Go to THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ME...
- Add a comment
- Go to What Happened to Customer Service?
addendum to NETFLIX...
And speaking of Netflix, I read SOMEWHERE (I assume Newsweek,m this week or last) that Netflix is shuffling "frequent users" to the back of the line; sending them their DVD's last and infrequent users first, and making the frequent users wait longer for the new releases. Now, that's BAD customer service! Especially since I brag about the program to people. Not anymore!
posted by
Professor_Peabody
on February 16, 2006 at 4:55 PM
| link to this | reply
I love it!
You are absolutely right about letting the person who provides good customer service know that you appreciate it. I try to always do that and I will usually go out of my way to find their supervisor or manager and let them know how valuable the person is and what a great job they are doing.
And, I am somewhat sympathetic to those who earn a living on commission because I used to work as a telemarketer in the fundraising area. Of course, I didn't follow the script. At first, my bosses balked at me for doing it my way and being nice but they shut up when I became one of the top sales people on the floor and I did it by being nice. I do have a problem with the people who are so stuck to their script that they can't cut to the chase. I don't want to be "sold." I want the bottom line because if I'm interested, I'm interested. If I'm not, no amount of talk is going to change my mind and I really resent having my time wasted. That is much more likely to keep me from ever buying the product now or in the future.
As far as Walmart is concerned. If that is truly happening, the workers need to go to the Labor Board. Prior to doing so, I'd suggest they set up a sting to catch the employer. First of all, you will need someone who is relatively new to the store to act as bait and you will need to contact the Labor Department and let them know what you are planning and have a representative available by phone at a specific time. Then make sure your new employee has a good working cell phone in a chest pocket that has already got the Labor Dept. rep on the phone and then have the new employee confront the boss about why he or she has to clock out to do the remainder of their work. When the boss gives his or her version, you've got them! You may want to double check with the Labor Department if this is okay legally and find out if it's okay to record the conversation.
Regarding letting Netflix know if and when and why I'm leaving, believe me, I will.
Thanks for the comments.
posted by
whimsystoryteller
on February 15, 2006 at 6:34 PM
| link to this | reply
Customer Service
Do you mind if I rant just a little? I'm in commission sales. I don't get paid unless I sell something AND the customer is happy enough to keep it. People don't like commission sales people; pushy, dishonest, insincere, etc., etc. True only part of the time.
But I have seen an increasing reliance on hourly employees, low-paid hourly employees! They have no incentive to provide service. The big companies are also "downsizing", providing fewer and fewer employees for the same number of customers. Wal-Mart, perhaps the world's wealthiest company, has been requiring employees to clock out and return to their sections to finish straightening them out off the clock. It's not right, but how would you feel towards customers when your boss is doing this to you?
How do you get good customer service? Well, first, compliment those you catch giving it. I have carried occasional chairs, in the rain (when is it not raining in Seattle?) out to customers' cars, rearranged their trunk to make room for it, without so much as a thank you.
2nd, vote with your wallet. Netflix screws you over? Blockbuster has the same program. But you must let Netflix know that's why you are leaving! It does no good to just rant on the blog (although it does feel good).
That's just my opinion. I'm not married to it.
posted by
Professor_Peabody
on February 15, 2006 at 5:56 PM
| link to this | reply
Whimsy...
What happened indeed! You and I and millions of others are experiencing something which did not, of course, begin with the net, although it may be particularly onerous there, but which has its origins in other, earlier developments. What we experience on the net we can find almost everywhere. Call a company or government agency by phone, and you know what happens! On many an occasion I have just given up in disgust after being passed on from message to message, only to end up at the start again! But even where you do encounter people, they give you poor service and sometimes appear to treat you as an unwelcome interruption of whatever 'important'
activity they were engaged in! I think there are a host of reasons for this, too many to get into here. One, but only one, is what I would like to call 'the loss of community', which , in subtle but noticeable ways, changes the manner in which people deal with one another. Anyway, a timely post!
posted by
Nautikos
on February 15, 2006 at 5:11 PM
| link to this | reply