Skip to main content

Good Customer Service Pays More Than Bucks

Cell phone fees are the bane of our existence, yes? Sure, that may be putting a little too much emphasis on them. But I do actually believe they are a terrible way to run a business, and an assurance that the person paying them will never forget, and may likely never use that company again.

As I write this $200 check to a cell phone company I will never work with again, I am thinking of all the outrageously bad customer service, and bad business practices, I have suffered through this year and wonder if the current recessionary climate might change some of that. When consumers have less to spend, like moi, consumers are going to go for bargains — but also where they're appreciated.

Case in point. I recently ordered a book for an interview I needed to do. One online service promised me the book, because I live in Manhattan, the next day. It was cheaper than the bigger named online store I normally use. But I am searching for some bargains right now.

I ordered the book. I got an email. It wasn't coming for 5 days. I called their customer service people and they basically said, too bad for you. It was phrased better than that. There were tons of apologies peppering the short conversation. But they couldn't rescind the order. Nor could they get me the book. On time. What I could do is re-order, pay a rush fee, refuse the slower book and get a credit in a few weeks.

I bought the book instead from the bigger chain. And I will never use the other service -- despite it being cheaper -- again.

I hope companies are listening. I'm going to start making decisions with my wallet this coming year based on some old-fashioned values. And I know I won't be the only one.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Apologies for being incommunicado this week and hope none of you out there are too distraught not to be receiving the usual almost-daily MotV missives. The reason for the silence is that I'm up to my neck, metaphorically-speaking, in research papers for my first grad course assessment. This experience has made me realise how rigorously un-academic I am in my thinking. It has also illuminated how reliant I am on red wine in order to get through endless evenings typing furiously on my laptop, not to mention the fueling of increasingly colorful curses that I feel obliged to aim at the University's online library system which consistently refuses to spit out any of the journals I'm desperate for (I refuse to believe this is 100% due to my technical incompetence...) Oh well, if this is the price one has to pay in order to realize a long-cherished dream then it's not all that bad... No one ever said a mid-life career change would be easy. Wish me luck!

Environment

Being an expat, a favorite topic of conversation is 'where I/you want to go next?' or 'When do you plan to go home?' It's a good question. I'm not sure I want to stay in Dubai for ever, but I'm also not sure about how long I want to be here for or where else I would like to live. For almost the first time ever, I have no fixed plans apart from keeping my eyes and mind open to interesting opportunities. And as to going 'home', I have no idea where that is. Constantly moving around as a child left me with the feeling that 'home' is wherever I am right now, so in effect 'home' could be anywhere. The longest I've ever lived in one fixed place was 18 years in London, on and off, but that doesn't feel like 'home' either - I love going back to see family and friends, and it's a great place to shop, but that's about it. I have a great love for California, which is where my extended family is from (and where most of the