Where Has Customer Service Gone?
Here are just a few personal examples of how America’s service industry has gone to pot.
Our satellite dish was installed incorrectly – over our living space on the roof – and this caused damage to our house during Hurricane Ike. When I reported it to the Dish Network, they were apologetic and said they would send a technician out as soon as possible to fix the problem and get our dish working again. However, the technician who arrived was unequipped to go on the roof – more like he was afraid to go on the roof which makes no sense since that is his job. The technician claimed he did not have a harness and therefore could not go on the roof. Well, correct me if I’m wrong but most satellite dishes are not placed on the ground floor so shouldn’t he have come prepared?
Then he had the nerve to install a second dish on the eave of our house without asking, and told me to take up the issue with the claims department. How does that make sense? So now I have a dish that damaged part of our roof and is still loose, and another dish in which to watch TV. This technician as well as the office manager (of the company who originally installed the dish) both confirmed that the dish was placed incorrectly since the dishes are not supposed to be placed above living space. So why should we have to take it up with the claims department? It sounded like a scam to me.
Of course the claims department took no responsibility because the hurricane was an act of God; and of course I was bounced from department to department with each person telling me that the next department would help me; but no one ever did. After several weeks of this, I wound up losing my temper and cursed one of the supervisors out – she totally deserved it though. She had the nerve to say that there was no mention of the problem on her screen and therefore she could not help me. Seriously?
The Dish Network obviously does not pride themselves on their customer service and I encourage everyone to avoid them like the plague.
The Cleaning Service
After having two negative experiences with the first cleaning service I used, I attempted to use another – one which was bonded, licensed and insured. Their price was cheaper, they were going to mop all of my floors instead of just the kitchen, and they were even going to clean the baseboards. How could I go wrong?
Well, they never showed up; and to make matters worse, they never called either. When I attempted to call them, I only received a voicemail message. Later that night, I tried phoning the owner again and she was about as rude and apathetic as could be. She didn’t have an explanation as to why no one showed up, she didn’t tell me why she didn’t call, and she didn’t even apologize. Nice. So my husband and I spent 2.5 hours cleaning our house on a Friday night – at least we saved $85.
I know there are running jokes about postal employees, but the truth is, most of them are efficient, competent and friendly. However, there are a few exceptions and those few give the rest of them a bad reputation.
I had a postal delivery person (that’s the politically correct term nowadays, isn’t it?) ring my door bell. I apparently wasn’t quick enough because when I answered the door, I was met with a “Doorbell not working?” greeting. Of course I took issue with his tone and attitude. After all if he didn’t want to wait the 60 seconds it took for me to go to the door, then he should have just left a notice that he tried to deliver a package.
Two other times I received an electronic notice (through Track and Confirm) that my package had been delivered; however, no package was actually delivered. I had to go to the post office depot to figure out the mystery of the missing package and it turned out – both times – that the postal delivery person said he delivered my packages, but decided to keep it instead. Isn’t that nice?
Now I don’t know what has happened in the last decade but there has been a steady decline of customer service and it’s the customers who are paying the price. Worse yet, it’s we who are allowing this to happen because no one has the time to complain. If no one complains, then no one knows there is a problem; or the ones that do complain are seen as being in the minority so they are not worth satisfying.
I encourage everyone to take ten minutes and contact whichever company, person or business that has done you wrong, and let them know how they can improve their service. If they don’t know about the problem, they can’t fix it.
