Friday, August 11, 2006

We Can Rebuild Him

Just because we have the knowledge and the technology, it doesn't necessarily mean that using it is a good thing.
Dear Monstrously Large Local Telephone Company,

I sent an email on 8/9 concerning my ability to log in to my
account in order to pay my bill, and have not yet received an
answer other than a computer generated message stating that my
message had been received. Considering that your company is in
the *communication business*, I have never dealt with another
company that is so hard to *communicate* with!

There are easily 30+ customer support numbers, not to mention
using email, for Monstrously Large Telephone Company, and I
have never been able to get through to the correct department
when I have a question after sitting through the automated
menu. I often put off calling, because I know it will be 30
or more minutes of my time wasted trying to get a simple
question answered.

I understand the need to keep costs down by not having a large
payroll, but certainly a little too much technology can be a
bad thing. Just because you have the ability to use and
upgrade the technology(automated phone menu, online site),
doesn't mean you have to. A little personal contact with your
customers, and making it *easy* for them to *communicate* with
you goes a long way toward keeping your customers happy.

So, my payment is late, because I opted for the paperless bill
and online payments, and I am unable to log on to make a payment.
Sure, I could do it the old fashioned way, but that would
involve looking up the number, calling, getting the automated
menu, wading through the menu just to find out how much I
owe(we have two phone lines, so I assume it would take that
much longer), writing out the check, finding an envelope
(I no longer get the pre-printed envelope since I'm paperless),
addressing the envelope, finding a stamp(if I have one here,
otherwise you'll have to wait until my next trip out to buy stamps),
and finally putting it in the mail. Then you have to wait
several days for it to be delivered, when all of this could
have been eliminated had someone(a real live person)
responded to the email I sent two days ago! Have I wasted
enough of your time, yet? Good, now we're even!


Cordially,
Karen

P.S. While typing this I've been on hold for 10 minutes
waiting to get transferredto the *correct* department. Check
your phone logs if you don't believe me, I know you have
the technology.


1 comment:

Tallguy said...

(I can't find anywhere to email you! How odd! You can delete this when you are done with it.)

There are several places that you can go to learn to spindle. I learned by doing, with some instruction from a few people. To find a local person, search here for a guild near you:
http://www.interweave.com/spin/resources/spinning_guilds.asp
Contact them and attend meetings. They will gladly show you everything you need to know.

Attend local fairs and agricultural shows. There is always someone there that will be spinning sheep wool, or alpaca, or llama, or anything else they have. Ask questions!

There are a couple of good sites where you can learn much. I really like this one, and they also have some videos that show you exactly what to do:
http://www.icanspin.com/toc.htm

This is a very good description, in text and drawings, of how to spindle:
http://www.handspinning.com/lollipops/spininst.htm

I have a small tutorial on my blog (http://dis-n-dat.blogspot.com/ -- see Feb 11, and March 11, 2006), using my favourite CD spindle. And the best is just to do it! It is not hard; honest, it isn’t!