I bought two of the XO computers--a total of four with the two to go to charity--to the tune of more than $800. The computers have not arrived, although an e-mail promised them by January 15. I am unable to get a human response from their service e-mail, their paypal email, or their 800- number, other than automated responses stating the computers should have been received by January 15--yesterday. Can you help?

I didn't know Amazon had any humans working there. Isn't it run by Skylab? I stopped buying from them years ago due to the horrible customer service.

XO must be code for sucker bait. That's the old concept of being charitable with other people's money.

It can be so frustrating to be served by standard machine generated replies when you are so urgently into getting something done, and this is frequently happening on large service oriented companies.

Beautiful plumage the Norwegian Blue.

i too ordered the g1g1 OLPC, within th efirst 5 minutes it was possible to do so (12Nov07 @ 0605). i received an e-mail from them a few weeks lated telling me i should expect delivery not later than 24Dec07. i notice their invoice to my credit card in nov07. on 21Dec i had an e-mail saying they would not meet the scheduled ship date, but i would see one before 15Jan08. having seen nothing by 15jan, i e-mailed them and got a boilerplate response saying i should expect delivery in early 2008, unless i lived in canada in which case delivery was expected in jan/feb 08. all attempts to contact them for a definition of early 2008 have failed. their standard excuse for failing to ship as promised is that the response was so overwhelming - just how an overwhelming response prevents them from shipping orders received on the first day is beyond me. anyone else being screwed over by these people?

-paul

Hi,

I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me as well. I work for a large publishing firm where customer service is the utmost of importance, since we service mainly lawyers. If something goes wrong, we have to fix it and apologize for the mistake.

People shouldn't try to pass the buck around, but try to help the client. The client will in turn remember you and ask you to help them in the future, which will bring in more business.

Thanks,

Richard Rinyai
www.theprofessionalassistant.net

Great article.

Your readers might want to try www.Measuredup.com a leading customer service review website where people share reviews with other users and with companies. Companies that are involved with and value customer service read Measuredup to keep up on what people are saying and to be able to improve customer service.

It is free and easy to use.

Amazon outsourced CS to the Philippines a third world country where people can't speak english and if they do, cannot savvy american ways!

When one says something, there is a long pause and then "senor, did you say...."

I'll never pay a cent for Vista!

I'll get a great clone shop to install components and then install XP Prof myself. I'll buy an extra hard drive and install Fedora 8 on that HD.

fastest mother board
Adaptec SCSI controller and 2 Seagate SCSI HDs (1 for XP Prof and 1 for fedora 8)
Video board (adds an extra fan for a total of 4)
install the rest yourself
Card for extra USB 2.1 ports
Flextor and/or Sony CD/DVD RW +- DL drives
USB Fax/data modem (Linux compatible)
sound card (Linux compatible)

To hell with Dell!

How about that HP? I purchased an HP refurbished Desktop from Fry's (by mail) that came with a nice wireless keyboard - but was missing the Receiver for it. After first insisting I contact the retailer (which I protested since the carton was sealed), then saying they were checking and validating my registration of the product, and finally saying I would "shortly" be contacted by a specialist to get me the missing component, there has just been dead silence. Three months later, I am still unable to use the lovely device, since it won't connect to anything!

Have any of you reported your treatment to you state Attorney General's office of Comsumer Fraud?

That has helped me a couple of times with auto mechanics, and department stores who did not live up to their service agreements.

Hey J.B. --

You want a system with XP? Buy a system with XP. Vista systems are guaranteed to run with Vista, not XP, which is as it should be. That was a dumb complaint!

I bought an OLPC B1G1 on Dec 5 and got it on Dec 12. Of course the touchpad was haywire and the SD slot would't eject. Otherwise it's a fabulous unit. I have returned it with an RMA on Jan 5. On Jan 18 I contacted support via email and got a very apologetic note explaining that they indeed were way behind shipping an I would get it in a couple of weeks.

I've see a lot of other posts about people never recieving them originally ,so we'll see if I ever get a replacement. Or if it works.

