Service, what service?

[Ozz]

You know how sometimes, you just can’t understand something?
Poor service is the subject that eats away at me.
If a person can’t, or won’t provide good service, they should get a job assembling widgets, or be extremely nice to elderly Aunt Bessie and hope to get mentioned in her will.
I have had 5 service calls on my newly purchased television and Internet cable at my home.
I have a few suggestions for the service industry.
Be on time, if you get behind on a job, call to keep the customer informed, it happens.
Fill your gas tank at the end of the day, not on the way to the first call.
Clean the mud off your shoes, take extra shoes, or get slip-on shoe covers if needed so when you go into someone’s home, you don‘t leave chunks of mud all over the place..
Instruments are needed when troubleshooting wiring and cable signal strength, charge the batteries when you get home at night, carry extra batteries.
(Two service guys had meters that would only stay on for about a minute; dead batteries.)
Have your mom ‘sniff’ you, as you head out the door. Deodorant and tooth-paste are cheap.
If you chew and spit; don’t do it on the customers property, mom should have told you about that.
Do your work, fill out the paperwork neatly, get it signed and get the hell out of my house. I am not interested in your fishing program you are watching on my new Sony. The large Catfish being pulled by hand from under rocks by ugly women, is not my idea of a fun afternoon.

[deadeye]

Having a BAD DAY, Jim???? I know the feeling...JB

[exav8tr]

Jim, Sounds like you are not offering these guys beer and pizza, What Gives?????

BTW: I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU......

[ole dude]

Well said by a service guy.

[stiles watson]

Ozz, would you like to talk about this? You should be clear about you feelings.

It is easy to tell which service people are professional and which are dorks. You have identified my pet peeves also. Here's hoping for better days.

[Ozz]

Here is a response from one of my friends down at South Padre Island: (I'm Sparky on that Forum)

Gotta even better one Sparky - how bout not taking a nap on your couch while they are waiting for the system to boot up. This actually happened to me.

I left the living room to check on my baby and came back to find the guy actually asleep, SNORING, on my couch. His clothes were dirty, and to top it off he had his filthy boots on my ottomon. I slammed some pots in the kitchen, TWICE, and he finally woke up - unbelievable.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

I have had 5 service calls on my newly purchased television and Internet cable at my home.


NOW THAT IS A PROBLEM!! FIVE CALLS??

Geeshhhh

[capn chris]

C'mon Ozz, tell someone that should make a difference...like the company?!! I give customer feedback, both positive and negative, assuming the boss understands you?! Can't sgree w/you more, and I believe that we should not tolerate that type of behavior. Was it "Network" where they all yelled, "I'm tired, and I'm not going to take it anymore?"

[Waynem]

You need to speak out Jim, and tell us how you really feel!

But I do agree with your small rendition of emotions - completely.

[skypilot]

Knowing that Ozz is in KC, that probably means Time-Warner Cable (same as my daughter has over there). He is being kind when he speaks if this is the case. My daughter called me, basically in tears, following one visit that left her apartment in such a mess that even she couldn't stand it at that time (was a college student). I called and got their 'customer service' person who, even over the phone, was so non-chalant and non-carrying that I found it amazing. Daughter is now married and has a house there and this past December they called for a new drop to be installed (at their expense $$$$$$); again, very late, person had been doing outside work and had mud all over boots and pants, and tracked it into the house;never even an excuse me. Then they left their trash on the floor, didn't even pick it up. She called the main office and got a - we are sorry but our schedule is so tight that they don't have the time to clean up.... BS!!!

Off my soap box.

[Gramps]

I feel your pain. Having worked as a Field Supervisor for a wireless cable and internet company for many years, I tried to grow an ulcer keeping my field crew straight. There were days they didn't like me very much, but making them understand that torn jeans and heavy metal t-shirts weren't the proper atire, and leaving cable stripings and cable ties laying everywhere wasn't condusive to staying employed, took alot of effort. The guys who caught on are still here today, the rest have moved on other career opertunities. Unfortunately, not everyone sees it that way, hence your bad experience. The bad thing about this whole thing is that many larger companies use call centers, so many Manager calls get filtered and customers go else where in frustration. Then it's bad for the new service provider, as the customer goes in looking for bad things to happen. No one wins, because a Supervisor doesn't make those guys toe the line. Hope things get better for you.

