I’d read his post earlier … thanks for reminding me of him … and I dragged the book back to the top of my Kindle app to read some more. This is a great post!
Just a note, back in 1975-1985, I was the “Shell Answer Man” for the Midwest Customer Service. We had phones … well, that’s all there was, and mail. My biggest deal was around Self-Service, when that started. Suddenly, many calls of upset people “You forgot to put my gascap back on” …. Rather than argue, I got Houston to allow an automatic $25 credit, and told them to go buy a new one, no receipts needed. So I align to this …
I agree with you about all of this. I also couldn't help but notice that your customers also have to use Amazon to get your product. This puts them into the same wrestling match you are in when they have a problem. We need to disrupt the entire sales pipeline. Go back to (or keep supporting) in person stores.
Our credit union told us we had to start using Zelle to transfer money to our adult kids accounts *in the same credit union.* Um, no. I called a local branch and talked for an hour with a wonderful person with the appropriate name of Jesus. I opened a shared account with one of my kids and can just transfer into that one. And for the other one, we send him a check using the bill pay option. Both options make the credit card company have to work harder than it did before they required Zelle (a conglomerate of seven banks). I love that for them.
We sell directly but also on Amazon. I prefer that people buy directly from me but Amazon controls a big part of Main Street. And sadly, they don’t even let me know who my customers are that information is hidden from me. I found when running an ad on a popular podcast trying to send people directly to our website. We saw no increase in our website sales so we assumed the ad had not worked. But during that same. Our Amazon sales were growing exponentially as it turned out the ad did work that people just went looking on Amazon instead of coming to our website. It’s definitely a dilemma. They provide access to a large audience. We are looking at going to Natural retail as an avenue to get closer to the Customer.
I am at the point that when I get a live human being on the phone who is helpful, I spend a great deal of time thanking them for being pleasant, helpful and actually solving my problem. I pray they do not quit working in case I ever need them again!!
There is actually a term for it, its called ‘Friction-based customer service’ designed to frustrate the customer to the point they abandon their grievance thereby saving the company money they would have otherwise lost in refunds and or re-shipping costs. They are still paying for customer service but they are now rewarded for customers deterred, not customer satisfaction.
About customer service being bad because it is supposed to be bad to make you give up, here is an article titled "THAT DROPPED CALL WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE? IT WAS ON PURPOSE.
Endless wait times and excessive procedural fuss—it’s all part of a tactic called 'sludge.'"
I have so many similar personal examples. I believe the business schools and MBA grads have pushed this. Suck the joy out of everything as long as the line goes up and to the right.
Oooh, yeah, so true. I will say, though, that I have had some wonderful conversations with young people in Nepal, one near Mt Kailash, in fact. I know it's not their fault that it's all so bad, so when I get *anybody* on the phone, I treat them like gold. And they respond.
I have a trip set up to fly from FL to CA to MT to CO and back home in late November and early December. I am going with a well-honed sense of humor that I expect to be sorely tested at some point. Unlike in past decades, I view long distance travel as something to be avoided but when needed, to view it as an adventure. Think of the amazingly awful stories I will be able to tell afterward! :-D
Or maybe stories of miraculous saves and helpful angels appearing when desperately needed.
Do you know about gethuman.com? It can usually give you a good contact number. Did tech support for an ISP. They wound up using overseas support. First batch wasn't too bad, mostly South Americans with small businesses that could troubleshoot. Too expensive, so they went with a group from the Phillipines that read from scripts. They lost customers and had to hire back some of our experienced folks for business support. I got to retire so not my problem.
A vital question, the answer is to leave them alone - stop buying from Amazon and their ilk. It will be painful - finding the original source, approaching them, bargaining a price and finally obtaining the item, but the alternative is complete enclosure where producers, like you Martha are not permitted to sell outside of that Amazon corale.
Melville’s last was The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade.
The novel hit on April Fool’s Day 1857, & caught readers on the Schrödinger dead cat bounce — which didn’t pay the bills.
