Ernestine the Operator
I have fond memories of the days when ‘the customer was always right.’ It wasn’t true, of course, but at least lip service was given to that idea. And, at least there was lip service. As in lips.
Last night when our television set went wonky and we couldn’t get a consistent signal (read picture) we called the customer service number. It used to be that there was a live voice at the other end of that line but now the telephone is answered by some sort of robot – you know, one of those voice recognition devices. I doubt if they have lips. What they have is a one-size-fits-all formula that has nothing to do with customer service.
We finally solved our problem ‘by main strength and awkwardness’ as my mother used to say. Literally. Nyel hefted up the TV, wiggled a connecting cable or two, and voilà! Never mind that we had to do that again to turn the cussed thing off.
Piggy Bank
I should have been over my annoyance by this morning and probably would have been but for the very first message to reach me when I turned on my computer. It seems that my online banking service is upgrading “soon.” Of the (questionable) benefits this will give me, the customer, the first one listed is a new look and feel to your online banking experience.
I DO NOT WANT A NEW LOOK AND FEEL! READ MY LIPS! I just got used to the old ‘look and feel’ for gawd’s sake. Which, if my puny, pawn-like mind remembers correctly, wasn’t so long ago. Who decides that I need a new look and feel anyway? I don’t remember anyone asking me.
Why do I think that this is yet another example of twelve-year-old-information-technology-gurus having nothing better to do? They apparently ‘upgrade’ because they can. Never mind what the customer wants or needs.
And certainly never mind how the impersonal, robotic approach makes the customer feel. As in overlooked, ignored, marginalized and unsung. Chopped liver for sure.
Even if I reach a live person, I generally can’t understand them and they are generally not in the same hemisphere as me. Then there are the telephone robo programs that my voice simply doesn’t work with. Calling Social Security for my mom (“This will take 4 minutes”) took 45 minutes of hanging up and calling again and again until I successfully completed the four minutes. Same thing happens when I try to order prescriptions from Group Health over the phone. There program doesn’t like the sound of my voice either, but I can actually reach a human by pressing the right button. Now I order online. Dave is upset because all the Tums the store carries are “Ultra” and he wants plain old Tums. He’s ferreted out which drug stores carry a generic brand that is NOT “Ultra.” He hoards them. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.
Thanks for two days of laughter
Really? I’m not sure that I’ve written anything meant to be amusing in quite a while now, but… you’re welcome.
I won’t go into the horrors of trying to change my mom’s mailing address with Social Security. It seems to be the one item you cannot change by phone or on-line. My bank also “updated” their online banking site, and I was scared I would never get my bills paid, but that was not too difficult a service. However, the Seattle Times has just changed the format of their on-line edition, and I can’t find any of the links I want to visit. It is a lot of scrolling. I keep telling myself that change keeps my mind intact. Here is the worst of the worst: I made reservations at a hotel in Great Falls, MT for the upcoming Charles Russell Western Art Auction. The reservations were made a year in advance. As happens, we have other commitments the week of the auction, so I went to cancel the reservations. They had upgraded their system and the reservations had not carried over to then new system! If we were going to the auction, we would have arrived in Great Falls in a couple of weeks with NO reservations! The auction is the biggest event in Great Falls and there would be no other rooms to be had. Just venting…..but I hear ya, Sydney.