Broke my phone because it slid put off my pocket to the floor and under the stupidly designed railing on the floor beneath it. Had to call T-Mobile to get it fixed, zillions of phone menus later got some phone drone to take my details, which she did, but could she make an appointment to send me an envelope to send the phone to them?
Of course not. That was a different department. So now I have to be called back to make an appointment to get the envelope to send the phone to get it fixed… Why oh why can’t companies have flat help desks that can handle every kind of routine question rather than have us submit to their internal bureaucracy?
CF Oxtrot
March 24, 2011 at 12:56 pmThe Service Economy.
That’s why.
Middle managers can make more money if they split a single job into 12 jobs, because they can claim more responsibility for managing 12, more than it takes to manage 1.
Extreme example but you probably get the drift.
That’s the post-Vietnam model in America, at least: service economy, corporate bureaucratic bloat, suburban blight, “luxurizing” the middle and lower-middle classes.
Ain’t it a treat?
Jay Vos
March 25, 2011 at 2:09 amSounds typical of what happens here. Why couldn’t she just have transferred you to the appropriate service desk person?
Through my provider AT&T, I’ve got mobile phone “insurance,” which I pay a hefty monthly fee for. Two phones ago my phone was stolen. I couldn’t just go to the local shop and get a replacement. It had to come to be delivered and that would have taken more than a week (i.e. no rush). Since I was dependent on using the phone, I had to quickly decide if I could wait patiently or buy a new one (discounted, if I extended my contract). Honestly, they get ya going and coming. End of rant.
Martin Wisse
March 27, 2011 at 3:17 pmCF Oxtrot: cynical as you make it sound, I wish it was true, but I suspect a lot of these companies just don’t know any better…
Jay: I ended up getting a local repair shop to look at my phone: eightyeight euros to replace the screen –ouch!