So Herman went to work as a NYC customs inspector, under future president Chester A. Arthur.
Arthur could have easily been a character in The Confidence Man.
Etymology. Entomology. Procrustes Bed bugs.
customer(n.)
late 14c., custumer, "customs official, toll-gatherer;” …In Shakespeare, the word also can mean “prostitute." …Sense of a "regular" toll or tax on goods is early 14c. The native word here is toll (n.).
So I’m on page 284.
“ … but Barry began speaking very directly. Within minutes he told the room that the foundations of modern science were largely balderdash. So flawed they are practically useless.”
Three dots, three (balder)dashes, three dots is Morse code for SOS:
Not just science & not just modern is the mad dash of bald opportunism even unto criminality most organized.
(As Melville showed & told.)
And definitely Borganized. “We ‘think’ we are … therefore we “think” resistance is futile.”
But not Barry.
When did customers become consumers? Or patients? Or useless eaters … but good eating?
Another (eventual) Australian Barry is the last Gibb standing. He said his brothers aren’t around anymore because they, unlike him, gave themselves up to doctors.
You wrote about the power of words.
Sticks & stones, Barry talks & half the room groans.
(Then the Yoho redheaded stepchild cherry on top at the end.)
I think another vantage is the powerlessness of people in the face of mere words.
Trained —not “learned”— helplessness.
(Enter the rebranded “positive” psychologist Marty Seligman.)
You write of the importance of seeing things differently. And then doing accordingly. I agree.
I connected with the purchase of Connected via Bookshop.org.
I won’t do anything via enshittifier Bezos. Not for any amount of discount bait.
I like your book. Will be following up experimenting.
PS “The reason they call it the American Dream is you have to be asleep to believe it.” How close are your Carlins to good old George?
No relation to George I’m afraid. But my husband used to make dinner reservations using his name. 😂. Thank you for the careful read of my book and your insightful comments! We too prefer bookshop, I suppose as an active protest I could’ve avoided Amazon, but I didn’t. I thought if more people read it perhaps they would start to “think” again.
Kentucky is a great place to farm but very humid. Yesterday the air was so think you could cut with a knife. The last 24 hours have been and an incredible lightning show. And pouring rain. To read about farming in Kentucky Wendell Berry is my favorite writer.
I was staying in a pricy hotel. I wanted to get an additional room for a family member who decided to join my trip. I walked down to the front desk to book another room. Two employees there. They said I needed to book online or call the reservation line as they cannot take reservations themselves. I confirmed, “ so you want me to stand in this lobby 3 feet from you and spend 20 minutes on my phone in order to book an additional room? “ They said yes.
I still get regular marketing emails from that hotel no matter how many times I unsubscribe. The next time I went to that city I booked an Airbnb . Which had its own difficulties, but different.
Agree 110%....customer service is still here but only on an app or a revolving automated phone loop. "Real people" customer service is becoming, if not already, non-existent. Once again, American greed is the cause and the reason. One day, when we have had enough, it will change. But that day seems to be ONLY after the money is gone. Kinda Ike our poltics....
I have confidence that there will be a segment where customer Service will make it to the top of the list again, and we will start to see the turning of the tide. At least I’m holding that vision in my mind.
Unfortunately we all have multiple stories like yours. I agree with you about Apple. After being a PC user for decades I bought an IMAC and couldn’t be happier with the device and the customer service.
Hopefully the pendulum will swing back if and when customer service is seen as a competitive advantage an expense.
I’d read his post earlier … thanks for reminding me of him … and I dragged the book back to the top of my Kindle app to read some more. This is a great post!
Just a note, back in 1975-1985, I was the “Shell Answer Man” for the Midwest Customer Service. We had phones … well, that’s all there was, and mail. My biggest deal was around Self-Service, when that started. Suddenly, many calls of upset people “You forgot to put my gascap back on” …. Rather than argue, I got Houston to allow an automatic $25 credit, and told them to go buy a new one, no receipts needed. So I align to this …
I agree with you about all of this. I also couldn't help but notice that your customers also have to use Amazon to get your product. This puts them into the same wrestling match you are in when they have a problem. We need to disrupt the entire sales pipeline. Go back to (or keep supporting) in person stores.
