Unrealistic expectations

[spazmunke]

So, as I've said I work tech support for a cable company.

Now, I think our company cares about our customers. People call us, something is wrong with their services, it sucks but it happens, we can't fix it so we are happy to send a service tech. This sucks for anyone of course, but we try to make it as painless as possible.

Now, I'm not sure about other companies, but with us, worst case scenario generally is we schedule a service call for next business day, though as 8am-7pm time frame (but hey, it is next day), and most cases we can do a 4 hour window next day. But to our customers, a 4 hour window for a service call is completely unacceptable and horrible service. I don't get that, most companies/industries are 10-12 hour windows usually several days later, so how is a 8-12 next day bad? What do these people expect?

Then the part that makes me really laugh is when they threaten to cancel because of the service call time frame. How does that make sense, you will cancel with us, so quickest option is return our equipment to the office so you don't have to wait to have a tech pick it up, then call another company, again taking time, and wait, usually at least a few days, for them to come out (probably for a longer time ever frame than the 4 hour window we gave you) to install new service. SC logic is beyond me.

[Pixelated]

*snip*

What do these people expect?

Then the part that makes me really laugh is when they threaten to cancel because of the service call time frame. How does that make sense, you will cancel with us, so quickest option is return our equipment to the office so you don't have to wait to have a tech pick it up, then call another company, again taking time, and wait, usually at least a few days, for them to come out (probably for a longer time ever frame than the 4 hour window we gave you) to install new service. SC logic is beyond me.

The answer to that is simple: they expect you to have innumerable technicians waiting, one foot on the gas pedal, just waiting for a call so they can zoom out immediately and arrive within 15 minutes (regardless of the actual distance involved) and fix the problem within 5 minutes.

As for the threat of cancellation, when it gets to that point, they aren't thinking at all anymore. They just assume that your company is so desperate to keep every customer (regardless of what a jerk the customer may be) that you will immediately fold up and grant whatever they want when they threaten to cancel.

I can't help but wish that somewhere out there is a company who, when it receives a threat like that, allows its rep to say cheerfully, "Okay, sir or madam, your wish is our command. We have cancelled your service as of now. Someone will come out within the next 24 hours to pick up our equipment. Thank you for the time you spent with us. Goodbye."

*click*

Thus leaving the now ex-customer babbling in incoherent rage that not only did the company not fold up like a house of cards, it actually pre-empted them and now they have NO service whatsoever ... and will certainly have to wait longer for the next company to come hook them up than they would have for your company to come fix the problem.

[the lawsmeister]

I feel your pain.
I worked, years ago now, in the call centre at a carpet cleaning company.
We'd call customers the day before the cleaners came and give them a 2 hour window and for some people that still wasn't good enough.

I had SC's tell me that that the cleaners should be able to:
Know exactly long it would take to clean a carpet in a house they'd never seen before.
Know in advance how long it would take to get from their previous job to the SC's house regardless of traffic (this is well before google maps)
Not accept any add ons to a job (extra rooms, cleaning sofas, stain proofing) as that would delay their arrival at the SC's job
Accept any add ons the SC had to their booking because they may want to get extra stuff cleaned and any bookings after theirs would just have to wait.

Often the same SC would come out with all of the above in one call

[drjonah]

I can't help but wish that somewhere out there is a company who, when it receives a threat like that, allows its rep to say cheerfully, "Okay, sir or madam, your wish is our command. We have cancelled your service as of now. Someone will come out within the next 24 hours to pick up our equipment. Thank you for the time you spent with us. Goodbye."

*click*

That actually happened to me with a credit card company a long time ago when just saying you wanted to close your account would make them roll over and give you a super good APR. Guess not the company I called. I said I wanted to close my account and they said 'ok, your account is closed but you still have to pay the balance, goodbye'

[An Haddock]

I had SC's tell me that that the cleaners should be able to:
Know exactly long it would take to clean a carpet in a house they'd never seen before.

I get those.

"My computer doesn't work. Exactly how much would it cost to fix it?"
"Impossible to say until we see it."
"Well it doesn't turn on."
"It's not getting power?"
"No, it just doesn't finish loading Windows."
"We STILL need to see it."
*beats self in head with a stick*


And you know if you gave a range (well it could be as simple as loose memory which would be $xx or it could require a new hard drive and loading Windows at $xxx) you KNOW they only heard the low-end number. "But you said it would be $xx! You said! You saaaaaaaaaaaid!" - which is why I rarely, if ever, give prices over the phone for repairs.

[Pixelated]

Even I, a relative late-comer to the wonderful world of electronics, know that nobody can tell me what a computer repair will cost until they figure out what's wrong.

Though I'm not sure why others can't figure it out ... their mechanic can't fix their car until somebody's had a look at it, the repair shop can't fix their television/washer/refrigerator/stove until somebody has had a look at it ... why do they assume that techies have some kind of Spockian mind-meld with computers?

Admittedly, the one exception to my first sentence was when I walked into the local Mac repair shop and said "I've got a Mac Mini and I recently loaded the Sierra OS onto it ..." and the expression on the face of the woman behind the counter told me everything. She also told me exactly what it would cost to fix it ... and that it would wipe my hard drive.