[NCFischers]

I run a service business and my employees have been taught better and know the consequences if they act like that. I get many compliments from customers about my crew and their professionalism. They understand that if they don't work like they are working in MY house and respect other peoples property and time, we will have a "come to Jesus talk". Yhey don't want that. It isn't any fun for them.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Are prizes being awarded for customer no-service stories? If so, stand back:

1. July 7, 2008: Called home builder to report granite installers cracked granite during installation that day; installers and company disappeared after new granite was ordered; another company finally installed new granite this week (had to wait for it to come from Brazil or somewhere, so they said).
2. August 4, 2008: Called GE service center for warranty service on new range and fridge. GE calls local "Appliance Doctor," who refuses the call. STILL waiting for service. GE has scheduled several other people to come, none have shown up or even bothered to call to say they weren't coming.
3. August 19, 2008: Called power company to start process to replace many things in new home caused by company cutting line and failing to check that it was repaired--they knew it was cut but left and didn't fix it. We'd been gone for nearly 2 weeks and came home to find that all food had spoiled and blood/juices had drained from freezer and fridge and soaked into hardwood and subfloor. Stinky! Claims finally settled in November; damage just being repaired this week.
4. August 25, 2008: called water softener guy to repair damage done when water softener unit blew up not once, but twice, in less than 5 days, soaking slate floor, sub-floor, sheetrock, in laundry room, mud room, and 3 closets, including the back wall and floor of our bedroom closet. He finally agreed to pay for damage; repairs started last week.
5. Today, the 2nd DISH installer came out to trouble-shoot problems that we've had since the so-called first DISH expert was here last month to fix a problem with our reception. It took the new guy less than 15 minutes to find the trouble and fix it. The first guy failed to correctly connect any of the cables that feed in from the dish to the televisions. Every stinkin' one of them was connected incorrectly at the dish.
6. The killer? July 24, 2008: Took our new Monty to Idaho Falls (two hours south of me) for warranty work before 1-year warranty expired at the end of August. Monty is STILL there--"waiting on sink and counter," "waiting on awnings," "waiting on . . . " We wouldn't have used it between October and now anyway, BUT--it's been at the dealership nearly 6 months now, and I can't get an update to save my life. Yes, we have contacted Keystone, and yes, that has helped a little, but having to wait 6 months for repairs, which we're told are still not finished, is ridiculous. And now, because things are "slow," the dealership is open only limited hours. (I am so tired of being treated to that "someone dropped the ball" line, too.) We're headed to the rally at 7 Feathers if I have to drive to Idaho Falls and steal a new Montana off the lot to take to Canyonville.

The common denominator? NO customer service. NO courtesy contacts to keep us posted about when or if the work will be done. EVERYONE pointing the finger at the next guy because it's "his fault." I work full-time and have had to lug a briefcase filled with warranties, phone logs, etc., documenting my calls, faxes, and other contacts with GE, the water softener guy, the power company, the granite company, the slate/hardwood flooring people, Bish's RV, Keystone, and others, back and forth from home to my classroom day after day, and spend my lunch time and my conference hour trying to contact the customer service reps, technicians, and other people who are making my life a consumer . . . well, you know what.

If I gave "customer service" like that to the parents of my students, I would be fired so fast my head would spin. You would think, with jobs on the line and the economy so bad that people would want to make and keep good customers, but not so, at least not with the people I'm having to contact.


Carolyn
PS: Whew! I feel better.

[Jay Bird]

Ozz i wish I could send you my servics person we had yesterday. He was do in between 8am and 12pm. George said he showed up about 1020am, but that is ok. Even tho he had a head full of hair he was no talk at all until he came in to reset our direc tv dish. Even tho it was freezing outside while he put in a new direc tv dish he came in with a smile, completed the job in a short time and was on his way. Just as he was leaving he gave us his phone number in case we needed him to come back. He must have been thinking of me having a senior moment and not remembering what he had said about the tv set up.
rosetta

[Ozz]

Dang Carolyn, my problems with service pale in comparison to yours, I think I might come up there and open a service company up. That is what made America great, fill the need of the public.
I hope it gets better for you, good luck.
Ozz

Rosetta, send that guy over! When I get done with him, I will send him up to Carolyn....

