House owner, part 4
I'm sure most of us have had this done to us: we've been given a "window" when some sort of work has to be done on our living space, or we when should expect a package. Whether it's installing the phones, turning on the gas, or a delivery is forthcoming, we have been told to be home at a certain time. So we wait.
And wait.
And wait.
We can't leave, because if we aren't there when the workers/postal carriers show up, we will simply have to do the same thing again, with the added bonus of the unofficial disdain the delivery company/utility/etc. will show us, because we wasted their time.
I think it's absolutely ridiculous--the windows TBO and I have been given for this move have been as long as 5 hours (i.e., we should expect the worker "some time between 12 and 5", or "7 and 12", or some such. In the middle of our move, when I had taken 2 weeks worth of "vacation" time off of work, I was told that the delivery of our refrigerator and stove would take place between 12 and 5. So I made sure I was available at the stroke of noon; I ceased doing any work (of which there was plenty, lemme tellya!) for fear of not hearing the arrival of the delivery people.
1 o'clock came.
And went.
2 o'clock came.
And went.
3 o'clock came.
And went.
4 o'clock came.
And went.
At 4:45, I called the store (because if I had waited any longer, they would have been closed, of course), fairly seething with anger at this total waste of my day. I was told that I was next on the list and should see the delivery soon. I vented at the clerk, angrily telling him what bad customer service they had given me by wasting my day like this. He seemed unsure what to do, then meekly said, "I'm sorry?" It was obvious to me that this was one poorly trained employee, since he had no idea that an apology should have been the first thing out of his mouth, not the last, and the manner in which it was offered was feeble-minded and insulting. I hung up, verbally shaking my head in disgust.
5 o'clock came.
And went.
At 6, the men finally arrived. Now, I don't know about you all, but by my calculations, 6 o'clock is not "between 12 and 5", is it? In retrospect it dawned on me: the clerk at the store had the list of deliveries, and also knew the order which the drivers were using for their route. So why couldn't they make a better estimate of my delivery time? I was last on the list, for chrissakes, so they darn sure knew I wasn't going to be seeing anybody anywhere near 12, or 1, or 2, or even 3 o'clock! In fact, I would go so far as to say they knew I wouldn't even be seeing anybody at 4 o'clock, either.
I assume most of these companies/utilities have a fair bit of knowledge on how long things take if they've lasted in business/operation for over a year or so, and we're supposed to believe that they can't approximate their workflow any better than this? I call BS on that, or they are paying a serious boatload of overtime to their delivery people, and I have a hard time believing that OT isn't the first thing to go when the economy's in the tank as it is now.
Sheesh.
And wait.
And wait.
We can't leave, because if we aren't there when the workers/postal carriers show up, we will simply have to do the same thing again, with the added bonus of the unofficial disdain the delivery company/utility/etc. will show us, because we wasted their time.
I think it's absolutely ridiculous--the windows TBO and I have been given for this move have been as long as 5 hours (i.e., we should expect the worker "some time between 12 and 5", or "7 and 12", or some such. In the middle of our move, when I had taken 2 weeks worth of "vacation" time off of work, I was told that the delivery of our refrigerator and stove would take place between 12 and 5. So I made sure I was available at the stroke of noon; I ceased doing any work (of which there was plenty, lemme tellya!) for fear of not hearing the arrival of the delivery people.
1 o'clock came.
And went.
2 o'clock came.
And went.
3 o'clock came.
And went.
4 o'clock came.
And went.
At 4:45, I called the store (because if I had waited any longer, they would have been closed, of course), fairly seething with anger at this total waste of my day. I was told that I was next on the list and should see the delivery soon. I vented at the clerk, angrily telling him what bad customer service they had given me by wasting my day like this. He seemed unsure what to do, then meekly said, "I'm sorry?" It was obvious to me that this was one poorly trained employee, since he had no idea that an apology should have been the first thing out of his mouth, not the last, and the manner in which it was offered was feeble-minded and insulting. I hung up, verbally shaking my head in disgust.
5 o'clock came.
And went.
At 6, the men finally arrived. Now, I don't know about you all, but by my calculations, 6 o'clock is not "between 12 and 5", is it? In retrospect it dawned on me: the clerk at the store had the list of deliveries, and also knew the order which the drivers were using for their route. So why couldn't they make a better estimate of my delivery time? I was last on the list, for chrissakes, so they darn sure knew I wasn't going to be seeing anybody anywhere near 12, or 1, or 2, or even 3 o'clock! In fact, I would go so far as to say they knew I wouldn't even be seeing anybody at 4 o'clock, either.
I assume most of these companies/utilities have a fair bit of knowledge on how long things take if they've lasted in business/operation for over a year or so, and we're supposed to believe that they can't approximate their workflow any better than this? I call BS on that, or they are paying a serious boatload of overtime to their delivery people, and I have a hard time believing that OT isn't the first thing to go when the economy's in the tank as it is now.
Sheesh.
posted by bryduck at 7:33 AM
4 Comments:
Second worst customer service provider I've ever encountered: Time Warner Cable. If my landlord would allow me to have a dish, I'd have fired their ass ages ago.
Worst: Chase Bank (don't even get me started. . .)
Funny you should mention Time-Warner . . .
have you called the store and demanded a refund for the late delivery?
I was lucky to get the half-a$$ed apology I got; trying to get anything else from them would prove fruitless, no doubt.
Post a Comment
<< Home