Did I not get the memo? Was I not on the distribution list for some reason? At exactly which point did the memo come down from God on high that thou shalt not serve thy customers? I would really like to know.
Honestly, I think companies are so busy these days trying to "work smarter not harder", "think outside the box", and satisfy every other BS buzzword/phrase, that they've forgotten their purpose: to provide customers products or services. This is the very raison d'être of any business. Trust me, if your business isn't providing a product or service to some customer, you won't be in business for long—unless you happen to be a government, of course, in which case you can overcharge and underdeliver with impunity. But that's a separate issue; today's ranting concerns the private sector and how the notion of serving the customer is extinct.
I should note that I raise this issue because the various business transactions of daily life are growing more and more difficult. I truly cannot remember the last time I had a good experience purchasing some non-trivial product or service. And I don't think that it was always this way. I don't remember having such an uphill battle in the past. I'll list some of my recent experiences below in the hope that somebody out there can tell me whether this is just how things are supposed to work.
Levitz: quoted 4 - 6 weeks. At 6 weeks said 8 weeks maximum. At 8 weeks said they'd look into it and get back to me. After they didn't get back to me, I called back and was told that they'd emailed the relevant person. No, they said they didn't have a phone number, and that person would have to email somebody else to get the data.
Speakeasy: Filed for a $200 rebate. 8 weeks later was told that I was declined because I filed an outdated form--which was provided by Speakeasy. Went through all the BS of getting Speakeasy to issue the rebate manually. Rebate processing center confirmed; said I'd have my check in two weeks. Called back two weeks later and was told that was an error; checks would take up to four weeks. Called back four weeks later was told it was just printed two days ago and it would be mailed within 10 business days.
Sprint: Called to check cash back balance. Waded through 3 main levels of voice menus, waded through 3 more pages of options, finally got told no cashback information was available. I was at a dead end in the menu system and the call was disconnected. Tried to call to talk with someone and got connected to a woman with such a thick Spanish accent I eventually just gave up; I couldn't make out a bloody thing she was saying.
Sav-On: Used automated service to request a prescription refill. System confirmed it would be ready at noon. When I got there I discovered that they were out of stock. They were supposed to contact the doctor and find out if an alternate was acceptable, but they didn't. After much prodding on my part they called the doctor and managed to fill the prescription. The whole point of calling it in, of course, was to avoid the 15 - 20 minutes of fussing around that it took anyway.
Went to Jack in the Box and got "Welcome to McDonald's! May I take your order?" Got someone who literally couldn't speak English, so I couldn't tell her that her mic/speaker wasn't working. She got our order wrong to boot and mis-charged us for it to add insult to injury.