One of Americans’ favorite pastimes is complaining about poor customer service…today’s blog entry isn’t that.

The Life of a Customer Service Rep

I have recently been on the phone with the customer service department of a company that is renowned for how bad their customer service is (think Department of Motor Vehicles), and I have to admit, a couple of times I got quite frustrated with the process.

Then I read an interview with a customer service rep from that company, and I vowed then and there that I would NEVER take out my frustrations with a customer service representative again…even when the customer service rep seems incompetent.

First of all, one of my many rules with ground crews at airports is that they are the ONLY people who can help me get what I need, and being nice to them gets a LOT more results than yelling at them.  I realized this goes for customer service reps as well.

Second, I realized (especially with this company) that most of the reps I speak with are quite intelligent and really want to be helpful…they often times just have no ability to help me in the way I need it and very little incentive to go out of their way to do so.  Yelling at them only makes them LESS likely to go out of their way.

Third, and finally, if the rep truly is incompetent or just not helpful despite all my charming appreciation for her/his talents, I know I can always call back later and hopefully get someone who is.

If anyone reading this is a customer service rep for a company that gets pummeled for it’s bad reputation for how they treat customers, I would LOVE to interview you and print the results here on this blog for all the world to see what your world is really like.  Let’s hear your side of the story.

Current Knitting

I’m working on one of the last few London Beanies.

At least I think I’m running out of the Noro Hanabatake yarn.  Looks like the final total will be 20 hats (from 15 balls of yarn).  I’ll be quite pleased with that.