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From: lphillips@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca (Larry Phillips)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Flaming without reading
Message-ID: <1278@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca>
Date: 18 Mar 90 13:46:12 GMT
Lines: 73
Return-Path: <lpami!lphillips>
To: van-bc!rnews

In <1990Mar19.040021.6733@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu>, rlcarr@athena.mit.edu (Rich Carreiro) writes:
>In article <2603c9cc:5940.4comp.sys.amiga;1@tronsbox.UUCP> bleys@tronsbox.UUCP (Bill Cavanaugh) writes:
>
>>B) Not pissed the guy off so much that he was rude back (which, BTW, is 
>>   unacceptable behavior for a CS Rep.  I know, I do that kind of work from
>>   time to time).
>
>Note:  I NEVER claimed that the CS rep was rude.  The conversation was very
>polite on both sides.  I was simply infuriated after the fact about this
>guy's cluelessness.  I was also angered that he nixed every reasonable 
>suggestion I had, which were
>a) sending me a GOOD 5.04 patch so that I could use my 5.05 patch
>b) sending me a set of 5.05 masters since I am obviously a registered
>   owner (since they took my name and serial no before talking).

As someone who is a CS rep (not with Lattice), I can tell you that not every
rep will know all things.  New rep?  Stand-in for someone who is off sick?
Someone who is sick themself, has personal problems, in a bad mood?  Whatever,
not all reps are created equal, not all good ones are good all the time.  When
you run into someone who will not give you satisfaction, it is perfectly
acceptable to ask to speak to another rep, to their supervisor, or to call back
in hopes of talking to someone else.

Sometimes when you do this, you will find that what you want cannot be done,
for policy or technical reasons.  Sometimes you will get what you want, and in
the process, if you mention the rep that did not do the right thing, the rep
will get the feedback from the one who did help.

I always try to be reasonable, even in the face of hostility or demanding
behaviour from a customer, though there are times when I think certain
customers should be forced to attend a course and be licensed to call for
service.  I do tend to stick to the letter of company policy when faced with
customers who are unreasonable, rude, or who refuse to take reasonable steps in
the troubleshooting process. I will tend to bend the rules some, or go a little
beyond the call of duty when a customer is pleasant and reasonable, demanding
or not.  I do NOT mind a customer being insistent, or asking to speak to
another rep or my superisor.

>This despite the fact that I have heard from people who have done BOTH
>those options.

Well, that's the bottom line, isn't it? Another call might have saved a few
of your blood vessels, and a lot of net.traffic. I have yet to call Lattice CS,
but I have found the Lattice folks that I have met or have spoken with on line
to be VERY knowledgeable and eager to please.

>I admit it - I lost my cool, but I think there is NO excuse for mis-informed
>CS and TS people.  Skimping there only makes a company seem like it is
>being run by buffoons - the left hand knows not what the right hand is doing.
>And I have run up against this almost every time I've had the misfortune
>to deal with Lattice Tech Support.

 CS reps are required to know a lot about different aspects of a company's
products, not only from a technical standpoint, but from a standpoint of
company policy in general, policy regarding particular products or groups of
products, and so on. The good ones will always try to find a way to keep you
happy, since that is their bread and butter, but it takes time for a rep to
become good.

 Sorry about the long-windedness of this, but if more people would realize that
there is a human being on the other side of the phone line, with basically the
same doubts, fears, ambitions, and feelings as the caller, it would make the
reps job easier, and get you what you want, more often.

-larry

--
Entomology bugs me.
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|   //   Larry Phillips                                                 |
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