The way it should be done

[susandennis]

About the middle of last week the Front Door TV Network started getting a fuzzy picture.  This has happened before and it always gets itself fixed but this time, no.  I figured that someone started up their Comcast service and the guy nudged something that didn't need nudging. 

So I called Comcast.  I got the usual telephone tree but shorter.  No punching in of any identifying information.   And then bam!  A real person. Gwen.  She asked me what the problem was (without making me answer 743 identifying questions first.  I explained and she allowed as how the only fix she had was to send a guy.  And then she said 'is this Susan?'. 

To recap.  I dialed.  I selected English.  I selected broken service.  I selected TV.  I told her what the problem was.  That was it.

She had all of the information she needed at her fingertips (from callerid, I suspect) and used it efficiently and pleasantly.  She was very apologetic that it was going to be Monday afternoon before she could get her guy here.  I assured her that I could live with that easily.

It was the perfect service call.  The rest of the world needs to take copious notes.  (Now, if it gets fixed with no hassle, I'll be severely shocked.)

Comments

[kyrielle]

Okay, that rocks! I do wish other companies would take notes! (UPS: I am looking at you. Their in-coming phone tree only offers you four possible tasks, no 'other', and scolds you if you try to get to an operator without selecting one - although if you press 0 a couple times they will eventually connect you.)

[davmoo.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's the way they should all be. If they keep telling me to press buttons on the phone, or ask me everything but the name of my mother's mother's first dog, I get pissed. But I will admit I have one slight peeve that you sort of hit on here. If I called up like that and the person said "Is this Mr. Moore?", that impresses me. But if they say "Is this David?" and call me by my first name without having been invited to do so, I consider that *extremely* poor manners in a business setting. Don't ask me why that is, because when being objective even I will admit that it is a very very very trivial thing. But it is the equivalent of nails down a chalk board with me.

I have clients that I've worked with for a decade and more that I would never address by first name in a purely business setting. Before he retired my mom's brother was one of my clients, and even though everywhere else he was "John", on the clock he was always "Mr. Fidler" even though he kept telling me I didn't have to do that. And I would always explain that I thought doing otherwise was unprofessional, especially in front of other employees, even though they knew we were related (it was a 40 or so person company).

[susandennis]

I wonder if that is regional. The first name business. I do NOT like to be called Ms. Dennis or Miss Dennis or Mrs. Dennis. Not one bit. It says to me that the person is naive and insincere and does not consider me a viable person (too old, too dumb or just not worthy).

I cannot think of anyone I would address with a Mrs. or Mr. either unless it would be someone's grandmother. I know, around here, in business, it is very frowned upon.

Interesting to hear yout take on it.

[davmoo.livejournal.com]

It also may be a southern thing. Even though I live now in the midwest, I grew up in a southern household. When I was little what I was told was that you never addressed your elders by first name because it showed disrespect. You never addressed strangers by first name because it showed a familiarity that wasn't actually there. And you never addressed higher ups in business by first name because it made it sound like you thought you were equal to them when by position you weren't.

[susandennis]

Well, yeah, me too - raised in the South with the same rules but that was many many many years ago. I suspect there may be some remants still there but I am here and now - not there and then!

Even my mother, before she died, told me to never call her ma'm again "I am so sorry I ever taught you to do that."

[davmoo.livejournal.com]

To family members it was okay, and expected, to not use "sir" and "ma'am". But outside the house to non-family adults, not using "sir" and "ma'am" was a good way to get a smack across the face when we got home. And it was embedded well, because to this day I use both.

[machupicchu.livejournal.com]

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This comment thread is interesting to me -- at PCC, not one single person calls any single other person "Mister" or "Misses" anything. Company-wide, our CEO is known as Tracy, whether you're a store director or a bagger.

Of course, Tracy also wears shorts and sandals exclusively through all the summer months. PCC is an incredibly casual company. I'm tempted to say "even by Seattle standards," but the more time goes by, the more I find that not to be true -- in this town, about the only people expected to be formal in both attire and personal interactions are bankers and stock brokers.
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[susandennis]

So how do you feel when someone calls you Mr. McQuilkin? Like the Comcast lady or the dentist office, for instance.

[machupicchu.livejournal.com]

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Honestly, it's so rare that it even happens, I can't even remember. It does happen almost exclusively in business settings, but I believe in both your examples -- Comcast and the dentist's office -- they actually call me Matthew. When I'm at work and someone on the phone on a rare occasion calls me Mr. McQuilkin, it's actually kind of jarring. It feels totally alien to me.
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