Daily Remarks

We went to the McDonald’s in Wilcox Arizona over the weekend and tried to get a drink, just a drink. It took over 15 minutes just to get a drink. There was at least 8 people working and they weren’t that busy. The counter was staffed with one person who was at the cash register. She was taking orders and putting the tickets to the side for the rest of the staff to fill. The rest of the staff was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I can’t believe how long it took. I didn’t even order any food. I know McDonald’s is a franchise and they have specific ways of handling things so that the food gets out quickly, but not this time. So much for fast food. Has this ever happened to you?

A customer walks into the store and they get on the phone while you are trying to help them. The hold up their index finger to indicate that they need a moment and that they are more important than you are. We try to provide good customer service, but when someone does this we walk away and let them come to us when they need further help. I don’t have time to stand around and wait for someone to have a conversation with someone else while I am trying to help them. It is just rude and my attitude towards them changes. If you walk in a store and ask for help and you and I are in the middle of a conversation and you take a call and proceed to have a lengthy conversation with the person on the phone you don’t deserve my help. The right thing to do would be to say to the person on the phone I will get back to you or put the call through to voice mail. Has this ever happened to you?

The technician calls a customer and leaves a detailed message so that they understand what is going on with their equipment. The customer doesn’t listen to the message and calls right back and asks what our diagnosis is. I always listen to the message when someone calls because it gives me time to digest the information. After listening to the message I call back if I have questions or to make a judgment call on which way I would like to proceed on the work to be done. I know everyone is in a hurry in today’s society, but I took the time to leave a message so listen to it please before calling back so that you don’t waste me time. Has this ever happened to you?

I really hate it when customers call and expect that you know who they are. I would say 9 times out of 10 they call and start talking about their service to the tech on the phone and the tech has no idea who they are or what they are talking about. You have to kindly stop the customer and ask who they are so that you can direct them to the correct technician. Not everyone in the office knows who the customer is or what their specific needs are. I would never assume that the person on the other end of the line knows who I am unless it is my wife or my mother. It isn’t proper phone etiquette to not say who you are. Has this ever happened to you or have you ever done this to the person on the other end of the phone?

I called COX cable to come out and setup some network wiring in my house for their internet service. I explained to COX cable that I needed 2 wall jacks in my house at opposite sides of the house. COX cable asked if I had an attic space and I do, so I said yes. They said they could do the job for $69.90.

Scheduled First Time
COX gave me 3 schedule times to setup the wiring and I picked the afternoon between 1:00 and 3:00. You have to give them a window and I can understand that that because their other jobs may run over. Well the time came for them to show up and they didn’t show up or call until 4:00 even though they were scheduled between 1:00 and 3:00. They called at 4:00 and said that they couldn’t do the job in the afternoon because it would be too hot in the attic. I asked why the phone person didn’t say that at the time I scheduled the appointment and she said that sales didn’t know about the heat problems in the middle of the day.

Rescheduled
I tried to reschedule for the following day, but they said they didn’t have availability until after the 4th of July Holiday. So 4 days later was the earliest they could come out. I wasn’t happy about the reschedule, but things happen. COX came out on Wednesday at the scheduled time in the morning so the heat wasn’t too extreme in the attic for them to do the wiring. The technician from COX showed up at the house to do the wiring. I showed the tech around the house so that the tech could see what needed to be done. The tech then told me that he didn’t believe that COX did that kind of work. The tech stepped outside to call COX and spoke with them. The tech came back in the house and told me that COX couldn’t do the work and I would have to contact a wiring company. I was dumbfounded at that moment. I said ok and the tech left.

Recap
So to recap, I scheduled with COX cable twice, they were late on the first scheduled time. I explained the job to them twice on the phone and they understood what needed to be done. They sent a technician out and wouldn’t do the job. So basically they don’t communicate between departments and promise things that they don’t do. Awesome!