I am working on the E-Rate paperwork for the library. I'm at the point where I need my service provider's signature and for them to fill out a tiny section of the paperwork. In the past this has just taken a little time for the faxes to be sent and returned with not much of a problem. This year I fear is going to be a nightmare.
A few moments ago I placed a call to the customer service representative who always handles this for me. I was told she has taken a leave of absence until January 1st and I am passed to another lady who has taken her place. She answers the phone nice enough but when I explain what I need she immediately shouts that she cannot or will not be doing that. She states that she knows nothing at all about this and from the tone of her voice she does not care to ever know about it. In fact, she said, "I saw a paper on that last night and thought well I'm not doing anything with that stuff." I've never heard of it and it's just out of my realm of ability. I refuse to be responsible for that sort of stuff. Okay???? What am I to think at this point? She states again that the regular person won't be back until January. I relay to her that I am on a rigid time frame with this paperwork and that won't work. Then she mentions that maybe someone else in the office would be willing to deal with it because she is not. She places me on hold for several minutes and comes back to tell me that another lady in the office (a manager) has agreed to look at it if I fax her the paperwork. The manager wants to show it to her boss and see what he thinks about it but of course, he will not be in the office until next week. Hmmm, there goes my time frame thing again.
Now it's not like this is something they haven't been doing for a long time as we have six libraries in this county and each of us fills out the same paperwork every year. The company who shall remain nameless is the ONLY company in this area so they have quite the monopoly on things around here. So there are no other options for us. *Personal note here.....I could write a whole blog on the quality of service I receive at my house from this same company.
I have now faxed the paperwork with no response thus far. Am I going to hold my breath for a response? I think I better not. From the tone of her voice and the way she yelled at me for even asking about this I am pretty certain they are going to make this as difficult as possible. Towards the end I mentioned that maybe they could call the person on leave and have her tell them what to do. She yelled at me that she would not be doing that. Why? That's the question I have. Why act like this?
Pam's Point: Let's make it suggestions this time. The most obvious problem was with her tone of voice and yelling at me. This is completely unacceptable in customer service. It seems especially relevant since I was not being unruly or anything of the sort. I simply asked a question. Also, when you have a company and someone takes leave for a considerable amount of time you should make certain that the employee chosen to cover that position is fully informed on how to perform the tasks of the job (or in this case even willing to do the job). Surely someone in the company knows about the E-rate program and could lend a hand? If not, someone needs to step up and do a quick study on the program and the duties that go with it.
I'm now left with an upset feeling. Upset because I was treated very poorly for no reason whatsoever and alarmed that my E-rate stuff is probably not going to be processed correctly or even at all with this company. I'm even more convinced than ever of how much I loathe this company (remember I mentioned how horrible the service is anyway). I don't even know how to process all of this. Maybe it is too soon for me to write about it. But I know that I do not conduct myself in this manner to customers and I do not expect to be treated this way. This was a very bad example of how to conduct yourself in a business setting and even a personal setting I believe.
