A sad tale of customer service

On Sunday I severed my relationship with a local business after over 13 years. I had logged problems with this company's service through their automated phone line for a number of months. Seeing that this wasn't resulting in change, I tried to speak to a customer service representative about a month ago. The uninterested response should have told me all that I needed to know, but I stuck with it a while longer because I actually like this company's product a lot.

Well, the problems continued, and I decided that I had had enough. I called on Saturday, December 1 to cancel my service. On this day I found what seems to be the only employee who had an interest in customer service. He promised to have a manager review the problems that I had reported if I would not cancel my service. I agreed to give them a week to fix the problem, but I let him know that it should not take a call to cancel my service in order to get them to do something about the problems I had reported.

So the week comes and goes, and nothing changes. I called at breakfast Sunday to cut them loose for good. This time I got another uninterested customer service agent who simply did what I asked.

There I sat knowing that for the first time in over 13 years I would not longer be doing business with a company who had a really good product. Who is this company? It is none other than the Dallas Morning News. They have arguably one of the best newspapers in the country, but they were not able to consistently deliver it to me on Saturday and Sunday.

I think that this is a sign of the times with Belo, the parent company of the DMN. It baffles me that a company can have an automated phone unit for reporting problems that never signals for a review when a customer repeatedly reports that their paper has not been delivered. That's just bad business. I think that the problem of uninterested customer service representatives goes well beyond the Dallas Morning News. You could make the case that customer service is a lost art.

There are a few companies that do an outstanding job in this area, and they really stand out. Two examples that come readily to mind are Starbucks and Sport Clips. If you frequent Starbucks, you know what I'm talking about. Sport Clips may not be as well known. It is a sports themed place for guys to get a hair cut. Having used chains like Super Cuts for all of my adult life, I was used to places where the entire staff might turnover between hair cuts. However, I've been going to Sport Clips in Hurst for about a year and half now, and the majority of the staff that is there now was there in June of 2006. They keep a database of notes so that if you get a different stylist the next time, they know at least how you got your hair cut the last time.

So, it is possible to find good customer service. I'm not going to find out if the Fort Worth Star Telegram can do a better job than the Dallas Morning News. The paper was there when I left for work today so they're off to a good start. Saturday and Sunday will tell the tale though.

Until next time...
PH

Vine Review: Fired Up or Burned Out

I finished reading Fired Up or Burned Out over the weekend, and I have to admit that it is a book that I would buy if I hadn't gotten it as a part of Vine. While the ideas are simple, this book gives one of the distinguishing marks of a successful organization. Here's my detailed review. Enjoy!

Until next time...
PH

Song of the Day

You know it happens. You come across a song that, no matter how many times you listen to it, it seems like you need to hear it at least one more time. It's happened since we had our first record/tape/CD/MP3 (did I leave anyone out?). Then you usually hit the wall with the song, and you reach the point that you never want to hear it again. I haven't reached that point with my latest fix yet.

Since I mentioned childhood experience, it is appropriate that my current favorite song comes from an artist who made it big during my youth - Bruce Springsteen. Yes, there's been a lot of water under the bridge since Born in the USA and Dancing in the Dark, and no I haven't exactly been a lifelong fan of his. However his new CD Magic has some appealing songs on it, and chief among them for me is You'll Be Comin' Down. It's not what you would call an uplifting song, but it is very catchy. The thing I take away from this song is that success from a shallow basis won't last forever - "You'll be fine long as your pretty face holds out/Then it's gonna get pretty cold out".

So give it a listen, but know that you might not be able to stop with just one.

Until next time...
PH

Bonus Amazon Review - Sandisk Sansa Clip 2 Gb

For those of you with an MP3 player to be used while working out on your gift list for someone special, you may find my review of the Sandisk Sansa Clip helpful.

Until next time...
PH

November on the Vine

This is a good time to check in on what is going on in Amazon Vine this month. I have selected a couple of different items from the program, and I have already published a review for one of them. First I have been evaluating the Ultreo Ultrasonic Toothbrush. This was an interesting experience for me because I had never used a power toothbrush before. I don't know that I honestly would have ever gotten this on my own given the cost, but it seems to be the going rate for other manufacturers too.

Meanwhile I am in the process of reading Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team's Passion, Creativity, and Productivity. As a manager this was a pretty natural fit because burnout and motivation are real issues that I deal with on a regular basis. Look for the review of this book to be up in about another week or two.

It's almost time for the cafeteria to open so I'm going to take my clean teeth and go get some coffee.

Until next time...
PH

Interesting Song Lyric

While you would never equate them with the works of Shakespeare or your other favorite poet, songs are at their essence poems set to music. While this may be very shaky ground, going out on a limb, (insert your favorite other cliché here), etc., one of the things we can do with poetry is interpret it.

Have you ever had a song that you've listened to for years, yet one day you notice a particular line that has been there all along that just went right by you until just now? I had this happen with a song that I've only been listening to for about 24 years! In the last verse of Cyndi Lauper's hit Time After Time we get the following last line: "The drum beats out of time".

For some reason when I heard this yesterday, I thought to myself, "I wonder what that means?" The obvious choice would be that the drum is not keeping rhythm with everything else. I continued in my inner monologue, "Well that's not very interesting." So I tried to see if I could see anything beyond that. Perhaps it is a reference to the end of time or life. If you prefer something less dramatic, maybe it is the end of a relationship or some other significant event. Considering that the song deals with a relationship, I think this is probably the intent.

Whew! Was that as scary for you as it was for me? Let's turn to Freud for our closing thought: "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Pop music probably isn't intended for analysis anyway.

Until next time...
PH

New Jazz Artist Discovery

A couple of weeks ago Mom sent me a story about jazz singer Sophie Milman. I had not heard of her before so I looked up her web site, and I went over to her MySpace page to sample some of her songs. From there I listened to the 30 seconds clips available on Amazon, and I was impressed with what I heard. I love this kind of music when relaxing. Although a bit different in style, I am a big fan of Diana Krall too. I'm no jazz expert, but in my amateur opinion Krall is a more "traditional" jazz artist. In addition to singing she is also a wonderful pianist. If you aren't familiar with either of these artists, they are worth spending some time with. Enjoy!

Until next time...
PH