Our credit union told us we had to start using Zelle to transfer money to our adult kids accounts *in the same credit union.* Um, no. I called a local branch and talked for an hour with a wonderful person with the appropriate name of Jesus. I opened a shared account with one of my kids and can just transfer into that one. And for the other one, we send him a check using the bill pay option. Both options make the credit card company have to work harder than it did before they required Zelle (a conglomerate of seven banks). I love that for them.
We sell directly but also on Amazon. I prefer that people buy directly from me but Amazon controls a big part of Main Street. And sadly, they don’t even let me know who my customers are that information is hidden from me. I found when running an ad on a popular podcast trying to send people directly to our website. We saw no increase in our website sales so we assumed the ad had not worked. But during that same. Our Amazon sales were growing exponentially as it turned out the ad did work that people just went looking on Amazon instead of coming to our website. It’s definitely a dilemma. They provide access to a large audience. We are looking at going to Natural retail as an avenue to get closer to the Customer.
Yes, it’s not easy.
I am at the point that when I get a live human being on the phone who is helpful, I spend a great deal of time thanking them for being pleasant, helpful and actually solving my problem. I pray they do not quit working in case I ever need them again!!
There is actually a term for it, its called ‘Friction-based customer service’ designed to frustrate the customer to the point they abandon their grievance thereby saving the company money they would have otherwise lost in refunds and or re-shipping costs. They are still paying for customer service but they are now rewarded for customers deterred, not customer satisfaction.
Sad.
About customer service being bad because it is supposed to be bad to make you give up, here is an article titled "THAT DROPPED CALL WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE? IT WAS ON PURPOSE.
Endless wait times and excessive procedural fuss—it’s all part of a tactic called 'sludge.'"
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/06/customer-service-sludge/683340/
I have so many similar personal examples. I believe the business schools and MBA grads have pushed this. Suck the joy out of everything as long as the line goes up and to the right.
Oooh, yeah, so true. I will say, though, that I have had some wonderful conversations with young people in Nepal, one near Mt Kailash, in fact. I know it's not their fault that it's all so bad, so when I get *anybody* on the phone, I treat them like gold. And they respond.
I have a trip set up to fly from FL to CA to MT to CO and back home in late November and early December. I am going with a well-honed sense of humor that I expect to be sorely tested at some point. Unlike in past decades, I view long distance travel as something to be avoided but when needed, to view it as an adventure. Think of the amazingly awful stories I will be able to tell afterward! :-D
Or maybe stories of miraculous saves and helpful angels appearing when desperately needed.
We will see!
Do you know about gethuman.com? It can usually give you a good contact number. Did tech support for an ISP. They wound up using overseas support. First batch wasn't too bad, mostly South Americans with small businesses that could troubleshoot. Too expensive, so they went with a group from the Phillipines that read from scripts. They lost customers and had to hire back some of our experienced folks for business support. I got to retire so not my problem.
Thank you I will try gethuman.com!
A vital question, the answer is to leave them alone - stop buying from Amazon and their ilk. It will be painful - finding the original source, approaching them, bargaining a price and finally obtaining the item, but the alternative is complete enclosure where producers, like you Martha are not permitted to sell outside of that Amazon corale.
I am envisioning an entire new system emerging from these frustrations where companies and the people in them exchange more than money once again.
Investing in humanity and service with a smile....
Melville’s last was The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade.
The novel hit on April Fool’s Day 1857, & caught readers on the Schrödinger dead cat bounce — which didn’t pay the bills.
So Herman went to work as a NYC customs inspector, under future president Chester A. Arthur.
Arthur could have easily been a character in The Confidence Man.