I wonder if they quit shipping altogether since they've had so many quality issues

I would really like to see ALL CEO's salary be dependent on the satisfaction with A: their products, B: their customer service and C: and at least a 15% profit with a bonus if they excel at all three...Performance, what a novel concept...

Kind of funny how Amazon won't just send your friend a new parrot, considering how it sent NYTimes columnist Joe Nocera a $400 PlayStation replacement "no questions asked" just before the holidays...

http://lairigmarketing.blogspot.com/2008/01/free-playstations-for-everyone-sort-of.html

A reputation is easy to lose -- just promise too much and deliver too little.

Such as Google, which seems to think that an email service doesn't need to be supported or do what was promised. Check out this amazing, ever-growing thread on a Gmail problem Google acknowledged and promised to fix months ago.

http://groups.google.com/group/Gmail-POP-and-Forwarding/browse_thread/thread/6ac208f614aef602/9ea906d95fdd8745

December 2006, I ordered a cellphone for my son, and upgraded mine to a new one. Since they would arrive while we were visiting family during Christmas vacation, I had the phones shipped out to Indiana. We live in Massachusetts. The phones are registered in Massachusetts. They have Massachusetts area codes (although with number portability I'm not sure whether that matters or not).

But ever since then, Sprint has been billing me for Indiana telephone taxes *as well as* Massachusetts taxes.

I've spent at least 6 hours on the phone - mostly on hold as my call gets bounced from one person to another. I've been told my Massachusetts area code is an Indiana area code. I've been told that I'd get a $20 credit for my troubles - but it would take 3 months to show up on the bill. (*what*!?!?! funny, when I added services - meaning I pay more - *that* shows up nice and fast). It never showed up, of course. I've gotten at least 2 case numbers. I was given a special telephone number "to the taxes division" - it goes to a pre-recorded message about *federal* taxes. I admit, I got a little testy when other customer "service" people gave me that number again.

I've given up - it's about $1.50/month, and not worth wasting any more time trying to get it corrected.

When my daughter's phone died and I needed to replace it I bought one on eBay - no way am I extending my service plan with Sprint! As soon as my time is up with them, I'm switching to a different provider.

Sad part is that I've had quite good luck with the cellphone service itself. (surprisingly good, considering reviews don't rate it that highly)

Just a thought, but when I've run into horrible customer service, I'll dispute the charges with my bank. If the company in question is so hard to reach, my bank (1stBank of Colorado) can be amazingly helpful. Doesn't usually get the service, but does get my money back.

There is a whole industry going about responding to bad customer service - see consumerist.com

Here's another Sprint service story. I got a phone call from Sprint, asking me if I wanted a new phone. I asked if this was an upgrade to my current phone, A Treo 600 and was told it was - so I ordered. I never did get the phone, but I did get the charges. After the second billing for two phones, I called and got a service rep who told me that this was a second phone, not a substitution, as I had been told, and that the phone had been returned to the warehouse. ??!? I asked how they could charge me for a phone that I hadn't even received and said that, since I had not ever received the phone, I expected them to cancel the entire transaction. They gave me back the two months they billed me but charged me $200 to cancel the new phone's service contract.
I'm another customer who will be leaving Sprint as soon as my contract is done. Apparently over 100,000 other ex-customers feel the same - lost in one quarter. You would think _someone_ in management would check this out. Maybe they are all too comfortable on their fat salaries and extras. If I was a stock-holder in Sprint, I'd be writing nasty letters to the BoD and senior mgmt.

Amazon, has to be up there on the list of poor customer service. I ordered 3 Sansa Clip mp3 players through their website in early December for Christmas Gifts. Tech Depot (subsidiary of Office Depot) would be the order fulfillment center for the order. Tech Depot was o/s at the time but I had over 3 weeks before Christmas and I figured it would be in before then and I would get the product in plenty of time for Christmas.

One week later I get an email from Tech Depot/Amazon that my order has been canceled because the item is still not in stock and their procedure is to cancel any order if it's been 7 days and the item is still not in stock. I didn't get any notice of this before and no opportunity to continue to backorder the item. Just the notice of cancellation. And, of course, when I went back to check Amazon's site for what to do next, I noticed that they conveniently raised the price from $39/ea to $59/ea.

