Every major company has some type of voice receiving dialer, or answering system. Verizon has one of the weirdest ones I’ve ever heard. If you call any of their toll free numbers you will be answered by a computer voice that sounds in every way shape and form like a normal human being. Her voice, her accent, even they way in which she paces her words are natural and all-too-real.

But she doesn’t change anything. You still have to navigate through often 6 menus before being placed on hold for an operator. This operator will often not be native to your local area and not sometimes country.

Customer service in America is starting to suck big time. The intangible experiences of having a real live human being on the phone who attempted to resolve your problems with a little elbow grease no longer exists. Call tracking systems like “Witness” allow employee phone time and conversations to be monitored and recorded to ensure that they are spending as little time with you as possible. The Ruse in all of this is that “they should be resolving your issue as quickly as possible”.

But it’s not just the middle market and investment firms doing this—the retail sector is also doing it. You can’t get an warrantee issue resolves at a Sprint Kiosk anymore. Instead you’re given a business card, and asked to log on online, or call the 800 number, in which case, you’ll be answered by a voice recognition system and put through (yes, you guessed it) a serious of menu options before being placed on hold to talk to a rep, who of course is being monitored for the time they spend with you.

And as consumers, shame on us for allowing this to happened. The typical answer to this is that the American consumer is driving this need by asking for cheaper, better products.

But in reality I feel the major culprit is high end investors (the upper class) who need stock values to go up which are causing companies to so aggressively increase their profit margins. And it’s these very same upper class people who need such mundane services the least (being that their brokers and secretaries and whatnot can just go through he motions for them.)

America, where’s your priorities?

what are you, ralph nader all of a sudden?

Remind me to tell you why I refuse to use the self checkout lane in walmart sometime.....

jerseykrs2 said:

i'm all for the self-checkout lane at my supermarket.

fuck the corporate world...

Imago777 said:

Okay, I actually had a reverse situation just recently. I was trying to ship a package overseas by UPS (my first mistake) and I did it from Staples (my second mistake); the person at the counter (who looked like she could have been asking LleeLlee to buy her cigarettes) didn't give me the correct forms, though I asked twice if I had everything I needed.

The result was that I spent 80 dollars to get a package to the UK by Thursday, but by Friday it was sitting in a Staples in NY waiting for me to fax them some document.

So I get on the phone with the UPS guy to find out which document, since the phone message they left me sounded like it came from the Hubble telescope, and he "walks me through it" which apparebntly is UPS-speak for "I'm going to waste your time, bitch."

But the guy is actually helpful. He finds my package immediately. He knows all the proper customs details etc...and he finds out exactly what form I need and tells me I can download it from their site. The trouble is, when go to the place where he tells me, it's not there. So I call him and he is still very nice and helpful and gets on the site while I am on the phone to further "walk me through it." But then even HE can't find the form on their dumbass website. And when I do find it (eventually!) it's so stupidly written that, even though he "walks me through" filling out the form...I find out the NEXT day that it's still wrong.

At which point I blow up on the phone and my package arrives in the UK the next day.



So, it's not always the human problem, it's that humans are plugged into webs of incomptenecy.

2the9s said:

I feel the same way about your posts.

every time i call a utility for any kind of service, i have to throw a fit to get them to do anything in any decent frame of time, usually by appealing to the humanity of the person to whom i'm talking and then staking out some kind of "special deal" or some shit. and then, a day or two after i get the thing fixed, some dim bulb calls me on the phone and says "we recieved a report that you're having trouble with your service..."

America

Fauxie said:

ok, we're sorry about the whole boston tea party thing. It wasn't even GREEN TEA.

Fauxie said:

Anxiety said:

okay, let me be the first to say the kid with the blue ball and wet shorts is about the funniest thing I've seen tonight.

Imago777 said:

That's it! I'm UPSing you my FIST!!

jerseykrs2 said:

what's up with the token white guy?

Reverse affirmative action is sooooo Republican Party.

2the9s said:

Make sure it's the left one. Just a little tip there.

Fauxie said:

I'm scared either way. Any one of his fist without the accompanyment of his limp wrists will pack a hell of a punch..compared to the flaling slap it otherwise would've delivered.

Anxiety said:

lmao check out bruce lee ("s")

that's a funny picture

SammiJ said:

why's it gotta be a bunch of Bruces?

I mean, if it were a bunch of blank men, I wouldn't say, "hey , hey, check out all the Wesley Snipes!"

No Ma'm, I'd be sayin "Checkout all the Denzel Washingtons!!" (becuase that bitch is fucking HAWT!!!!)


woudn't edit
[Edited 9/21/05 21:24pm]
Denzel makes my panties wet edit
[Edited 9/21/05 21:31pm]

Imago777 said:

i'm only pointing out the one, cuz he looked like him....like really
and yesh...denzeL is hawt..
dunno who denzen is tho

Anxiety said:

how the hell did I miss this the first time around.

you are such a mega bitch.