All righty then. I am not one of these dumb customers who ask questions and then argue about the answers, but more and more I have been noticing that customer service is not about the customer at all. It is like the companies are saying that "you need our services, and you will take them and pay for them, crap and all" The more I have been dealing with companies, the less satisfaction I am getting from them. What ever happened to the customer is always right?

Right before Christmas, we stopped at our local KFC for lunch, and the guy behind the counter comes out and asks us "whadda want?" I mean how rude. I wasn't complaining, I wasn't there to make his life miserable, I was there just for lunch. I expected to be treated like I was...I dont' know.... a person.

Then, the cable company.... I have a DVR through our cable company, and frankly, we got one of the first ones in our area, which was about 3 years ago. Well, our remote died, not just needed new batteries, but actually died. So, I called customer service, in some foriegn country, and was told that we had to take it to the customer service center, who may or may not have a new remote. We asked for the local phone number and was told that there wasnt' one. Of course there is a local number, a business can not operate without a phone. Why is it so hard to give us a local number so that we could check and see if the remote was avaible or not? Would it have hurt them? Insanity

The latest is pre-paid cellular. I don't use a cell phone enough to get a regular plan. I would be paying about $2 a minute for how much I use a phone every month. So, anyway, the pre-paid company has a "family plan" thingy and we signed up for it. Recently we got our oldest son one because he goes to friends and to the park, etc and a cell is more convienent than yelling down the block. Can we get Zack on the plan? No not until the last of the month. I have to wait and then spend my time on a phone to call them to get him on a plan that I already have. Why is this so hard?

Shouldn't customer service be about the customer, and making our live's easier? What has happened to the customer? Does the company think that they can survive without us?

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"Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock
Religion is a smile on a dog."

There are very few small companies left. We are forced to deal with large corporations. One of my biggest complaints is the run around we get just trying to call a company. We have to jump through hoops before we get a person on a phone. I think the voice activation is worse than using the keypad of a phone. With most people looking for lower prices on everythng we have helped to create this monster.

I work for an independent officer supplier and we are highly customer service oriented. A real person answers the telephone. We do same day delivery of supplies. We have reps and I am one of them who personally call on the customers. This is very rare in these times. Many people love the service, but will toss it away in a heartbeat to get what they think is a lower price.

With so many companies out there that are acting like wholesalers, the prices have risen, not lowered and we pay a big price by not having customer service. It's the day of the big corporations and very little independent businesses. I don't know if it will ever turn around. Would it do any good to complain to politicians? They may be getting a kick back from the big corporations.

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InterfaithForums.com-Where your ideas and beliefs count.

LK, I would like to deal with your company. I, for one, may be cheap, but also understand that you usually get what you pay for. I will go places for the customer service, even if I am paying a few cents more.

That phone thing is so horrible. I think that companies use it as a deterrant so they don't have to deal with upset or irate customers. Even doctor's offices use it now. I remember it wasn't so long ago that one could call the doctor and get a real person on the phone.

I have my own home-based business, and I answer my phone myself, or one of my children (who have been carefully coached). Only as a last resort (working or not home for some other reason) will anyone get the answering machine at my house. I think this is the way it should be.

OK, I really need to stop. I seem to be getting all worked up again.

Thanks for letting me vent my frustrations about big business.

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"Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock
Religion is a smile on a dog."

I think that Lightkeeper hit the nail squarely on the head. We will do anything and shop anywhere for a lower price.

Unfortunately (and possibly tragically in the near future) we don't compute the other, mostly future, costs that go with sending our dollars to large foreign national companies for goods manufactured abroad: the cost in lost jobs at home.

Eventually, North Americans will be migrating to India, China, Southeast Asia and other places to work the rice paddies and act as nannies to their kids, because all the money will be there.

Shop local, check the label to see if was made locally, and forget the darned price! We have become an impossibly acquisitive society, filling our homes with junk we don't need and toss away, all the while feeding a major change in world economies. And we won't win!

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evangelicalhumanist: Greek "eu"=good and "angelos"=messenger. Spreading the good news of Humanism.

I can agree.

I am a union member and try to find things made here in the US. It has been more and more difficult as time has gone on. More and more, our products are made and grown elsewhere.

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"Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock
Religion is a smile on a dog."

What do you mean 'may'?

I think that most companies believe that customers are cows. You know how cows get serviced.

Mmmm....that is not a good sign for society.

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"Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock
Religion is a smile on a dog."