Back when I worked outside the home, my career was in marketing and public relations. Even now, my part-time job is in customer service. I know a thing or two about the importance of keeping customers happy. No customers, no business.
I just finished a rather harsh letter to our communications provider, a company that had been wonderful in every single previous service issue we'd had in the last four years. Today changed all of that, in one single instant.
First, service technicians showed up unannounced at my house. They parked in my snow and ice-covered driveway, and then proceeded to let themselves into my gated and fenced back yard. Where my very large and very protective dog usually stays. Without bothering to either call first or, at the very least, knock on my front door. They just let themselves in.
Let's just say I was not pleased to look up from my lunch at 2 o'clock and see strange people walking in my fenced backyard. I was thankful that my puppy was laying at my feet, begging for table scraps, and not outside growling at or chewing on some strangers (or escaping from the yard in the snow and ice mess that is on the ground). They should be thankful for that, too.
And that was strike one. Showing up unannounced and then not bothering to knock or let anyone know that they wanted access to our property.
Now we come back to the snow and ice-covered driveway that they parked in. Our house is on a hill, so the driveway is sloped and also comes around in a semi-circle in front of the house. Common sense would have told you that if you were crazy enough to park on an icy, sloped driveway, you would simply back down the way you came when it was time to leave. No, not these people. They tried to pull through the semi-circle. And slid on the snow and ice into our landscaping. They broke one shrub in half and ran into another one, breaking off a few branches on that one, too.
Strike two. Parking in our drive (which technicians have never done in the past) and then damaging our property with a total lack of common sense.
And then they drove away. Strike three.
Nasty letter to customer service followed.
While I generally don't try to get people fired or even in trouble, the idiots who came to my house today truly have it coming. Though I like my communications provider and will not cancel because of this one instance, I did warn them in my letter that next time I probably would. Though it would be an inconvenience to me to switch, if that's the type of service they're going to provide and the type of people they're going to employ, then I'd rather take my business elsewhere.
Common courtesy. Respect for other people's property. Communication. None of those things should be hard. That last one, especially for a COMMUNICATIONS PROVIDER, should be a given.
