British Airways Service… What Service??

Tags

British Airways, customer service, service

I have a business class ticket with British Airways for flight to the US tomorrow and my assistant tried to check me in, as we are travelling together with another person, we wanted to sit across aisle for long distance flight. She tried three times entering my passport number and because BA system had some other number saved it blocked further entries for the next 24 hours. That part I can (force myself to) understand – computer does not know if someone is trying to enter some passport number and blocks the system for security reasons, whatever those are (like checking someone in without him knowing about it??? After all, booking number and name must match). In any case OK, web page is blocked for 24 hours. Full of hope I called Vienna BA number and spoke to living person there and guess what? She could not do anything.

My question to BA is – what here in that process is something you could call customer support? In what way BA supported me, paying passenger? In none. Zero. Human could not override system decision. Person at BA office did check my identity – what for? To waste my time additionally? BA, your service sucks… because it is not there. I (passenger) save you time and money (because none of your workers has to do it) by checking in online and you even will not allow it or support me when needed??? This is bollocks.

Service, Creativity and Job Market

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creativity, customer service, job market, Rifkin, service, service technician, The Zero Marginal Cost Society

Recently I have witnessed again how our service (especially after-sales service or repair services) don’t work. In one case installing cooling capabilities to already existing heating system was beyond technician’s knowledge or possibilities. In another, broken circuit board costing in Radio Shack in range of 10 dollars was not possible to replace in one of the house-hold appliances, customer was advised to buy new device.

This happens now everywhere. Harvard Business Review had a cartoon depicting technical support technician giving the following advice to some customer calling him: “If it is broken, buy new one”. This is not a joke. It is reality.

I have already written about Apple practices of simply replacing its broken devices either free of charge when those are under warranty or for a fee if those are not. Old, broken devices are then what? Thrown away? Recycled? (whatever that means).

Why is that? I think that great part of explanation of this “throw away” phenomenon (or charging for parts and repair sums close to the value of a new appliance) is in the book I have read recently: “The Zero Marginal Cost Society” by J. Rifkin. In it Mr. Rifkin stipulates that cost of manufacturing nears zero. More and more of stuff we use is made by companies which have managed to (one of the principles of capitalism) drive their costs down as much as possible through cheaper labour, better processes, use of robotics, etc. Capitalism in itself (a paradox) drives costs of goods down. Workers – representing still the biggest chunk of the cost – are being laid off and replaced with automation wherever possible or cheaper workers. The truth is that those savings on the side of manufacture of goods is not being passed on to customers, especially in case of products with fashion or social status attached to them. The prices are left the same or are relatively higher. On the other end in developed countries technicians and other skilled workers are more and more expensive due to social and worker laws. It does not take a genius to see that it makes much more sense to force people to buy more instead of employing someone with enough knowledge to actually repair that thing.

Where in all this comes creativity? On one side creative service technician should be able to suggest ways to repair a device, even using parts offered by other vendors. That cannot be done by someone employed by single specific vendor, obviously. Those vendors limit such creativeness with their procedures – technicians have clear rules what can be done and what not. Mostly ensuing discussions end with “buy a new one”. Or other one. From us, of course. On the other hand, creativity may cause others to make products replacing those with obvious problems. Or someone may figure out how to make spare parts cheaper – that happens slowly already in 3D printing or in household or car industries. Much too slowly, if you ask me.

I think that you already figured out how all this influences job market. Since machines (or automation) replace people, goods are cheap to make, and no one wants to repair them, who needs people? Not everyone can be super-creative, intelligent, expensively educated… Group of people without hopes for any job grows and it will grow even more.

Do I have a solution? No. In competitive – not collaborative – society there is no such solution. You care only for yourself and your family. If you are lucky enough to have a job and belong to group of people with jobs which are still too expensive (or not possible) to be replaced by machines, then you are OK for a time. But if not, you have almost no chance of getting out. Unless you get together and create. Rifkin states in his book that many observe rise of collaborative commons – people pull together and work together to sustain their own group, but that requires cultural change from competition to collaboration on our side, from our own initiative. Interesting where this all will take us… Why? Think – if cost of goods (at least making them) will near zero and people are the biggest cost factor, then people will go. Who will then buy those goods and for what?

