It's difficult to tell if the postal strike had much of an impact on me because anything that got lost got lost (obviously) so I don't know about it. The only thing I noticed is that my subscription copy of the Economist that was due to arrive on the day of the strike didn't arrive and still hasn't.
I suppose I was mildly surprised that the Economist hadn't taken measures to avoid this - last time there was a strike it arrived a day early. But it wasn't the end of the world, even though reading the obituary in the Economist is one of the highlights of my week - they always pick someone very non-obvious but absolutely fascinating.
Last week I emailed them to point out that the missing copy hadn't arrived, more in the spirit of helping them track what had happened rather than complaining. So far I've received an extension to my subscription, an offer of a further subscription extension in the event that the following issue disappeared (it didn't but they would have no way of verifying that - lucky I'm honest/lazy) and a free copy of one of their books, the 2010 Pocket World in Figures, which will probably form the basis of every post from now on in.
I contrast this with an unnamed (you'll see why) cosmetics company (this didn't happen to me thank God) who responded to a complaint about an order being posted to the wrong address and hence going missing by accusing the customer of being a liar, harrassing her on Facebook and threatening her with legal action. Or the fake tan company that deals with customer complaints via the medium of obscene tweets about the complainant and harrassing phone calls at 1 in the morning.
Sisterly love
1 week ago
4 comments:
Some people don't seem to notice the clue in their job title - like 'Customer Services'.
When I was manager of an Insurance Claims Department I used to point out to my staff that our primary job was to pay claims (assuming they were covered, obviously).
that I think makes you a pleasant change in that industry - most insurers seem to think they are there to wiggle out of paying claims
You could also contrast it with British Gas. Their electricity bill failed to turn up here (as did the red one) due to the strikes...so they phoned me yesterday to tell me off for being so dilatory about payment and said they'd do something horrible to my credit rating if I didn't pay them RIGHTNOWTHISMINUTE on the phone. They then seemed very put out when I demanded about ten kinds of proof that they really were who they said they were.
Most impressed with the Economist. Was thinking of getting a subscription for Eb as part of his Christmas present - you've just made my mind up for me.
(Incidentally, I am changing electricity supplier.)
Bad CS is a big bugbear - there's so much of it around.
I would like to commend Origins, who, when told they must have sent me 'the wrong email' after they turned down a perfectly reasonable request, promptly changed their minds and magically found the sample they said could not be had for love or money.
Post a Comment