Comments on critique.org/bcs.ht

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Simon Howells on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 05:12:11 0000]

Yes please, create that charge! My blog at http://crapcustserv.blogspot.com/ focuses specifically on poor service, including how long some companies waste (and Government departments e.g. UK's tax office http://crapcustserv.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... -hell.html). If that charge became standard things might change!

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from aburt on Tue, 04 May 2010 16:24:56 0000]

Another update -- I heard about the "Ben Franklin" plumbing group and related companies, who pledge to be on time to their appointment, or they pay $5/minute for each minute late. Aha!

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from aburt on Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:57:57 0000]

Just adding an update -- Sometimes they DO get it!

We flew on Southwest Airlines the other day, and it took them two hours to unload the checked bags for all the passengers on our flight. (During which nobody at Southwest seemed to know what was going on.)

But -- before I even got to contact them to request compensation for wasted time -- they sent a voucher for $100 apologizing for the snafu.

Kudos to Southwest Airlines for understanding your time matters and making good for it!

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Erik Aronesty on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:05:14 0000]

> It isn't like you can protest and say, "I am only going to pay you this amount."

Of course it is. We just have a social mindset that asking to pay less is "being cheap". I *often* protest high prices and have *often* negotiated discounts.... from monthly fees at my 401K processor (saved $25/month), to the price of my car (saved $500), to the percentage charged by my credit card processor (from 2.2% to 1.8%).

Anyone can negotiate... it's all about being willing to break with social convention.

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from aburt on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:09:22 0000]

Yes, a number of times when I've been waiting on hold a ridiculously long time for a billing error (for example with my phone company and credit card), or in a long customer service line at a store to return a defective product. They often open the door by first apologizing for the wait. I've politely pointed out that my time is valuable, and they've taken a lot of it to resolve a problem not of my making, and ask if they might be willing to give me a credit of $X, where X equals the number of minutes I've been waiting. Sometimes they go off and ask a supervisor, then make some sort of manual adjustment to my account. (Easier with a place you _have_ an account where they can do a customer satisfaction credit or whatnot, but a store can do a gift card, for example.) You may have to get a manager involved, but that's good -- the higher up the management chain the message goes the better.

Often times they say no, but the point is still made. If enough people make the point, it eventually becomes a common matter.

The recent law imposing fines on airlines for waiting on the runway more than three hours is a great example of this idea in practice. (Though that money doesn't go to the passenger, as it should.)

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Leo on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 07:55:57 0000]

>The next time you hear, "Hello, thank you for calling customer service, we're >too busy to help you and we know you can't do anything if we put you on hold >for an hour", think: Ka-ching! And ask for a buck a minute. (Sometimes it >actually works!

Can you cite a specific incident of this kind where it worked and you got your $1/min?

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Guest on Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:20:58 0000]

The problem is that fighting bad service is itself a time-sink. Protests take time, persistence, and a lot of emotional eergy and mindshare. It's almost like adding insult to injury. Most of the time, all you will get is an apology from someone in the company, who tells you that it shouldn't have worked that way. At most, some low-level hourly-wage employee will get in trouble.

It's a race to the bottom for many companies as they cut costs. They hire inexperienced employees, they don't bear the cost of training them, and they know the customer is trapped because their competitors are doing the same thing. I'm not talking about cost-cutting because of the recession; I'm talking of cutting costs because they can, and it will improve the bottom line.

Part of the reason is that good service costs, and it's an intangible; while the price of something is clearly stated up front.

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Jennifer on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:23:58 0000]

Excellent points all around! If enough of us do this informally, maybe it will become customary! I think I'll link this article to several of my social sites & my blog: let's change the world...

(I'm just an old-fashioned rabble rouser...)

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from tmso on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:33:40 0000]

Excellent.

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from George on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 00:23:36 0000]

If you ask me, bad customer service or rediculously high prices for a product from somebody that knows they can get away with charging what ever they want, go hand in hand. It isn't like you can protest and say, "I am only going to pay you this amount." As much as I would like to believe that we had that sort of ability, I know we don't. It would really take a lot of people, millions, in fact, to band together, form a pact and stand behind it without waivering, without giving in and stop purchasing altogether. Don't fly, don't drive, don't call that taxi cab, no train rides and no buses. If this could be done, then the companies suffering from the losses would be forced to take action and get people buying again, they would be forcing their employees to treat every customer with respect, the way a customer should be treated.
I see that as a complete impossibility. With the need that people have to travel and the fuel that is needed to do so, there is no clear solution. The last time I flew, I delt with very high prices and rude personel.
I read a news story where a man started calling 911 over and over from a MacDonalds after receiving poor service an cold food. He called 911 and demanded that they help him to retrieve his money. But he was only fined for misuse of the 911 service. What would have happened if 100 or 200 people were there demanding better treatment. I think the outcome would have been much different, especially if they held together as a group. They wouldn't have had to call 911, the team At the MacDonalds would have done that for them.
I have seen large protests fail and have seen them open the eyes of many. The fact that so many were sticking together for that cause made it even more effective. Demanding your money back, or demanding that you're paid back for your time being wasted because of the failures of others would be a wonderful justice. If something like that were set into law, just emagine the changes that would occure in customer service. I just don't see that happening until everybody has the ability, all at the same time to say, "No, we are not going to accept this kind of treatment any longer."
To cure this virus, we need the right vacine. If you can get the word out to the billions that need to hear this and you can get them to band up and stand up, I'll stand with you to kill a sickness that really needs to be eradicated.