MetaFilter posts tagged with customerservice

Get your own chair, granny

granted — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:29:33 -0800

"We don't answer questions." The owner of Jansen Medical Supply is quite possibly the worst customer service representative of all time. Sample review: "THIS MAN MADE ME CRY! I was trying to purchase a lift chair for my grandma..." (most links via Consumerist.)

But I will defend them to the end. I would NEVER do this for any other product. I defend them like I would a crap friend.

mippy — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:09:53 -0800

Ever wondered what makes people complain about the media? An Apple ad was recently banned by the ASA as it was felt that the ad exaggerated the speed of internet services. Could the complainants have been genuinely mislead about the phone's services? In the case of one complainant, a man who had queued on release for the first iPhones to arrive in the UK, it seemed an ideal way to fight back against poor customer service. "We arent a cult, we are just a brand..."

Found You

netbros — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:02:59 -0800

Seemingly, customer service isn't what it used to be, if you can even find them. Well, no more hiding. Enter Hard to Find 800 Numbers, an alphabetic list that eliminates the scramble for contact information. Waiting on hold for customer service or tech support is painful enough.

Espresso on Ice is Not Okay

brownpau — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:47:38 -0800

He wanted his espresso iced, but the coffee shop wouldn't let him. "Hey man. What you're about to do … that’s really, really Not Okay." Also see the tip he left.

gethuman on steroids

jckll — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:07:42 -0800

In the same vein as gethuman [previously.previously.], Bringo! is a ~~nice~~ free little service that helps bypass the (decreasingly) minor annoyance of automated phone answering systems (aka IVRs). Only it does all the work for you. It has been getting some steady press coverage since its creation, and the list of companies it can call for you has grown quite large. While some might be (rightfully) worried about typing their phone number into a webform, the company argues it's more private to use Bringo! than to call customer service centers directly.

Seat 29E

thatweirdguy2 — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 13:50:37 -0800

"Dear Continental Airlines" Disgruntled airline passenger writes to customer service. Complete with hand-drawn diagrams.

Black Humor

NotMyselfRightNow — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 04:22:14 -0800

"Three dollars a minute for technical assistance for my computer? If I'm going to spend that kind of F--KING money, I'd just as soon have phone sex." Lewis Black on customer service.

Talk to me, baby

MrMoonPie — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 14:09:23 -0800

Wanna talk to a person? Gethuman.com lists cheat codes for hundreds of customer service numbers. Sweet.

Nasty, Nasty Clients!

13twelve — Thu, 24 Feb 2005 10:17:06 -0800

The customer is always stinky (some swearing and references to genitalia)

At last!

braun_richard — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 08:47:36 -0800

Frustrated by web sites that don't offer a customer service number? Slate magazine discovers Amazon.com's. (Of course, they'll probably change it after it gets around...)

How long does it take to fix a TV....

davehat — Fri, 23 May 2003 09:36:25 -0800

What is the value of good customer service? An oft asked question indeed, but one that is being answered as wee speak. The abject failure of Dixons, a UK retailer, to repair a TV set may cost them $475,000 of lost sales in less than a week (start from the bottom and work up....). [Via The Register.]

SBC Yahoo DSL Customer Service staffed by bots?

akmonday — Wed, 19 Feb 2003 12:48:32 -0800

SBC Customer Service staffed by bots? The bots themselves don't bother me too much, I think its pretty cool if SBC Yahoo has bots advanced enough that they can use them for online customer service and the bots turn out to be actually helpful (I don't know, since I never have problems with my DSL and have never used them). What is disturbing, though, is the apparent deceit involved by having that the bots insist on being human. Anyone know anything more?

Coop — Tue, 10 Sep 2002 22:02:57 -0800

So much for customer servise A website chronicling one guys journey though tech support hell. I laughed my head off at what the guy had to go through and also that he would go so far to document it like he has. Not a lot of fun (but funny because it wasn't me)

Adman — Wed, 30 Jan 2002 15:32:16 -0800

Nice or not. It looks like Verizon manages to get kudos on their service while getting relatively little exposure while they are trying to lock-in their customers. What do you think? Does it make sense to go to 3G with Verizon or should one go with competitive content providers who are willing to let you keep your phone numbers when we leave them? Which is more important?

sixdifferentways — Wed, 23 Jan 2002 10:53:29 -0800

Stanley Marcus Dies at 96 We've all heard corporate propaganda about "customer service." He really practiced it. Neiman's has really been expanding their online shopping services. Can Web retailers in the 21st century learn anything from such old-skool customer service? (NYT password link obituary is here)

rdr — Wed, 11 Apr 2001 20:36:00 -0800

fast company on customer service The thing I loved about this article was the associated forum filled with customer service horror stories. Air travel, cable tv companies, and customer service seem to be things people love to complain about.

baylink — Wed, 24 Jan 2001 10:08:59 -0800

This is, of course, intended as humor, albeit rather coarse humor, but it's all too depressingly accurate. Why does customer service suck so badly these days? [Spotted at Joel on Software, whom I haven't disagreed with much lately... probably because he hasn't said much lately. :-)]