PRIVATE Bureaucracies Mess Up, Too
I've often heard the argument that the U.S. public bureaucracy is too large, has itself too wrapped up in red tape, and is completely inefficient and, in some cases, useless, particularly when it is compared with the private enterprise or corporartion.
Well, this weekend was quite strange. First, on Friday evening, just before heading to bed, I received an SMS text message on my cellular phone, informing me that I was about to run out of "fair & flexible" minutes, based on my cellular plan/contract. Of course, this was plainly not so, so I jumped up out of bed and decided to check my latest invoice on www.sprint.com. After meandering through a maze of webpages, I finally came across what seemed like an invoice. Of course, the information supported what I thought was right: I was not nearing my minute-usage cut-off. Of course, I did not feel that checking my invoice on line was enough, so I decided to call customer service. After several key strokes, I finally was placed on hold by an automated voice. After being on hold for about 3 minutes, the automated voice announced that the Sprint Customer Service office was closed, and it proceeded to rattle off the hours the office is opened. Frustrated, I went to bed.
Now, on Saturday, after getting up and even before having breakfast, I decided to call the Sprint customer service center. After, once again, meandering through a maze of key strokes, I finally got a live person, who, after I explained my situation explained to me that the reason my invoice doesn't show my latest minute usage is because my account had not been updated. So, I kindly asked the young lady why she could view my latest invoice, yet I couldn't. She responded that on Monday, my online invoice would be available, and then days later, my "paper" invoice would be mailed to me. When I asked to speak with her supervisor, she hung up on me! I called back and finally received the information from a young man who explained to me that my bill was that high because I had made some long-distance calls to Latin America, which, of course, was not true, so now, I have to wait until my "paper" bill comes in the mail to dispute this! Argh!
Later that evening, my brother and I decided to order pizza for dinner. I, being high-tech and all (Yeah right! Lol), decided to order my pizza online at www.papajohns.com. I opted to pick up the pizza, as opposed to having it delivered because I was going to stop at a Blockbuster store that was close by. Well, after arriving at the pizza parlor, the representative, quite abruptly told me that my order had not been received. He, not knowing how to read the screen properly, it seemed, disappeared from the cash register and went into the backroom to fetch his supervisor. The supervisor, then, rudely told me that the order had not been received and that I should use MY cellular phone to call the pizza parlor in MY neighborhood to see if the order went there. At this point, I was frustrated, so I simply called...IT WAS NOT THERE EITHER. The supervisor promised that she and her staff could have it done in 10 minutes, I gave in and decided to burn time by visiting the nearby Blockbuster store.
I got to the Blockbuster store, and eyed a wonderful "foreign film" section, and chose, what would have been, an interesting love story from the Czech Republic. I got to the register and realized that I left my "Rewards" card at the apartment. After explaining this to the representative, he claimed that since I had not been to that store in under sixty days, he would not be able to look up my name in their system. I placed the DVD on the counter and darted out of the store in utter frustration.
At least the pizza was good...
The lesson I learned, here, is that the U.S. public bureacracy is really not that bad after all, as I have gotten better service, and I have witnessed greater efficiency at my local Team Metro office. What's the difference? Team Metro is a localized, neighborhood-oriented division of our county's government, so personal service becomes easier. All the other corporate franchises I had to deal with this past weekend were just off-shoots of a larger (or too large) machine, hence the rules and "redtape" that people tend to associate ONLY with government. Therefore, it's an unfair assessment to assume that only PUBLIC bureaucracies have redtape and inefficiency. How could Sprint not have its online invoices updated and prepped for the customer to view right away? How could Papa John's not have a back up system for issues concerning online orders? And finally, how could Blockbuster NOT have a back up system for its patrons who may have forgotten their membership cards? These corporations have the resources and the where-with-all...Don't they? Or do they just Not care about the consumer anymore? Hmmmm...I am inclined to believe the latter. *Sigh*
Well, this weekend was quite strange. First, on Friday evening, just before heading to bed, I received an SMS text message on my cellular phone, informing me that I was about to run out of "fair & flexible" minutes, based on my cellular plan/contract. Of course, this was plainly not so, so I jumped up out of bed and decided to check my latest invoice on www.sprint.com. After meandering through a maze of webpages, I finally came across what seemed like an invoice. Of course, the information supported what I thought was right: I was not nearing my minute-usage cut-off. Of course, I did not feel that checking my invoice on line was enough, so I decided to call customer service. After several key strokes, I finally was placed on hold by an automated voice. After being on hold for about 3 minutes, the automated voice announced that the Sprint Customer Service office was closed, and it proceeded to rattle off the hours the office is opened. Frustrated, I went to bed.
Now, on Saturday, after getting up and even before having breakfast, I decided to call the Sprint customer service center. After, once again, meandering through a maze of key strokes, I finally got a live person, who, after I explained my situation explained to me that the reason my invoice doesn't show my latest minute usage is because my account had not been updated. So, I kindly asked the young lady why she could view my latest invoice, yet I couldn't. She responded that on Monday, my online invoice would be available, and then days later, my "paper" invoice would be mailed to me. When I asked to speak with her supervisor, she hung up on me! I called back and finally received the information from a young man who explained to me that my bill was that high because I had made some long-distance calls to Latin America, which, of course, was not true, so now, I have to wait until my "paper" bill comes in the mail to dispute this! Argh!
Later that evening, my brother and I decided to order pizza for dinner. I, being high-tech and all (Yeah right! Lol), decided to order my pizza online at www.papajohns.com. I opted to pick up the pizza, as opposed to having it delivered because I was going to stop at a Blockbuster store that was close by. Well, after arriving at the pizza parlor, the representative, quite abruptly told me that my order had not been received. He, not knowing how to read the screen properly, it seemed, disappeared from the cash register and went into the backroom to fetch his supervisor. The supervisor, then, rudely told me that the order had not been received and that I should use MY cellular phone to call the pizza parlor in MY neighborhood to see if the order went there. At this point, I was frustrated, so I simply called...IT WAS NOT THERE EITHER. The supervisor promised that she and her staff could have it done in 10 minutes, I gave in and decided to burn time by visiting the nearby Blockbuster store.
I got to the Blockbuster store, and eyed a wonderful "foreign film" section, and chose, what would have been, an interesting love story from the Czech Republic. I got to the register and realized that I left my "Rewards" card at the apartment. After explaining this to the representative, he claimed that since I had not been to that store in under sixty days, he would not be able to look up my name in their system. I placed the DVD on the counter and darted out of the store in utter frustration.
At least the pizza was good...
The lesson I learned, here, is that the U.S. public bureacracy is really not that bad after all, as I have gotten better service, and I have witnessed greater efficiency at my local Team Metro office. What's the difference? Team Metro is a localized, neighborhood-oriented division of our county's government, so personal service becomes easier. All the other corporate franchises I had to deal with this past weekend were just off-shoots of a larger (or too large) machine, hence the rules and "redtape" that people tend to associate ONLY with government. Therefore, it's an unfair assessment to assume that only PUBLIC bureaucracies have redtape and inefficiency. How could Sprint not have its online invoices updated and prepped for the customer to view right away? How could Papa John's not have a back up system for issues concerning online orders? And finally, how could Blockbuster NOT have a back up system for its patrons who may have forgotten their membership cards? These corporations have the resources and the where-with-all...Don't they? Or do they just Not care about the consumer anymore? Hmmmm...I am inclined to believe the latter. *Sigh*
posted by Rog at 5:12 PM
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