“I called the company. I was put on hold. I was insulted. I was told to call another number. Finally, after almost an hour, I grew tired and gave up. They won. That’s the plan – to beat you down. That’s how they make money. Every company I call is like this. No matter what I buy. I’m so tired of it. I just want to stop buying anything from anybody.”
“We have a mission here. To provide the most satisfactory customer service possible for the people who buy our products. We have a great product. We empower our people. We spend millions on advertising and branding. We have team meetings about how to make things better. Our people are trained to work with the public. We respect people. The goal is to make the customer experience the highlight of their day. That is job one. We will be the best at what we do, every day. Guaranteed.”
“I work on the line. We make a part that goes in the final product. Can’t tell you what it is. Company secret. I’d get fired. We have to turn out 1,000 of these things a day. There’s me and 3 other guys. Used to be five. Two got laid off. They’re talking about another one getting it by the end of the month. We make our quota, but we still face layoffs. Maybe a machine could do all of this. Maybe somebody overseas would do it for 1/10th of what we’re making. Probably less. That’s how they empower us – fear. See this little chip here. This goes in that housing over there. I can’t tell you, like I said, but this little baby right here has a 4 month lifespan. Don’t mention I said that. Just how it is. So it’s designed and built to last 4 months. I install it. It goes out. Has a 3 month warranty. You get the picture. Management had a consultant work that one up. Maximize profits. Minimize input. Engineers figured it out that tight. Shareholder value.”
“I bought this thing not that long ago. Now it doesn’t work. I called the customer service number. They said the warranty ran out a month ago. Made a smart-ass comment that I should read my paperwork better. It was four pages of legal type – this little thing. I need it for my job, so I just bought another one. What are you gonna do? They’re all like this.”
“I work 12 hours a day. Maybe more sometimes. I hate my job. It is demeaning. The customers calling here are angry and rude. They always want something for nothing. The products suck anyway. It’s like we make them to be crap. Last just long enough to be out of warranty. You know the gig. My boss is an ass too. My kid was sick last week and he said, “Sorry, you have a quota to meet. Forty calls a day. We want our numbers up for this month and if you’re out, you’re not pulling your weight. Lot’s of people out there looking for a job right now. It’s all I read about. I can’t lost this job.”
What is the moral of this story?