I quickly ordered directly from Sansa for the $39 and shipping was cheaper. The mp3 players arrived just in time for Christmas, no thanks to Amazon/Tech Depot

Amazon will not get any more business from me because my last order for a replacement battery for my HP laptop died totaly in about 5 months of seldom use. Amazon sales rep said there in a 90 day warranty on the Li-Ion battery and I am positive the warranty period was one year and asked to see the ad from April 2007 and they ignored my two requests. I contacted the Chinese maker of the Li-Ion batterys by email and they said my only choice was to buy a new battery pack. Well amazon if I do decide to buy one don't expect to hear from me.

Here's another Sprint service story. If I was a stock-holder in Sprint, I'd be writing nasty letters to the BoD and senior mgmt.
Posted by: CSClay at January 22, 2008 10:29 AM

Re: "Here's another Sprint service story"
Posted by CSClay at January 22, 2008 10:29 AM

I had horrible problems with Sprint. I finally contacted a consumer reporter at the newspaper and she was able to help me get it straightened out by calling someone in their PR dept. I know longer have a contract with them, I'm month to month. When my phones finally crap out, I will be buying a pre-paid phone instead. It looks like this will be very soon because I got a notice from them telling me that analog service would not longer be available after Feb 18, 2008. Here are some more good reasons to bail out of Sprint before this 'titanic' goes down:

Sprint to cut 4,000 jobs
Jan 18, 2008

Sprint Nextel (S.N), the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, said on Friday it will cut about 4,000 jobs and close about 8 percent of its stores, predicting further pressure on its ability to attract subscribers and turn a profit in 2008.

Sprint shares fell 7 percent in pre-market trading from its close of $11.57 on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company said it would cut 125 stores and eliminate more than 4,000 sales outlets within retailers. Sprint has about 20,000 total distribution points, including some 1,400 of its own retail stores.

Sprint expects the measures to trim labor costs by an annual rate of $700 million to $800 million by the end of 2008. It will record a first-quarter charge for severance costs.

Sprint has been losing ground to bigger rivals such as AT&T Inc (T.N) amid network and customer service problems that drove away high-value post-paid customers who pay monthly bills.

Its has also been hurt by a U.S. credit crunch for subprime borrowers, also known as prepaid customers, who often pay for calls in advance so they do not have to commit to a long-term mobile phone contract.

The company said on Friday it saw a net gain of 500,000 subscribers through wholesale channels, growth of 256,000 Boost Unlimited users and net additions of 20,000 subscribers in its affiliate channels.

Sprint also reported net losses of 683,000 post-paid subscribers and 202,000 prepaid subscribers for the quarter. In total, Sprint's subscriber base was 53.8 million at the end of 2007, including 40.8 million post-paid and 4.1 million prepaid customers.

Sprint is due to release its fourth quarter results on February 28.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sprint Names Hesse to Replace Forsee After Defections (Update4)

By Amy Thomson and Crayton Harrison
Dec. 18, 2008 (Bloomberg) -- Sprint Nextel Corp., the third- biggest mobile-phone company in the U.S., named Daniel Hesse chief executive officer to end subscriber losses and take market share from AT&T Inc.

Hesse, 54, who takes over after Gary Forsee's ouster in October, spent more than 25 years in the communications industry and had been CEO at Sprint's local-phone spinoff, Embarq Corp. As an AT&T executive before that, he helped create the largest wireless company in the U.S.

At Sprint, Hesse will lead a company that lost more than a million customers in the past five quarters and faces fresh challenges from AT&T, the exclusive seller of the iPhone. He may use a plan similar to his moves at Embarq, where he was cutting 1,000 jobs and closed call centers as users shut off land lines.

``He's done an excellent job of running Embarq in very difficult times,'' Stanford Group Co.'s Michael Nelson said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. At Sprint, ``the big issue is re-addressing the company's marketing strategy. They have a strong handset lineup, but they really do not have a strong marketing message.'' The New York-based analyst advises investors to hang on to Sprint shares.

