From: jmilhoan@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (JT)
Subject: Re: ICOM W2A & IC-2SRA Packet Connection Answer
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 22:55:10 GMT

In article <1992Dec13.142614.7952@ke4zv.uucp> gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman) writes:
>In article <1992Dec12.210025.16696@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> jmilhoan@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (JT) writes:
>
>Never call a dealer near closing time. They want to go home too, and will
>brush you off as quickly as possible, unless you get the owner.

C'mon... they are only open for 3 or 4 hours on Saturday.  Asking some guy to scribble a note down saying "Hold for JT" isn't too much to ask, even if they guy gets off work in ten minutes.  Hell, the thing was two feet in front of him in the glass case.


>Trusting soul aren't you. :-)
>I'd mark this dealer off my good list, if they failed to keep their word
>on a regular basis.

Only one within an hours drive of my house... I only speak to a couple different people that work there... there are a few that are wizzes, but that guy had no clue.


>Number one rule of dealing with tech support, never call around lunch time.
>Either you won't get an answer, or you'll get a quick, and perhaps wrong,
>answer from the person with the growling stomach. A real live person
>answering the phone would know that it was lunchtine and tell you to
>call back. They should have a message on their automated system too,
>but you know how that is, the "computer" can't do that. Of course it
>can, but it requires someone smarter than it is to program it to do so,
>and the MIS backlog on feature requests is currently 2.5 years. :-(

>>and yes, the other department was "out to lunch" again!
>
>Slow learner eh?

The first time I called they were out to lunch, and I was so pissed I made sure I didn't call them back during their lunch time (I called around 12:30 my time in Ohio, and they are in Washington I think) the next time... but they still weren't in.


>I've completely stopped doing business with some firms because of this. If they 
>don't need my business enough to answer their phones with real people, or 
>at least have ring through lines to key departments, then I don't need to 
>do business with them. There's nothing more annoying than sitting on a long 
>distance call, being forced to listen to an elevator music station in some 
>distant city for tens of minutes, only to discover your call needs to be 
>transfered to a different desk and sitting through the process again. That's 
>what live operators are for, to figure out who a customer really needs to 
>talk to and either connecting them or taking their number and arranging for
>them to be called back at an agreed time.

I agree completely!


>We installed one of these systems at my company, but have now gone back
>to live operators. As our sales manager put it, "The person whose time
>and good will are most important to the business is the customer. Put
>the CEO on hold if you must, but service that customer's call immediately."
>Now that's the kind of attitude that generates repeat business.

I can't remember which company I was dealing with, but I remember getting a bogus item once and instantly thought of the headaches.  The company was very NICE and helpful, and saw to it I had it taken care of.

That kind of policy makes me think more of a company than if I had just brought it home and it worked fine (providing the replacement wasn't defective too ;)

73,
JT

(btw, followups to email... I think we've gotten a little off the packet topic ;)