Etymology. Entomology. Procrustes Bed bugs.
customer(n.)
late 14c., custumer, "customs official, toll-gatherer;” …In Shakespeare, the word also can mean “prostitute." …Sense of a "regular" toll or tax on goods is early 14c. The native word here is toll (n.).
So I’m on page 284.
“ … but Barry began speaking very directly. Within minutes he told the room that the foundations of modern science were largely balderdash. So flawed they are practically useless.”
Three dots, three (balder)dashes, three dots is Morse code for SOS:
Not just science & not just modern is the mad dash of bald opportunism even unto criminality most organized.
(As Melville showed & told.)
And definitely Borganized. “We ‘think’ we are … therefore we “think” resistance is futile.”
But not Barry.
When did customers become consumers? Or patients? Or useless eaters … but good eating?
Another (eventual) Australian Barry is the last Gibb standing. He said his brothers aren’t around anymore because they, unlike him, gave themselves up to doctors.
You wrote about the power of words.
Sticks & stones, Barry talks & half the room groans.
(Then the Yoho redheaded stepchild cherry on top at the end.)
I think another vantage is the powerlessness of people in the face of mere words.
Trained —not “learned”— helplessness.
(Enter the rebranded “positive” psychologist Marty Seligman.)
You write of the importance of seeing things differently. And then doing accordingly. I agree.
I connected with the purchase of Connected via Bookshop.org.
I won’t do anything via enshittifier Bezos. Not for any amount of discount bait.
I like your book. Will be following up experimenting.
PS “The reason they call it the American Dream is you have to be asleep to believe it.” How close are your Carlins to good old George?
No relation to George I’m afraid. But my husband used to make dinner reservations using his name. 😂. Thank you for the careful read of my book and your insightful comments! We too prefer bookshop, I suppose as an active protest I could’ve avoided Amazon, but I didn’t. I thought if more people read it perhaps they would start to “think” again.
If I could believe again quantitative easing & helicopter-books were a recipe for nutritious thinking I’d don apron & chef hat.
I appreciate your story, your experiences, your efforts, your approach. You & your husband both.
But I especially appreciate the hard barkers who know the chips must fall where they may, & proceed accordingly.
PS CO is a one hand tied behind your back proposition when it comes to homesteading-farming. I’m trying to espouse spousey out of here.
How’s KY humidity?
Humidity precipitates horror in my better half, but precipitation grows crops & animals.
The food, & water, as you know & wrote, is macro number one.
Kentucky is a great place to farm but very humid. Yesterday the air was so think you could cut with a knife. The last 24 hours have been and an incredible lightning show. And pouring rain. To read about farming in Kentucky Wendell Berry is my favorite writer.
yep. Nailed it.
I was staying in a pricy hotel. I wanted to get an additional room for a family member who decided to join my trip. I walked down to the front desk to book another room. Two employees there. They said I needed to book online or call the reservation line as they cannot take reservations themselves. I confirmed, “ so you want me to stand in this lobby 3 feet from you and spend 20 minutes on my phone in order to book an additional room? “ They said yes.
I still get regular marketing emails from that hotel no matter how many times I unsubscribe. The next time I went to that city I booked an Airbnb . Which had its own difficulties, but different.
Nuts!🌰 🥜
Travel has turned into a nightmare. Every step of the way. :/
Agree 110%....customer service is still here but only on an app or a revolving automated phone loop. "Real people" customer service is becoming, if not already, non-existent. Once again, American greed is the cause and the reason. One day, when we have had enough, it will change. But that day seems to be ONLY after the money is gone. Kinda Ike our poltics....
I have confidence that there will be a segment where customer Service will make it to the top of the list again, and we will start to see the turning of the tide. At least I’m holding that vision in my mind.
Unfortunately we all have multiple stories like yours. I agree with you about Apple. After being a PC user for decades I bought an IMAC and couldn’t be happier with the device and the customer service.
Hopefully the pendulum will swing back if and when customer service is seen as a competitive advantage an expense.