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

May I add, that these horror stories and a few of our own, like service man walking on the roof of a BRAND NEW RV with greasy shoes, dealer's staff running the unit into a building, and then lying about it, and a bucket load of other stuff, is why SOME OF US FIX OUR OWN units, whenever possible.

This does not excuse cheap parts that are OEM, bad install at the plant for whatever reason, etc etc etc.

It is just easier on the nerves sometimes to crawl around and fix it yourself. At least you know what you did and how you did it, and the quality of the work, and the only waiting you will do is your own, if you procrastinate then it is your own fault, not some other dude with long greasy dirty hair and gross clothes and muddy shoes.

[richfaa]

Guess we Have been fortunate as we have not run into any of these folks, thus far, at home or on the road. We do rely on service folks because I am not at all handy and execpt for very simple repairs and I mean simple, we do not have the expertise.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Come on, Ozz--I tell my students all the time that people in the customer service/blue collar industries will be the millionaires of the future because we've reached the point where most of us would pay anything just to get things fixed--fixed right the first time.

Here's an update (as of today at 2:00 MST) on the GE/"The Appliance Doctor" thing that's been dragging on for months. GE called at noon to see if that guy had ever shown up or called. Wayne told the rep no, but that he had talked to the guy on Tuesday and Wednesday and again yesterday and was told that the part still "didn't come in," even though it was overnighted to him by GE on Monday. The GE rep said she'd checked the records, and the Appliance Doctor himself had signed the FedEx delivery receipt on TUESDAY. She told Wayne she'd make a call and let us know what the situation was. She called right back and said to stand by, because the Appliance Doctor was going to give us a call. Sure enough, ten minutes later the Appliance Doc phoned and said he was on his way to our house. I can't wait to get home and see if he did show up. He certainly got caught telling a fib with the "part didn't arrive" story. Duh--he signed for it.

Happier times have to be ahead--Wayne said the slate people arrived before 7:30 AM (and they had a 1.5 hour drive to my house from their warehouse), the sheetrocker arrived by 8:00 (as promised), and the water softener guy called and said to let him know the moment he could get on the slate flooring to reinstall the water softener. Just think--if the Appliance Doctor really showed up, I might have hit the jackpot today!

On second thought, I haven't: My 2 calls today to the service manager at the RV dealership didn't get returned, so I still don't know what's up with our Montana. We are considering driving down there tomorrow to be sure our rig is actually still there. I hate to waste the fuel and time (2 hours each way) to do that, especially when I don't know if the place is even open now on Saturdays because of their "winter slowdown." It's enough to make me crazy. OK, crazier!

Carolyn

[Ozz]

Hang in there, preservation pays.
Wear them down.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

I need to clarify: "Come on down, OZZ--you'll be the most welcome person around with your work ethic!!!!" Gee, we really could use more people who give good service, and we also need more people to complain politely but firmly when work isn't done correctly.

Just for curiosity's sake, has anyone out there ever won an automobile Lemon Law suit? I did, in 1988, against the Ford Motor Company. I love Fords. My dad was a Ford mechanic for 40+ years; my brother and 2 nephews are Ford employees, and everyone in our extended family drives Fords.

I unfortunately had one of those rare experiences in purchasing a new car that literally didn't make it 10 miles down the road from the dealership before the motor cratered. I had to be towed back, and the ink wasn't even dry on the purchase contract. After 3 months of having to be towed in because of one problem or another, I finally filed a Lemon Law Claim. It took over a year and hours of documentation, copying, calling, etc., but Ford settled before the case went to court. I was completely satisfied with the settlement, too--a new car. I drove that thing for 10 years without a problem, too.

It's just such a hassle sometimes to get people to do the right thing. I'm old (so my students tell me over and over), and I guess my work ethic is from the "old days," too--you think? I try to put my money where my mouth is, too; I sell odds & ends on eBay occasionally, and I always tell the buyers that if I've overcharged for shipping, I will immediately refund the difference, whether it's a $.50 refund or larger refund. I have a lot of repeat customers.

Carolyn