Last month, Sprint cut its forecasts for next year after losing the most contract subscribers since at least 2005. The company, which lost 337,000 customers last quarter, is on course for its first annual sales decline since 2003.

Sprint shares rose 11 cents to $14.02 at 10:30 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Before today, they had dropped 25 percent since Forsee's ouster on Oct. 8.

Embarq Shuffle

Tom Gerke, Embarq's general counsel, will serve as interim chief until a replacement is found. James Hance, a senior adviser to the Carlyle Group, remains Sprint's chairman, the company said today in a statement.

Hesse had been chairman and CEO at Embarq since its spinoff from Reston, Virginia-based Sprint in May 2006. He led the unit for a year before that and spent 23 years at AT&T, where he ran the wireless services group from 1997 to 2000. Sprint said he boosted sales at triple the rate of rivals.

``He has strong operations experience so he's a good fit for what they need,'' Ben Abramovitz, an ICAP analyst in New York, said in an interview. He has a neutral rating on the shares.

Forsee, 57, failed to quickly integrate operations from Nextel Communications, bought in 2005, and customers fled amid service disruptions. Sprint ended September with 41.4 million contract subscribers, trailing AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless.

The rate of contract subscriber turnover at Sprint, or churn, was 2.3 percent last quarter, compared with an average of 2.1 percent in the previous 10 quarters, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Nextel Merger

Sprint had a tougher time than officials anticipated integrating the $36 billion purchase of Nextel and began firing 5,000 workers in January to weather customer defections.

Rivals have fared better. AT&T, based in San Antonio, won subscribers with new handsets such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone, which doubles as an iPod music player. Sprint countered with its own music-playing phones, such as High Tech Computer Corp.'s Touch and Samsung Electronics Co.'s UpStage.

Verizon Wireless, jointly owned by Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group Plc, added 1.7 million contract subscribers last quarter, luring them away from Sprint with faster Internet access and new handsets.

To contact the reporter on this story: Crayton Harrison in Dallas at tharrison5@bloomberg.net ; Amy Thomson in New York at athomson6@bloomberg.net

always ALWAYS

(1) get a clone shop to build you a PC

(2) get a "no questions bring it all back" return policy

(3) stay away from Dell and others whose CS is in Mangidongi India or ClongyDongy Philipines!
My cable company's CS is in Canada and even those are dense to 'merican ways/culture

remember when the MS messenger just came out in 2001??

I just bought XP Prof and was getting gray popups from the lower left MS messenger icon.

I asked Microsoft "how do I stop there popups with prurient content?"

A lady from Microsoft with a heavy chinese name emailed me:

"disconnect from the internet"

Americans are super smart and those places where CS is outsourced to are DENSE!

Dude! do one of those votes (like MSNBC.com) where the audience is asked to vote the worst CS!

For me the worst are

Directv
Suddenlink cable
chase bank (super DUH!)
wells fargo bank

Looks like HP is on the ignore the customer bandwagon. I purchased an $1800 laptop directly from HP, at close to a year the unit started shutting off in the middle of work (due to what appeared to be overheating problems). It took two online chats and two phone calls just to get a service ticket opened succesfully, a promise (never fulfilled) to ship a replacement hard drive, two shipments to their service facility, both times with the unit coming back in the same broken condition is was sent to them in (I guess they don't know how to run diagnistics at the service depot).

The second time I sent the laptop to HP they had it for over 4 weeks. When I asked the "escalation case manager" (apparantly as high as you can go at HP when you have a service problem) why they were not honoring the "3- day turnaround time" promised on the Care Pack that I purchased with the laptop he replied (with a tone of you stupid customer in his voice) "if you would bother to read our service agreement we don't have to honor the turnaround time when parts are back ordered".
The case managers never call back, are rude and flat out do nothing to help the customer. Two months after starting my HP experience, no fixed laptop and an IT manager who will never buy another HP product (for work or home).

Bottom line, in all my 25+ years of being in the IT business I have never seen such poor support, complete disreguard for the customer and clear inability for an employee to do the right thing for the customer. I predict a meltdown at HP just like the one that happened at Dell when they forgot about the customer.