You might remember last week how I had complained about the customer service I received at the Dallas Public Library regarding my attempt to turn in garage sale permit paperwork. The clerk had refused saying it was too close to closing time to handle my request. I was quite pleased to have gotten a voice mail from the director of Dallas libraries. She wanted more information about my less than stellar experience. I was happy of that. However, as is often the case, her outreach to me fell short. I called and left her a voice mail detailing the incident and expressing my desire to speak with her further. As of this writing I still haven’t heard back from her. I appreciate the effort, but I’m disappointed with the lack of follow-up.
Let’s now revisit my attempt to purchase a new back door for the house. You might recall that I had a store rep at Home Depot who didn’t really know what he was doing. I left the store 45 minutes into the attempted transaction because he had me rung up with three doors at a total cost of over a grand. I had to call back the next day and spend another 20 minutes on the phone with a manager straightening out the order.
Well, the install of the door was scheduled for last week. Veronica and I took time off from work to be there at 9:00 AM, like the installer told us to do. By 10:15 AM there is still nobody there to put in the door. After several calls to voice mail boxes that were full and not accepting messages, I finally got a human on the phone. I was informed by the friendly Home Depot rep that the installer was in the store picking up the supplies and would be there shortly. OK, they’re running late but at least they’re on the way. A call would have been nice.
I hang up and about 10 minutes later the phone rings. It’s Home Depot again to inform me that the door we ordered has a dent in it and should they come out with it anyway. No, I didn’t pay for a dented door. Turns out they don’t have another one like it in stock, so we are stuck waiting another couple of weeks for the new door to arrive for this adventure in aggravation to continue.
I heard from a lot of you on Facebook about your own lackluster experiences with customer service. It’s good to know I’m not alone. It’s sad that so many people have come to accept rudeness or ineptness or simply a lack of manners in doing business. Social media and online shopping have robbed commerce of its humanity. Like so many of the things that come with technology, the good often comes with a lot of bad.
That’s what I’m thinking.
Rick Hadley
24/7 News