How to piss people off by acting stupid… I like to answer questions on Quora. That’s no secret. Many of you found this site that way. But one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the spam on that platform, especially in the customer service categories. I’m shocked by both the volume of worthless spam answers, and the overwhelming terribleness of many of them. Case in point: Yes, Sehul Shah, CEO at DeciZone.com, the Read more…
How to profit from what people naturally do anyways… I was in Iceland last month. Great country. My wife and I stopped for a few days on our way back from a European trip. Beautiful landscapes, friendly people, and delicious food (including whale meat, which is incredible.) We rented a car. Shitty little Romania SUV with a tiny diesel engine and a 6 speed manual. Studded tires. The roof leaked. And we did what one Read more…
If you hear this, prepare for a bad time… It happened to me again today. The first time was with an insurance company, some time last year. I thought I was hearing things at first. Surely nobody could really be THAT stupid, right? As customers, we’ve become used to a lot of terrible treatment when it comes to customer service. We accept that we’ll probably have to CALL on the phone. We accept that there Read more…
And what you should REALLY be concerned about… As many of you know, I do a daily video answer to question on Quora. What you may not know is how much time it sometimes takes to find a decent question to answer in the various customer service categories. People ask all sorts of things, but there are some similarities. One thing I see all the time? People asking how to “file a complaint” about some Read more…
And why it’s bad for business… Not actually assaulting them. The downsides there are fairly obvious. Most of you know that I regularly answer customer service questions on Quora. And there have been some good ones. But I also see a lot of garbage, throwaway questions there. One of the most common themes? Assaulting or insulting customers. “Should customer service agents be allowed to punch 1 customer a day?” “What would you say to your Read more…
You are being watched… I’ve never been to Disneyland. Not in a hurry to. And I’ve never had a bad experience with the Brazilians. Good roasted meat. But apparently, at Disneyland, the Chinese tourists are somehow not the worst. Brazilians take their crown. I heard a story of a group of Brazilian children surrounding another child and harassing him, in Portuguese. Why? He was wearing an England soccer jersey. Apparently the Brazilians at Disneyland are Read more…
Stupidly Simple. Surveys. I don’t know who fills these things out. NOW THAT I’VE FIXED A THING THAT SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN BROKEN IN THE FIRST PLACE AND WASTED AN HOUR OF YOUR TIME, DO YOU WANT TO WASTE ANOTHER 20 MINUTES FILLING OUT A SURVEY MY BOSS’ BOSS’ BOSS’ BOSS’ BOSS WILL EVENTUALLY IGNORE? I guess it’s the inevitable result of runaway complexity in conventional customer service. And as such, there are probably all sorts Read more…
Despite their TERRIBLE customer service… I’m writing this email from a brewery down the street from my place. Why? Because my internet is out at home. My first thought when I realized what was going on was “Oh fuck, I’m going to have to call customer service… at COMCAST!” If you’re not American, or if you’re fortunate enough to live somewhere Comcast doesn’t have a monopoly on acceptable internet access, I’ll explain. Comcast is WIDELY Read more…
A question from Quora… As many of you already know, I regularly answer customer service questions on Quora, both in written and video form. Today’s post originally appeared there as the answer to a (very poorly worded) question, “What are consumers during phone calls with customer service staff absolutely annoyed?” Enjoy! What are consumers during phone calls with customer service staff absolutely annoyed? Bullshit. Overwhelming corporate NPC bullshit. We’ve all been there. You buy a Read more…
Most people are prioritizing the wrong skills… What do most people do when they become concerned about their personal safety? Maybe they take a martial arts class. Buy a gun or knife. Take tactical shooting lessons. Work their way up to higher belts in karate or jiu jitsu. And all of these things are fine. Good ideas, actually. But talk to any real professional in this space, like bodyguards, or even (reformed) criminals, and they’ll Read more…