| I may not be able to post this article online because | | | | This is just stupid customer service. They're wasting |
| my DSL line is acting batty. It drops connections every | | | | my time, their time, and they're going to push away a |
| few minutes, frustrating the completion of even the | | | | steady, passive income stream. |
| shortest of tasks. | | | | I'm convinced we'd get better service if every CEO |
| I called AT&T to repair it. First, I reached their | | | | were ordered to call his own firm every week to get |
| offshore call center, which shuttled me to three people. | | | | a repair or to inaugurate service. |
| Finally, they concurred I have a hardware problem, that | | | | They'd be so incensed that they'd streamline the |
| my modem needs to be replaced. | | | | process, on the spot. |
| But that's the equipment department they said, and | | | | Robert Townsend did this when he was at the helm |
| they're only open narrow weekday hours. | | | | at Avis. He tried to reach HIMSELF, but he found the |
| Fine, I phoned them on Monday, spoke to two more | | | | fortress was so guarded that even he couldn't get |
| people there, was put on hold for twenty minutes, and | | | | through! |
| then I heard an announcement that said I need to call | | | | His solution was to print up cards with his direct |
| back during non-peak hours. | | | | number, which was not connected to the corporate |
| Then, I was purposely disconnected. I say purposely, | | | | switch. Like a simple residential phone, his stood alone. |
| because the design of the conversation is such that | | | | He told his clients, if I don't answer, I'm not in. If it's busy, |
| they're hanging-up NOW, and they're utterly | | | | I'm on it. If I'm there, you'll reach me. |
| remorseless about it. | | | | He found it worked, beautifully. |
| The modem probably costs all of five bucks, if that, | | | | Letitia Baldridge, the etiquette author, said "Heroes in |
| presuming it's made in China. | | | | business answer their own phones." |
| I can't believe the lengths to which AT&T is going | | | | Today, the heroes are those companies that have |
| in order to lose my business. | | | | ANY HUMAN AT ALL answer its phones. |