I moved in May of this year. Before the move, I was a Verizon telephone customer. Verizon could not port my phone number which I’ve had for fifteen years, so I switched to Comcast and kept my old number. Bad idea. I switched back to Verizon, but to the new fiber optic system, not the old copper wire phone system I had previously. All through June and July, and now into the early part of August, I have had a problem with Verizon voicemail on my home phone. The problem is that I bought a Verizon package that includes voicemail, but it was simply not included when the account was set up. It was left out. That’s not a very complicated problem. Verizon assigns a PAM (Personal Administrative Assistant) to accounts in my area to help in situations just like this. Thus I guess problems are not rare. My PAM gave up trying to get me voicemail. He suggested I call his supervisor. I got the supervisor’s voicemail (hers works!) and left a message. She never called me back. Before doing something rash, I decided to try one more time to get a Verizon troubleshooter on the phone who might actually care about my problem; even though it meant listening one more time to that mind numbing “Press one for this, Press two for that” litany I have grown to hate.
I have only told you the very tip of the issues with both Comcast and Verizon. You would rather read War and Peace than plod through my multi-page boring recitation of disappointments. Just accept the fact that I was in the mood for war as I dialed the phone and shuffled the stack of tech rep business cards left at my home during innumerable futile service calls.
A tech rep by the name of Halen got on the phone. He caught me flatfooted. He was nice to me. He was calm and knowledgeable. He told me that he was going to dog this problem until it was solved. He in so many words told me that I had come to the right place. I had actually found an employee who cared and listened. I felt like I had won Power Ball. And he didn’t act as if my problem was so complicated as to be without solution. He knew the problem was simple and could be solved by sticking with it. For the first time in more than two months, I had an employee who had no intention of passing me along to the next guy. The wind went right out of my argumentative sails. I expected a fight and instead got calm and reason. I expected no one to care and got compassion. I expected apathy and got earnestness.
I did not mean for this blog to be so long, but the background is essential in order to make four points. Point number one is that I firmly believe that service in America is so bad that when someone does his or her job normally, you want to write that person’s boss a letter saying how great that person is. It should not be that way. Point number two is that by saying no, people escape the burden of responsibility that comes with getting involved. They pass the buck and they hand off customers with problems. They get off the hook. Point number three is that nobody seems to think like a customer anymore. Employees think and act like corporate bullies. I’m smart, you’re stupid and that’s that. Halen went so far as to say to me, “I’ll carry this ball for you. Even though I am an employee, I also am a customer. I know how discouraging it is to run the corporate maze. I’ll call you when I have something to report.” And point number four is that business is pretty simple after all. We are the ones who make it complicated. Do what you say you are going to do and don’t over promise. Keep it simple. Think like a client. The simpler we keep it, the better we will do. Mom and dad want to educate their kids, pay their taxes and retire. I want a phone that takes messages. Pretty simple.
My conversation with Halen took place yesterday and yesterday was a Sunday. Halen called me this morning to tell me he had taken the initial steps to rectify my problems. He would monitor any progress and call me each day until my voicemail works correctly. I’ll keep you posted. Halen did not show me how to split an atom. Halen didn’t explain E = mc2. Halen did his job. For that reason, I am willing to give Verizon another chance.
Be like Halen. Merely employing common sense and doing your job will so far remove you from your competition people will love what you do and want to see you do it again. And they’ll tell their friends to go see what you do and how you do it. Pretty simple.
