Response to Gina P: Social Influences on Consumer Buying Decisions

Do you think reference groups reduce the search and evaluation of decisions?

when purchasing major products in your life such as automobiles, phones and other technology you really want to see what others have thought of the product or experience. these reference groups definitely reduce the search and evaluation of your decision. what others around us think has an effect on us and our own personal decisions. whether its a "cool" thing to have or just something small we still want others to be satisfied with the purchases we make. 

Customer Service

customer service can either be extremely helpful or just out right frustrating. I have T-mobile for my cell phone service and i had a really bad experience the other day. all i wanted to do was pay my bill over the phone because they allow you to do so but i had to go through voice automated services way too many times. usually this is an easy process but it shows how inconsistent customer service can be within companies. Things like this are frustrating and it definitely has an effect on whether customers will return to your service. i know that customer service is also a helpful thing with building relationships with customers but a lot of people have bad experiences.

What was the worst customer service experience that you have gone through?