Is Customer Service Dead?
I'm going to deviate from the book and publishing world for a moment, because I am hopping mad and need to vent. What the hell has happened to common courtesy in the business world? Is customer service as a concept dead? I have just come off of SEVERAL conversations with SEVERAL people regarding a customer service issue. And the liberties that some companies take with you are appalling. I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say that my ignorance of the deviant inner workings of one company has allowed them to dip into my personal checking account without so much as a phone call or even an email.
I learned, upon my LOUD complaint, that somewhere, buried in the teeny weeny type of a "user agreement" I allegedly agreed to allow just anyone to stroll through my checking account and take what looks good, like a financial buffet line during senior-help-yourself hour. I mean, what the hell?
Never mind that the economy of today, such as it is and we all know, causes me to count and then pinch every penny. Never mind that this particular institution and I have have go-'rounds in the past. And also never mind that a previous standard was set for phone calls and or/emails contacting me BEFORE the launched attack on my purse strings.
And it was so sneakily done, too. Not one bulk hit, which would have stood out like a screaming siren to me in a cursory glance at my checking account. No, this was done is a couple little hits. These were not as visible, and after initial head-scratching, the vile truth was revealed.
I called, as I mentioned, and was treated to a well-honed game of "Not my department" segueing to a rousing round of "Only a supervisor can help you" to perhaps my all-time favorite cat-and-mouse tap dance: "Oh, that supervisor goes home at 5pm." And as you may have already surmised, my casual check on my account balance happened after 6pm. Cue the music reaching a crescendo as my blood boils. This may have all been okay, say four years or so ago, when I was riding the wave of successful real-estate selling. But now, let's just say it is fairly egregious. And adding insult to injury is the absolute nonchalance of each person I was forced to talk to. It's like the worse this country gets, the worse we are treated. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Am I crazy?
I have no real point to this post. I just feel evil. Am I alone, or has Customer Service taken a powder, left the building, flown the coop? Do you have a similar story? PLEASE let me know I am not alone here.
I learned, upon my LOUD complaint, that somewhere, buried in the teeny weeny type of a "user agreement" I allegedly agreed to allow just anyone to stroll through my checking account and take what looks good, like a financial buffet line during senior-help-yourself hour. I mean, what the hell?
Never mind that the economy of today, such as it is and we all know, causes me to count and then pinch every penny. Never mind that this particular institution and I have have go-'rounds in the past. And also never mind that a previous standard was set for phone calls and or/emails contacting me BEFORE the launched attack on my purse strings.
And it was so sneakily done, too. Not one bulk hit, which would have stood out like a screaming siren to me in a cursory glance at my checking account. No, this was done is a couple little hits. These were not as visible, and after initial head-scratching, the vile truth was revealed.
I called, as I mentioned, and was treated to a well-honed game of "Not my department" segueing to a rousing round of "Only a supervisor can help you" to perhaps my all-time favorite cat-and-mouse tap dance: "Oh, that supervisor goes home at 5pm." And as you may have already surmised, my casual check on my account balance happened after 6pm. Cue the music reaching a crescendo as my blood boils. This may have all been okay, say four years or so ago, when I was riding the wave of successful real-estate selling. But now, let's just say it is fairly egregious. And adding insult to injury is the absolute nonchalance of each person I was forced to talk to. It's like the worse this country gets, the worse we are treated. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Am I crazy?
I have no real point to this post. I just feel evil. Am I alone, or has Customer Service taken a powder, left the building, flown the coop? Do you have a similar story? PLEASE let me know I am not alone here.
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