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In lugnet.general, Todd Lehman writes:
> some hapless customer writes:
> > i've emailed auczilla numerous times, but have heard no reply.
> > let me know if any of you have had any success!
> I'm sorry for not writing back. Usually, if there's a question answerable
> from the FAQ, that's where I usually direct someone, or if there isn't a
> question or there's a question I can't answer, I sometimes forget to write
> back. Your mail on May 18 didn't ask any questions (you just mentioned that
> you'd be out of town until June 5) and your mail on June 15 requested that
> your package be shipped to an alternate address if it wasn't ready by June 20.
This seems to be a chronic complaint. I've lost track of how many times I've
received mail from people saying "I know you know Todd well, do you know how to
get him to respond to mail? I have the following problem: <snip>, and he
doesn't answer me" and I always reply that:
- you're pretty busy
- if it's a question, try reading the FAQ
- if it's a matter of delivery (of winnings, of membership materials, etc), it
happens when it happens, there is no way to rush you and asking for faster
service doesn't do anything except waste bandwidth.
- if it's an emergency, post it to the appropriate group (1), a public question
seems to get a better response than mail.
Personally, doing this is a big waste of my time, but I do it because I feel
obligated to do it. Perhaps I should prepare a form letter since you haven't.
Customer service and customer facing stuff is not your strong suit(2) and
people who pay attention to what you say in your readily available materials
would realise that and not fret. Not everyone pays attention to that, though,
they have expectations of turnaround times that don't match yours. But real
organisations that are in business to make money (as opposed to hobbyists)
answer all their mail promptly (even if it's a form letter that says nothing
other than "we got your mail")... Is that better than the correct answer
somewhat later? I dunno.
I'm a hobbyist, so I am slow. Are you a hobbyist or are you making your living
at this? I dunno, although I thought the latter. If Milton Train Works ever
gets rolling I will have to get much better at answering mail directed to that
email address. (which hasn't been revealed publicly yet, only the website is
there.
FUT to theory because this touches on the general question, what is a
reasonable customer service expectation? Is being honest and accurate "good
enough", or does one have to be fast too? How much of a life is one entitled to
have if one has customers?
1 - with "Todd Lehman" in it somewhere. That seems to trigger your post sniffer
so you see it. Or so the speculation (which is rampant) goes.
2 - cf. how hard it still is to get signed up to lugnet and properly configured
to post. I got two mails about that (asking for help, I pointed them to
lugnet.admin.nntp but of course if they can't post they can't ask there, can
they? :-) ) in the last 2 weeks, and it gives ME fits every time I lose a
cookie or start afresh on a new machine.
++Lar
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: auczilla XII: got yours yet?
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| (...) < huge amount of snippage> (...) None of my remarks are meant to desparage or otherwise insult anyone or how they do business. I answer these questions out of my experience gained from selling/auctioning Lego to pay my rent and expenses. I am (...) (24 years ago, 28-Jun-00, to lugnet.market.theory)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: auczilla XII: got yours yet?
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| (...) Chris, None of the XII packages are out the door yet -- but we could send you a partial shipment of what's divvied out so far, if the wait is unbearable. BTW, the AucZILLA XII auction closed on approximately April 12, which was about 2.5 (...) (24 years ago, 28-Jun-00, to lugnet.general, lugnet.market.auction)
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