How important is customer service - Part II

A whole week later, with no AC adapter, and a very unreliable laptop, I called HP again, once again to be on hold for a while... and when I finally got a hold of someone and asked him why I did not have my AC adapter yet, he assured me that it had been shipped and that I would receive it in the next day or two.

The day after I talked to this person who told me I would have a new AC adapter, I receive a voice mail from HP saying that they are back ordered and will not be able to get one to me for another week or two. I was pretty annoyed when I got that message for two reasons- I was lied to by HP, and I had pretty much been without a laptop or any other computer at home for over a week. So, I call up HP again to find out what was going on, and why I was given false information. Once again, on hold for forever, which only made the situation more aggravating, but even when someone answered, he could not help me, and there was no one senior to him that worked at that time. So, I asked for someone ( a case manager) to call me. When she finally did she said they did not have any AC adapters in stock- how is that possible for a company that makes laptop computers??? Anyways, she said there was nothing that could be done, but to wait 4-7 business days and I would get one in the mail.

4-7 business days passed, and still no AC adapter. I called them again, and once again, someone assured me that it was shipped out to me, but he had to transfer me to a senior technician again .. when I talked to the senior technician, he said that the item was back ordered again! So, I was lied to once again!

How important is customer service?

I talk to people on the phone a lot at the job that I'm at- and no matter what the situation, I try to be really nice to people, and never lie. Simply because, they spend money on our products, and we appreciate their business!

The company I work at is a small company, and although it is not a start-up, it has a start-up like environment. Although I want the company to grow and be super successful, I can't imagine it retaining it's culture- playing basketball at 4pm everyday, going to a company lunch every month, and having a company meeting around the table in the owners office, or the kitchen table.

I tend to go off on tangents when I write, so having just glanced over the title of this post, I’ll revert back to customer service. I know we all have our horrible phone and customer/tech support stories, but I have to share mine - this has to be the most horrible experience I've had - period! I recently had to order an AC adapter from HP for my laptop. Seemed like a simple enough product and I thought I would just call in, and ask them to send me a new AC adapter.

After being on hold for at least 30 minutes, I finally got a hold of someone- and I told him I needed a new AC adapter as the one I had was fraying and the insulation wore off and the laptop was not getting any "juice". Apparently, for just that, I had to be transferred to a senior technician, to see if he could miraculously remedy the problem on the phone.

I explained the problem to, once again, someone in India with an "American" name who spoke decent english, but had zero people skills, and could not understand the problem at hand. Now, I am Indian myself, and if I could not make sense to this person, how is the rest of world getting through to him, and all the other "Jack's" that companies are employing. Anyways, they put in my request for an AC adapter, and was told that I would receive it in 2-5 business days.