Tag: consumer rage

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GETTING USED TO POOR SERVICE

Remember the olden days when good customer service was the norm? You weren’t expected to put up with bad service.  And no one blamed you for complaining to the higher ups.  The funny thing is, they didn’t have follow-up surveys for everything you bought or every service you used.  Didn’t need them, because it wasn’t a very big issue.   However,  there’s really no point in taking a survey or making a formal complaint these days, because there’s nothing can be done about the labor shortage that is hitting stores, hospitals, plumbers,  doctor’s offices and even locksmiths. We may as well start  getting used to  poor service, because it’s not going to get any better.

getting used to poor service BECAAUSE LABOR SHORTAGES WILL COTINUE
GETTING USED TO POOR SERVICE. Practice your patience skills because it’s not going to get any better.

Since the holidays began, we’ve encountered  lackluster service almost  every where we go.  Which , at our age, is far less than the average family of four.

It started with our hearing aids specialist.  When we purchased them three years ago, we were assured that there would always be someone in the office to help us with any problems we might encounter.  That went well for a couple of years.  Clogged up?  Twisted?  No problem.  Stop by this afternoon for a quick fix by the audiologist.  Except, now, the audiologist is only available one day per week.  He’s moved somewhere else, and they haven’t found a replacement. So, you might have to go  full week with poor hearing.

If you need your locks changed, it’s probably for a reason.  You want to keep someone out who may have gotten hold of  the key to your home, or office.   In the old days, your trusty locksmith would be out by the end of the day.  Trouble is, there aren’t many experienced locksmiths available now.  It may be several days before they can come to the rescue.  You’ll just have to put a chair up to your door, and hope for no uninvited visitors.

Bought a new dishwasher last week when our old one gave out.  They delivered it promptly, and the installer quickly explained which buttons to push, before rushing to another job.  I was confused , because the instruction sheet did not include a control panel diagram. Called the dealership, and was promised the service man would give me a call-back to answer any questions.  That was four days ago, and I still haven’t heard from him.  Thank heaven for YOU TUBE, where I finally learned how to operate the dishwasher

It’s an epidemic.   School bus drivers are working double shifts. Consequently kids are late to school.  Restaurants are short of help so it may take an hour to get served. Grocery stores have empty shelves (crackers, especially), because there aren’t enough truck drivers. I’m not sure what’s causing the shortage of workers, but I suspect it’s not going to get any better.  We may as well start getting used to poor service, and it won’t help one bit to answer that follow up survey.  Remember: patience is a virtue.

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CUSTOMER SERVICE ON DOWNWARD SPIRAL

Remember when it paid to complain about poor customer service?  Well, that doesn’t happen anymore.  I suppose it’s because of the pandemic.  We can blame pretty much everything that goes wrong on Covid-19.  And some people really don’t care if you like their service or not.  When  the coronavirus crisis is over, I have a feeling that’s not going to change. According to a recent survey at Arizona State University,  Customer Service is on a downward spiral,  and consumer rage is increasing. 

Customer Service is getting worse and so is consumer rage.
Customer service is on a downward spiral and consumer rage is getting worse.

For us, it started last summer with the delivery of the Indianapolis Star.  We’re a two newspaper household. For over three decades, a carrier delivered both papers to our side door.  But when our local paper went to five days a week,  the Indy Star had to find another carrier to deliver on Tuesdays and Sundays.  That carrier decided she couldn’t take a few seconds to turn in our lane, roll down her window, and toss the paper on our side porch.  In spite of repeated instructions to leave it on the porch, she kept throwing it near the street.  Which means that I must get dressed and walk to the end of the lane so as to have our morning paper when we wake up. Not bad in the summer, but I’m not looking forward to ice and snow.

After exchanging e mails with various customer service representatives over  a four week period, nothing changed.  The Indy Star representatives  repeatedly assured me the paper should be delivered to our side door, but that hasn’t happened.   The Indy Star is still out by the road on Tuesdays and Sundays..

I suppose it’s hard to find paper carriers in ordinary times.  But with all the people out of work, and scrambling for Uber delivery jobs, you’d think the Indy Star could find someone to take a few seconds to deliver the paper to our door.

Recently, we  had another bad experience with the customer service department at Lazy Boy. Although we had thought bulky recliners were kind of ugly, we finally succumbed to the urge for comfort in our old age. We didn’t buy any old recliner.  Ours was a custom job with all the bells and whistles, and pale  blue upholstery.  When it finally arrived, the dealer gave us a phone number to call if anything went wrong.

We enjoyed that recliner for three years.  Just press a button to move it back, lift the leg rest, massage your back, or provide heat.  And then, one day, it went all the way backward,  but wouldn’t move forward.  My husband found the Lazy Boy Customer Service phone number.  He had to wait 50 minutes to get an answer.  They said they’d have to schedule an appointment with a repair man.  That was on November 23.  A week later, they called to say they couldn’t come until Jan. 7. That meant six weeks with our recliner spread out across the room on its back.  Seems the service center is in Texas, and it takes them awhile to get to Indiana.

In both of the cases above, we’re at the mercy of the service provider.  No one else is going to deliver the Indianapolis Star, and there is no one in town who can repair Lazy Boy  recliners (we checked) .  I’m afraid it’s a portent of things to come.  Customer Service is on a downward spiral, and it’s only going to get worse.