Death of a Customer
In 1949, a classic American drama, Death of A Salesman, was introduced to the public. Written by Arthur Miller (hey, what can you say about a man who not only wrote brilliantly but who also married Marilyn Monroe?), the play became a huge success. I read it as part of an English Literature class in the early 1960s, and it is still used in such classes today.
The story was about a dreamer of a salesman, Willy Loman, whose dream of the great American success story is dying in his heart along with his confidence in himself.
It is happening to me. My dream, however, has always been about the power and success of the great American customer. Finally, that dream has died in my heart along with any faith on my ability to do anything whatsoever about it. It died after several days trying to solve a program with EMBARQ, a telephone company supposedly serving customers in Tennessee.
The problem itself is not the big story. The story is that we have called, and been put on hold until we are frustrated almost to the point of tears, but the problem is still not solved. AARRGGHH!
Can you believe there was a time when your telephone company would come to your business—free of charge—and teach you how to deal with your customers on the telephone? There was. I remember it, and a good job they did, too. Now telephone companies are themselves horrible at dealing with customers by telephone.The frustrating thing is that this type of so-called service is now normal. Have you tried to call an airline, insurance company, or bank lately? Or, heaven help you, any branch of the guvmint? Pitiful.
I don’t know the answer. Surely wish I did.
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Gary–
Good idea and I agree wholeheartedly.
My problems with Embarq have, BTW, been solved. Believe it or not, somebody sent them a copy of this BLOG and management jumped on it immediately.
Everything now works just fine.
Thanks for writing,
Ralph Hood
The best solution I have found is to buy from those companies that do the best job of providing service after the sale…and then tell every one you can about the positive experience you had with that company. So here goes: My wife bought a DYSON vacuum cleaner just over two years ago. A small tab that holds a replaceable filter in place broke recently. I called the DYSON customer service line to find out what I would need to do in order to get a replacement part. My call was answered in about two rings by their customer service representative who communicated clearly, and quickly got my name, address, vacuum model #, etc. She then asked me to describe the problem. It was immediately clear that she knew the product thorougly and knew exactly which piece I needed. She asked when I bought the machine, offered to extend the warranty period (at no charge), since I did not have the receipt and the machine was out of warranty, and said she would ship the part that day. The part arrived via Priority Mail three days later. One sure thing came out of this experience…DYSON has a customer for life. Because this kind of customer treatment is so hard to find, I will also do everything I can to make sure others know about it. Unfortunately we do not have the option to call another utility company if ours provides poor service, but ultimately market forces will prevail for many products and services, but only when consumers have had enough of poor service, and protest by buying from companies that provide excellent service.
Sir Ralfus - re>>I don’t know the answer. Surely wish I did
Ms. Duffy–
One airline pilot suggested the following
Crashpads.com
and/or
flightinfo.com message boards, towards bottom, crashpads.
Give those two a try.
BTW, do you by any chance live in Huntsville, AL?
Good luck to your son.
Thanks for writing,
Ralph Hood
Sheryl–
Thanks for writing. The best source will be other Express Jet pilots. In the meantime, I will go to the airline section of AVSIG and ask them.
Ralph Hood
My son is a new pilot for Express Jet and is being sent to LAX. How do I find out about a crash pad at LAX? He has no idea where to begin. Can someone give us some help on where to turn. I guess he will have 4 days to get out there- and we know no one.
Silly me…I thought this was Ralph’s Blog…not russ’s. When the comment is longer than than the article, just maybe,the reader might have too much time on their hands. R,please forgive me for being blunt…I am in rehab for speaking the truth.
Clyde
hi ralph
thats gr8..ya c what dreams can do for u. Im off to sicily in italy on monday, there is a heatwave in southern europe at the moment 90 degrees plus, 3 days in palermo and then off to milan on business for 5 days.
glad things turned out well for you ralph
pps great start to your blog re reference to arthur millar playwright and author death of a salesman (loved the play) and hubby of marilyn
ps Ralph if you go to italy or i can help with info in any way for an upcoming trip please let me know
russ meyers
Russ–
Well, I do feel better now. Thanks.
By the way, I wrote the BLOG yesterday and EMBARQ finally came through today and fixed the problem!
We are in Tennesee, on the edge of the Smoky Mountains, and it is indeed hot, but not really too hot, and certainly not a heat wave.
Thanks again,
hi again Ralph,
YES!! my name really is russ meyers and no its not a visitation from the vixen man himself (well at least i dont think so) but i do love the movies…but i digress :-))
Ralph the very reverse is true i implore you to continue with your quest and ‘embark’ onward and forward with your dream of preserving the american dream. We all dislike faceless companies that are way out of step with the values driven companies that strive and contine to thrive by upholding the three P’s (people, planet and profit) and the customer is central to the deal. its ironic that the global thing should get in the way of what im trying to say, Ralph, but again Imagination is more important than knowledge. and as big as your imagination and action, like your blog the bigger the opportunity that companies like EMBARQ will see the pit they are digging for themselves.
Ralph i’ve recently completed a book called the ‘death of a dreamer’ subtext death of a renegade dreamer who at age 13 and 14 lives the life of camelot, a halcyon life where as a footballer all he touches turns to gold, he dreams the dream of dreamers everywhere of fame, fortune, giving great pleasure to the world and immortality, but just as suddenly at 14 or 15 better, stronger faster players enter the world he inhabits and he hasnt the answer, hasnt the hungry to win attitude to kick on and he descends into the depths of despair and darkness, railing against everyone and crying for help, in desperation he finds himself at age 17 facing life in an asylum and all that you can imagine but somehow someway his dream never ever left him, just buried out of sight for a while, in the end the dreamer comes back much later in life, pained, burned and almost mortally wounded and finds that his boyhood dream never ever left him as he goes on to find his dream in the most incredible adventures helping other dreamers of the world recover their most precious gift..their own uique dreams
Ralph more power to you and everyone join up with Ralph and connect to his ideal, which is a good and great dream which must live and thrive
GO RALPH GO
My honest and best wishes to you Ralph
Ps the weather in England is at its worst for hundreds of years, rain and more rain..but as they say its an ill wind that doesnt serve someone…hows the weather where you are Ralph have you got a heat wave?
Russ–
Hmmm…
I think I have just been chastised, but am not certain. Could you clarify? Your e-mail indicates your name is Russ Meyers. Surely you’re neither Russ Meyer (no “s”) of Cessna fame, nor Russ Meyers of sexy movie fame (he is dead).
I’d love to hear back from you.
Ralph Hood
hi ralph
gr8 that your going worldly in your quest for the fulfillment of your dream, ie it aint dying …your answer is coming from a different direction. Im from England Ralph, and im getting to know about your dream and doubtless thousands more around the globe, and we wont stand for dream stealers like Embarq denegrating it.
Ralph the answer is within the dream, in its original form…remember what Einstein said …where there is difficulty, that is where the opportunity is…
for Embarq, their challenges are just beginning as you globalise the problem with EMBARQ ET AL. 3000 MILES seperate us yet we are getting to know about the potential death of the american customer, OH! EMBARQ how could you??? is this how you want to be known around the world, what a bottom line challenge you face…go on restore Ralphs lofty and gr8 hopes in the american dream, the planet is watching your response…good luck ralph
russ
Clyde–
You got that right. The last time I tried calling them I wanted to check on rates for an oddly sized envelope. I got through (finally)to a real, live, human being. He didn’t know the answer, didn’t know how to calculate it, didn’t go ask someone else, and, in general, just flat didn’t care.
Thanks for writing,
Ralph Hood
EMBARQ needs competition.My favorite is to try to call your local post office. Good Luck!
Clyde