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Thread: Roadblocking a new Customer

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    Default Roadblocking a new Customer

    Something happened to me today that I just couldn't believe. I was trying to hire a company to do some collections for me. I did a google search and found a company that had a decent website and seemed to offer what I wanted (they invested in a website with over 50 pages).

    I called the number after 9am so I know they were open. I got a machine that told me if I knew my parties to extension to dial it now or, to hit #9 for an alphabetical directory. Since I didn't know anyone's extension and I didn't know the name of anyone in the company - I waited for a third option. Well, there wasn't one! The message just kept looping with no other choices. I chose to hit #9 and thought I'd just hit the "A" in hopes of at least getting a few choices of people. No such luck (invalid #). Yes, I literally had to know a last name of someone in order to get through to them.

    Well, now I was on a mission just to "beat the roadblock". I called back and kept pounding #'s once I got in the alphabetical directly until I accidentally got a person to answer. She seemed a little put out that I was calling and didn't know who to ask for - but, after a brief explanation of what I was trying to do she transferred me to someone. He rudely answered the phone by barking out his last name only "WILSON". He must have been an owner because that name was used in their company name. I told him what I wanted and he went on to tell me that he couldn't work with me because my overdue accounts were too small (of course, I pointed out that his website said they had no minimum). I politely gave him my opinion of how they have made it impossible for a potential new customer to contact them - he pretended to be appreciative.

    It must be nice to have so many customers that you want to hide from getting any new ones.
    Steve B

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    Must be a refugee from the banking industry who thinks that they are doing you a favor to let you do business with them.
    Steve Chittenden

    Web design, graphic design, professional writing, and marketing.

    "Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." -- Theodore Roosevelt

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    Kind of sounds like little company syndrome, where they are just wanting to feel big. Hiding behind the ridiculous phone system, wanting people to think they are bigger then they actually are.
    Joel Brown
    My Travels

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    It's so sad when companies get in their own way. It doesn't always matter whether the company is big or little, either.

    UPS does something similar. If you call and want to talk to customer service they make you go through this ridiculous menu and enter a tracking number for your package. Once you've done that, the menu plays again. If you try to get to customer service, the recording basically says "o.k, but customer service can't tell you anything more than our recorded message did". What sort of help is that?

    I think companies sometimes try to cut corners too much. Nothing replaces human interaction. If you want to talk to a human you should be able to do so.

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    Those phone systems are the devil. I hate them...and I often work with them integrating them with applications.

    On a related note I also refuse to use the automated check out lanes at Home Depot. I just won't do it. I've resorted to telling the people that it's against my religion and they need to do it for me. Funny how no one ever calls me on THAT one...

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    I'm the exact same way with the automated check out. The few times I tried them, it wouldn't work right. I either set off an alarm when I leave the store (I just keep walking - they'll have to tackle me if they think I've stolen something) or it freezes up because I didn't put something in the bagging area correctly. Now, I wait in the only line that has a real person. If that line ends up being too long I lay the stuff down that I was going to purchase on the nearest shelf and leave the store.

    I keep hoping for our free market system to flush these loser ideas out of existence.
    Steve B

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    To me, the automated checkouts are mixed blessing. I do use them, but I also understand the frustration. They do usually serve to allieviate longer lines at the checkouts with real cashiers, and I suspect they help reduce labor costs. Even though I am used to them, I still find it frustrating on occasion because they do glitch, and sometimes they are downright stupid and slow. I tend to avoid the ones I am not sure about. A local grocery store I frequent has them, and I've become familiar with when to use them and when not to.
    Steve Chittenden

    Web design, graphic design, professional writing, and marketing.

    "Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." -- Theodore Roosevelt

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    Employees get so caught up in doing their jobs and their internal processes, they have no idea what people outside the company have to go through to do business with them. And if their processes put up roadblocks for the customer, well then it's the customer's fault for not altering their behavior to fit the processes.
    Access Communications
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    Winner, MarCom Gold Award 2012

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    its so sad and dumb....
    this kind of stuff sure roadblocks me....im impressed if a real person answers the phone..thats what i call good service...we always answer our phone....
    ..im dealing with a supplier right now where the phone message almost always is, im with another customer leave a message, all day long sometimes.........i figure they are so small they dont man an office or phone...plus its a lie actually......
    and i guess im old fashioned but i dont like to leave phone messages....did they choose not to call me back or did the message get lost...and its convenient for me to talk when i call not necessarily later...
    ups has the most barriers!! i got thru fast one time tho...by sending a complaint to the national office....but i had a pick up service in the mix that they probably didnt want to lose...
    ann
    Last edited by greenoak; 10-12-2008 at 08:43 AM.
    ann at greenoak www.greenoakantiques.com

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    The self serve checkout's are just starting to appear in Australia, and personally to date i have maybe used them 7 or 8 times, only once set off an alarm on the way out, but other then that everytime i have used them i have beat the person out that i would have been standing behind in the line. I find them to be good, on the other hand my parents have used them 3 times and had nothing but trouble with them, so it can be a totally different experience for different people.
    Joel Brown
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