[Sparklyturtle]

Along the same lines, there was a pastor at a small church I went to in California that, for a while there, seemed to have trouble holding onto ministers. One kept pitching fits and threatening to resign, and he did it one too many times because the executive committee, of which I was a part, finally voted him out. As the wise little old lady who was also on the committee said, "He keeps threatening to quit, so obviously he doesn't want to be here that badly." He was stunned - apparently he never believed we'd actually vote him out. However, he wasn't that great of a pastor, and he kept having temper tantrums, to the point where we all got tired of it. Did the church fold up and die without him? No.

[Captain Neon]

For my entire adult life, it has seemed absurd to me that service providers (cable, utilities, doctors, lawyers, auto mechanics, plumbers, HVAC, banks, retailers, etc.) keep hours when their customers are at work or school. While there are people (night shift, pensioners, etc.) that can do their business during regular business hours, the bulk of the appointments for these services should be scheduled from Noon to 9 PM. It is absurd to me that businesses think it OK that their customers burn a vacation day to do business with them. It is even more absurd that the average customer stands for it. As much as possible, I schedule my appointments around my work schedule and not my work schedule around appointments. Supply and demand. They will continue to schedule appointments from 10 AM to 2 PM T, W, R as long as we continue to stand for it.

[wolfie]

My mechanic's hours are 1 PM to 9 PM.

[Captain Neon]

^^^^
A mechanic that I would do business with at least once!

I have spent more time than I care to admit listening to people in small towns cry about all of the stores they used to have and now no longer have. It is pretty simple to me. They still continued to keep shop hours of 9 to 5 with lunch from 11 to 1 M-F, and their potential customers chose to drive 15 minutes after work to the next town and do their shopping at this new place called "Mall-Wart" that was open on the weekends and open until 10 PM. They would have bought what they wanted from the guy in town, but he was closed. Rather than adjusting their hours to be competitive, they chose to go out of business instead.

Reminds me of the episode of "Restaurant Impossible" of the restauranteur that refused to have her store open on Sunday because she preferred to spend time with her family on Sunday. Obviously in the wrong business, and it was no surprise that her business was failing.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Reminds me of the episode of "Restaurant Impossible" of the restauranteur that refused to have her store open on Sunday because she preferred to spend time with her family on Sunday. Obviously in the wrong business, and it was no surprise that her business was failing.

I mean, it's not necessarily a business-killing decision. Chik-Fil-A is closed on Sundays as well, and it still does very good business. It's been closed on Sundays ever since they opened, IIRC. Before they became a nation-wide chain, even.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

For my entire adult life, it has seemed absurd to me that service providers (cable, utilities, doctors, lawyers, auto mechanics, plumbers, HVAC, banks, retailers, etc.) keep hours when their customers are at work or school. While there are people (night shift, pensioners, etc.) that can do their business during regular business hours, the bulk of the appointments for these services should be scheduled from Noon to 9 PM.

I think it would be difficult to find skilled people in those fields who are willing to work second shift hours. Especially if they are married or have children.

[notalwaysright]

Occasionally at the roofing company we got people upset that the roofers needed to come to their house during the day. They had day jobs and wanted the roofer to come when they were home, usually after 5 pm. Anyone see a problem with that? The major one being that it's often dark at that point. Even if it was light still, we can't start roofing your house with only a few hours of light to work with. The thing is, the homeowner did not need to be present for the roofers to work. They just didn't trust us? But they trusted us to protect their house from rain/snow/wind?

It doesn't bother me that cable/utility companies come during the day, since they also might have to work outside, and it's harder during the night. Retailers are open late in my town. Most places are open until at least 8-9 pm, some until 10. The main one that confuses me is banks. Sometimes you have an issue you need to address in person, and other than Friday, they close at 5.

[Android Kaeli]

Whenever I have someone come to the house to do work, be it a tech or someone else, I stress very much that I HAVE to have them there no later then 9 am. Otherwise it might be a number of weeks before I can have anyone else come over, as I not only am the only person living in my house but I also have to be to work at 1 pm most of the time on weekdays. Any later then 9 am, and I can't guarantee that I'll be able to accommodate someone.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Whenever I have someone come to the house to do work, be it a tech or someone else, I stress very much that I HAVE to have them there no later then 9 am. Otherwise it might be a number of weeks before I can have anyone else come over, as I not only am the only person living in my house but I also have to be to work at 1 pm most of the time on weekdays. Any later then 9 am, and I can't guarantee that I'll be able to accommodate someone.

I guess I'm lucky in that I have someone always here just in case we need to have a tech come by to check things out.

As Looney Toons Cable will tell you when you schedule for a tech visit, someone over the age of 18 has to be present.

No problem there . . . my brother and my mom both are home (they are disabled and definitely well over the age of 18) and can sign any paperwork that the tech needs.

Also with them, they give us a 1 hour window and will text your phone to tell you the tech is on their way and send a picture of the tech.

Thankfully they haven't changed things that much since they merged recently with Charter. Only thing I wish they'd get right is the internet service . . . been acting up lately and we had a tech out last week.

Their online chat is fine but try typing on a smartphone w/glass screen protector over it . . . UGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH And I was having to use the phone because I couldn't get the internet to stay steady on so I could use the laptop.

Remind me never to buy another glass screen protector.

But anyways, I'm trying to reboot the modem now using the phone app. I've been told that rebooting can help remedy the issue . . . but if the issue continues then I may not have much choice but to contact them again.

But yes, if it's a 4 hour window, then for most working people that means trying to get it set around THEIR schedule, not the other way around. I can recall having to wait around all day for a tech before and it was a PITA (such as Death Star phone, for an example. At least they offer weekend service but still a chore to deal with.)