product if a few of them show up dead… it just means I'll want the problem handled appropriately if it does happen to me. And it sounds like most of the time, Xpole does.
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UPDATE! After emailing back and forth with x-pole and sending photos (and more photos), I got a call yesterday from Heidi at X-pole. She left a voicemail msg. asking me to return her call, which I did today. Long story short, Heidi apologized for the customer service experience, said it was highly unusual and not what x-pole usually delivers. She was AWESOME! In addition to resolving my problem, she spent an incredible amount of time on the phone giving tips on how to properly set up the x-pole and take care of it.
She also promised to send out new parts via Fed Ex tomorrow! I am so excited….the anticipation I feel is like a kid waiting for Christmas. It's kind of surprised me just how much I've missed my pole– I'm pretty sure I'm addicted 😀
And this couldn't have happened on a better day. This morning I drove 1 1/2 hours (each way!) to the studio where I take Pole Fitness classes whenever I can, only to find the class I signed up for had been canceled at the last minute. I was so disappointed! And had wasted about $20 in gas. So, believe me, I can't wait to get back to my online lessons with Studio Veena. They absolutely rock!
The final word is my customer service experience with x-pole went from zero to 10 on a 10-point scale. It took 3 months for my issue to get resolved but I am definitely pleased!
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I'm actually sort of squealing in delight that the brass might be different now then when it first came out. I love a brass pole. Now I might have to order that as my next pole for my "center studio" pole on Monday….
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