Audi Service Sucks (in Krakow, at least).

Tags

Audi, Auto Special, Beltowski, customer service, dealership, service

I drive Audi A6, and until recently, I was really happy with it. Actually I still am happy with it 🙂 But, as mechanical things go, one day my car warned me blinking at me with one of the orange control lamps at the dashboard, that something is not OK with its exhaust / air intake systems. I checked user manual and Audi told me there to visit service as soon as possible. I was then in Krakow, Poland, so I did. I imagined that since I drive Audi, I can expect proper and quick service, or at least that someone will plug my car in and read the actual error code and tell me if I can drive with it for a while. Boy, was I wrong.

First service station was Audi dealer called Auto Special, where I had to wait for a service representative for a while. When he finally came, it was apparent that he was enjoying his cigarette break. He told me that he has no chance to have a look at the car now and that I would have to leave it with them for 5 hours, until the end of the business day. On my question if he has any cars available so I can stay mobile, he said that he doesn’t know. Five hours to plug a damn laptop in seemed like a long time, so I went to the second service point, called Beltowski, on the other end of the city. There I needed to go to service point where also Volkswagen is serviced and I was told… you got it. No chance. They cannot have a look at the car, as many cars were towed in over the weekend (that was Monday) and he has only 3 mechanics working, and… whatever.

I left also that dealership without getting any help. I have no idea what Audi is thinking – my car was not registered in Poland, so it was obvious that I needed some attention, or proper customer service – so at least I would have some peace of mind when driving back home. Especially that it was them who put that “come to service asap” in the manual. Maybe they should add a sentence: come to us, but we will service you if that will not be Monday; we will have more than 3 people working in the service, and if not too many of our soooo reliable cars will not get towed in over the preceding days and someone will be able to plug in our computer to see what’s wrong.

If that is too much to expect from Audi, then I don’t know what I can really expect from them for the relatively steep price. So if you considered buying an Audi thinking that with its price tag comes some guarantee of future attention and quality of service, think again. At least in Krakow.

Austrian Gas Stations

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Austria, customer service, gas station, highway, toilette

This post is meant as a warning to all tourists travelling to Austria with cars. Recently some gas stations (especially the ones near major highways) decided to install pay turnstiles at the entrances to the toilettes. Up to recently, all were free – or had the usual cleaning lady with her plate for coins. Now no more. If you drive and want to piss badly, you may want to piss at the turnstile as a sign of protest. I am seriously considering doing it myself.

Why? Well, after you have paid for the privilege of using the pisser, you will get a receipt with a bar code which can be used towards any purchases at the gas stations. Since majority of the people leave the toilette as a last thing to do, no one gets to use that code. If stations really had to install those gates (toilettes are definitely not cleaner because of that), they could give you the ticket (or tickets, if you were there with a family) to enter as part of your purchase right there where you were paying for your gas or coffee. All would be well and there would be no mathematical difference. If you have no change and ask for help, the explanation is “the other company owns the gates, we don’t, we can’t do anything”. Typical example of shitty customer service (pun intended).

Beware of Austrian gas stations, tourists. Better go pee in the woods.

Apple (couldn’t stop myself…) again

Tags

Apple, customer service, demise, fancy colors, innovation, iPhone, marketing, release

I am happy to report that Apple manages to fulfill my prophecy and is on the best way to disappear in not too distant future. I am talking here about the latest iPhone releases – plural, as this time the old phone will not be made cheaper for customers, which cannot afford newest Apple toy. Instead, it will be made different looking, so that everyone will know about it – new fancy colors will not leave any doubt. As a result, we have a “new” phone and a re-hash of older model. All this packaged as release of two new models.

I find those toys too expensive and marketing approach to them too religious for my taste. Second factor, which I think speaks volumes of the Apple’s demise (it will surely take some time, but it comes) is lack of in-house innovation. Re-hashing of old (or somebody else’s) ideas can surely only work only limited time, even if this is supported by superior design. Thirdly, lack of service or arrogant approach to it cannot be tolerated for much longer by even the most patient buyers.

Surely the customers are not that stupid to support such business model for much longer. Or are they?