On 04/08/2011 06:45 PM, Darren New wrote:

> You are a cost center, not a profit center.
>
> To illustrate, if you wind up with a 30-minute queue to get customer
> service, call the sales number. They will immediately pick up, and then
> you can say "Oh, I dialed the wrong number, can you transfer me to
> customer service?"

I had this with a local shop. I sat listening to the phone ring for 20 
minute. Nothing. Then I dialed the sales number. It picked up within 
half a ring.

As best as I can tell, the two phones both sit directly next to each 
other in the store room at the back.

Then again, this is the shop where I asked to purchase an item, and the 
guy at the desk couldn't really be bothered to go pick it up and take my 
money from me...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On 08/04/2011 02:55 PM, Stephen wrote:
> On 04/08/2011 6:36 PM, Jim Holsenback wrote:
>> I'm I the only one who finds it odd that when I call my
>> telecommunications provider, the 1st thing the vmail system wants me to
>> do is enter my phone number ... Hello &%$#@ Caller ID!!!!!
>>
>
> Not in the UK. They do ask if you are calling about the phone that you
> are calling from.
>
>> Customer service in just about every way shape and form sucks lately!
>
> At least they politely tell you that they will not do anything for you. ;-)
>

that they do ... had the speaker phone on while doing other stuff for 
over an hour, when I finally reached the end of the queue, I insisted on 
verification that I had indeed reached a human, and not another 
recording ... I /did/ get a laugh for that

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On 08/04/2011 02:45 PM, Darren New wrote:
> On 8/4/2011 10:36, Jim Holsenback wrote:
>> Customer service in just about every way shape and form sucks lately!
>
> You are a cost center, not a profit center.

ah ... then I'm a lost cause. I wish them all the luck in the world 
getting more money out of me ;-)

>
> To illustrate, if you wind up with a 30-minute queue to get customer
> service, call the sales number. They will immediately pick up, and then
> you can say "Oh, I dialed the wrong number, can you transfer me to
> customer service?"
>

typically a transfer is followed by the dreaded dial tone.

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Jim Holsenback <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
> I'm I the only one who finds it odd that when I call my 
> telecommunications provider, the 1st thing the vmail system wants me to 
> do is enter my phone number ... Hello &%$#@ Caller ID!!!!!

  My telecom provider not only gets my phone numer automatically, it
actually has voice recognition (which it uses to, among other things,
get the customer's social security number, which in Finland contains
a letter besides numbers). So far it has worked surprisingly well.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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On 04/08/2011 08:45 PM, Warp wrote:

>    My telecom provider not only gets my phone numer automatically, it
> actually has voice recognition (which it uses to, among other things,
> get the customer's social security number, which in Finland contains
> a letter besides numbers). So far it has worked surprisingly well.

Some of you may remember I recently called my insurance provider, and 
their automated system actually managed to understand WTF I actually 
wanted. And I didn't have to wait all that long to speak to a human.

Last week I ordered a new motherboard from ebuyer. Unfortunately, due to 
their website somehow mysteriously "remembering" the stuff I put in my 
basket several days earlier, I ended up ordering two identical 
motherboards. Obviously, these are no use to me, so I called them to 
rectify the problem. I waited about 3 minutes for somebody to answer. 
And they actually spoke English. Hell, they even fixed the problem, even 
though my network provider cut me off before the call finished.

Not /all/ companies have crap customer service. Just /most/ of them.

(My mother still buys everything from John Lewis. Not because their 
prices are good - God no! But at least there's a real danger of customer 
service. And after-sales support.)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On 4-8-2011 19:36, Jim Holsenback wrote:
> I'm I the only one who finds it odd that when I call my
> telecommunications provider, the 1st thing the vmail system wants me to
> do is enter my phone number ... Hello &%$#@ Caller ID!!!!!

1) some phones have that blocked.
2) you might not know it if you just stole it or as a prank want to 
disable it for a coworker (probably not the best excuse, it might not 
even work)
3) they get money for ever second you are on-line.

> Customer service in just about every way shape and form sucks lately!

When a company earns more if the service is worse that won't change in 
the near future.

-- 
Apparently you can afford your own dictator for less than 10 cents per 
citizen per day.

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On 8/4/2011 13:08, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> Not /all/ companies have crap customer service. Just /most/ of them.

I'm actually surprised at how good Microsoft's customer service is, for the 
price of the things they sell to consumers. *And* they've never sold my name 
to someone else's junkmail lists (real or electronic).

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   How come I never get only one kudo?

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Jim Holsenback <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
....
> Customer service in just about every way shape and form sucks lately!

Thank you for your rant. Your post is important to us. Please be advised that
all of our poster service workers are presently busy making lame excuses to
other ranters.  Due to unusually high rant volumes, you may experience extended
waiting time for your excuse. Please consider ranting at a later time or make a
selection from our automated excuse menu:

Press or say "1" to receive additional insincere assurances that we take your
concerns seriously.


state of the economy and excessive government regulation.


should have been handled has let us down terribly and will shortly be replaced.


our website is available on our website.

If you know the name, birth date, blood type, astrological sign AND complete
genetic code of the person to whom you wish to speak, you may access our

kidneys whose value equals how much our assurances and promises are really worth
(0).

Thank you for your rant...

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On 08/05/2011 12:35 PM, Mike the Elder wrote:
> Jim Holsenback<nom### [at] nomailcom>  wrote:
> ....
>> Customer service in just about every way shape and form sucks lately!
>
> Thank you for your rant. Your post is important to us. Please be advised that
> all of our poster service workers are presently busy making lame excuses to
> other ranters.  Due to unusually high rant volumes, you may experience extended
> waiting time for your excuse. Please consider ranting at a later time or make a
> selection from our automated excuse menu:
>
> Press or say "1" to receive additional insincere assurances that we take your
> concerns seriously.
>

> state of the economy and excessive government regulation.
>

> should have been handled has let us down terribly and will shortly be replaced.
>

> our website is available on our website.
>
> If you know the name, birth date, blood type, astrological sign AND complete
> genetic code of the person to whom you wish to speak, you may access our

> kidneys whose value equals how much our assurances and promises are really worth
> (0).
>
> Thank you for your rant...
>
>
no ... thank you for /your/ rant. Somewhat reassuring that I'm not the 
only one who feels the same way. All the road blocks they throw in the 
way are designed to get you to give up and go away!

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> All the road blocks they throw in the
> way are designed to get you to give up and go away!

Indeed.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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