Customer Service. I Wiki’d it: Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation.
My customer satisfaction got tested today. I had a bunch of charges on my credit card from Snapfish for a service/product??? So, I called customer service last night and after over 20 minutes stuck on hold, I hung up – had to go get the kid.
Today, I was on hold for 10 minutes, got transferred 4 or 5 times. I lost track off all the people I was talking to and finally got to someone named Monica. I suggest if you ever need help at Snapfish just call her at the Consumer Affairs department - 1-866-829-8484 instead of the main customer service number – that number was a nightmare. Go straight to Monica and avoid all the middle men who seem to be some where in a call center far, far away.
After much discussion about this “Value Pass”, which I never ordered, asking them for proof that I ordered the service, which they did not have, I got my refund.
Am I satisfied with the result? Yes. Would I use them again? I’m not so sure. I didn’t like being signed up by them for something I never would use. I order cards once a year at Christmas and being signed up for a monthly "value pass" for product that I use yearly, not so cool. Do the pictures look cute that I’ve ordered? Darn right they do because my kids are cute. I know, I’m biased about that. So, in December will I use them again despite the customer service nightmare? We’ll see? Check back with me then.
Browsing through The Ankenbrandt Groups' old TAGBits newsletter I found out some fun and interesting stuff about the firm -
- Our logo is over 10 years old and we still think it looks good – thanks Rikki!
- We’ve been preaching tech solutions to recruiting for over 15 years. We still love technology.
- We have shared loads of Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving trivia.
- We are continuing re-inventing ourselves. We have recruited in almost all industries – the only industry I know we have not placed people in is hospitality. Anyone want to change that?
- We have found fantastic quotes over the years which are posted on this blog.
- We have been through recessions, earthquakes, fires, floods, huge periods of growth, a relocation to a new office etc.
- Dave “retiring” and then coming back - it’s hard not to work when you don’t have a hobby.
I’m annoyed, agitated and needing to vent. I’m on the phone recruiting for a Customer Care person (I have a great job open if you know anyone) and sometimes I get a wrong number. When I know it’s a wrong number I do not leave a message – I hang up. Leaving a message wastes time.
It’s amazing to me that I get so many calls back from people demanding to know who called them and why. When I ask if a message was left they say, “No” and I tell them it must have been a wrong number. Seriously - do you really have that much time on your hands to go through your caller ID to phone everyone back????
Please call back the people who leave you a message, but if a message was not left, why are you calling? Ugh!
I feel much better now. Thanks.
At my home we have house rules posted on the wall. These rules are simple but work and I thought they might apply in the work place too. So here is the home version and the work version:
Home:
Play don‘t hurt – not hitting, pinching, body slamming, tripping, etc.
Do as you are told.
No complaining/whining.
No name calling.
No foul language.
Be friendly and thoughtful.
Respect is earned, not given.
Work:
Play well for the team - don’t hurt the team.
Do what your boss asks you to do unless it’s illegal and unethical.
Find solutions to problems don’t complain about them.
No name calling. Has calling your co-worker a nasty name actually furthered your career?
No foul language – we all have better vocabulary than that. Do you really need to let out a f-bomb all the time?
Be friendly and thoughtful – works at the office too. It never hurts to be good to your team.
Respect is earned not given.
While chatting today with a great CFO, Bruce R., he mentioned how companies are holding back during this depression/recession. During his search process he’s been offered several jobs but with no monetary incentive to push the company forward and drive revenue. He’s been seeing employers cautiously, cutting salaries, and thinking short term by undercutting salaries, which does lead to resentment and people leaving for more money when they can.
He had an interesting analogy revolving around NASCAR. During NASCAR racing when there is an accident the official yellow flags the race – the cars are under caution and need to be careful while driving the track. Bruce thinks there are lots of companies running under caution and believes it’s the wrong time to be cautious.
It’s time to crank up the business and take an aggressive posture. Don’t let the recession dictate how you run your company.
Go to green and come home first under the checkered flag!
Today is flying by and I keep on getting all these notices popping up – “post to your blog” and I keep on hitting snooze. Ever have one of those days where you keep on hitting snooze because you’re so swamped? I’ve found that if I just stop for a second, quit hitting snooze and just get whatever I need to get done, and then my day goes a lot better.
So stop hitting snooze and just get it done!
"Be at war with your voices,
At peace with your neighbors,
And let every new year
Find you a better man."
- Benjamin Franklin
"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on it." – Franklin D. Roosevelt
"The secret of success:
1. Get a job.
2. Get a better job.
3. Get an even better job.
4. Repeat as often as necessary."
- Matt Groening
"It is well for people who think to change their minds occasionally in order to keep them clean. For those who do not think, it is best at least to rearrange their prejudices once in awhile."
– Luther Burbank, scientist.
"There are three types of people. People who make things happen. People who watch things happen. And people who don’t know what’s happening." – John Madden
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people do that, but the really great make you feel that you too, can somehow become great." – Mark Twain
"Being tolerant dos not mean that I share another’s belief. But it does mean that I acknowledge another one’s right to believe, and obey his own conscience." – Victor Frankl
"Good leadership must be for the future, not for the past or present." – J. Arthur Urciuoli
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." – Aristotle
** My favorite quote!!!!! **
"May the most you wish for be the least you get." – Unknown
"Minutes are worth more than dollars, spend them wisely." –Thomas P. Murphy
"Whatever you are, be a good one." – Abraham Lincoln
"Character is a by-product; it is produced in the great manufacture of daily duty." – Woodrow Wilson
"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past." – Thomas Jefferson
