When languages are a barrier
My favourite personal computer manufacturer (rhymes with Bell) is a large corporation. The company no longer works out of a warehouse in the wilds of Texas, it now has a larger “footprint”, and it relies on the marvels of VOIP to keep its many offshore workers in the loop. Therein lies the difficulty.
I enjoy shopping on their website. It’s the equivalent of an Eaton’s catalogue for the nerdy among us; you can dream and design and be sure that everything falls within budget before you ever commit to a purchase. Then you have the option of completing the order online, or calling one of the sales representatives that love to talk with you. Hours if needed; the whole goal is customer satisfaction. The rep even calls back to see if you really meant what you said. Yes, there is a tiny language barrier, but with free phone, it doesn’t really matter.
Things sour when you try to buy parts for your purchase at some future moment. I’m three weeks into a pair of transactions. The first item shipped in a matter of days; it doesn’t matter that I didn’t get EXACTLY what I ordered, because I found the received part to be exotic and not worth trying to return at the price. Think of this as a novelty item.
My other order IS important to me. This laptop comes with an available bay for a second hard drive. I have the drive, but no hardware to complete the installation. The assembly is a special order item. Backordered, of course. And trying to find out the status of that order is an exercise in frustration/futility.
The representatives have to consult. They forget (easily) that the customer might also be part of the internal telephone conversation. They argue. They hang up on each other. They pretend not to understand what the other person is saying (remember, a tiny language barrier exists as part of the corporate identity). I had the “fun” of calling back four times this afternoon, so I’m a little shellshocked. We’d never get away with that level of fumbling where I work…
My order might ship later next week, if the final representative can be trusted to have read the screen messages correctly. I’m waiting. On hold. Again.
