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RANT: photo service

 
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Company shall remain nameless. And to any other moderator, feel free to delete if I crossed the line.

Tried to upload 700 pictures to a photo service (so that I can have prints made). It failed at 20. Tried again for the rest. It failed again. And again. And again.


Filed a complaint about how I tried to upload 700 pictures and it keeps failing. The response?


Our records indicate that only 215 photos were uploaded to your account on 01.12.10.




Well... Doh!!! If I had uploaded all 700, would I be complaining?!?!?!? How should I even answer such a useless response?

Henry
 
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Henry Wong wrote:Filed a complaint about how I tried to upload 700 pictures and it keeps failing. The response?

Our records indicate that only 215 photos were uploaded to your account on 01.12.10.


Ask them, how and where I can find those uploaded 215 photos ?
 
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They don't seem to like customers giving them good business
 
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Henry Wong wrote:Company shall remain nameless. And to any other moderator, feel free to delete if I crossed the line.

Tried to upload 700 pictures to a photo service (so that I can have prints made). It failed at 20. Tried again for the rest. It failed again. And again. And again.


Filed a complaint about how I tried to upload 700 pictures and it keeps failing. The response?


Our records indicate that only 215 photos were uploaded to your account on 01.12.10.




Well... Doh!!! If I had uploaded all 700, would I be complaining?!?!?!? How should I even answer such a useless response?

Henry



May be those 215 photos were uploaded due to your multiple trials. They are saying that record says you uploaded 215 photos because they can only see (easily) count of uploaded photos on a single day.
Anyway, it seems some misunderstanding to me.
 
Henry Wong
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ankur rathi wrote:
May be those 215 photos were uploaded due to your multiple trials. They are saying that record says you uploaded 215 photos because they can only see (easily) count of uploaded photos on a single day.
Anyway, it seems some misunderstanding to me.




The 215 pictures were from the many many attempts. And the statement was probably not meant to be sarcastic or anything. But that is not the point.


The point is ... that is the extent of the response (not counting the canned responsed on "how to upload"). There was nothing that was useful in solving the problem. Heck, there was nothing in it that even shows an indication that engineering knows / fixing the problem.

Here I am, trying to upload photos, so I can spend money with them, having problem doing so, and getting a response that serves no pupose. I don't understand. You would think that they want to fix the problem, so people can upload pictures, and be their customers. Oh well, I guess I can try another service.

Henry
 
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Why not call them up speak to their manager?
 
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try some other photo service, there are a lot in market.
 
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In most companies, from what I've seen, Customer Service Reps are some of the lowest paid, worst treated, most ridiculed people in the company...but they are often the ONLY point of contact customers have with the company. And, almost by definition, the customer is already upset.

doesn't this sound like a recipe for disaster?

IMHO, customer service should be every companies NUMBER ONE priority. Without customers, you have nothing. Further, they have angered Henry. Henry is now telling people "This company is SO STUPID I will NEVER use them again". Granted, he didn't name them here, but I bet he's telling people elsewhere who this was, costing them MORE customers.

 
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fred rosenberger wrote:In most companies, from what I've seen, Customer Service Reps are some of the lowest paid, worst treated, most ridiculed people in the company...



There was this one time when my Internet connection was down for a couple of weeks and I shouted at a customer care rep. I knew that shouting wouldn't help, but I did it anyway. I felt very bad about it and haven't done that again. Customer care people have very limited options to help you. But as you said, the company will not get any more business from me and the people who trust me.
 
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fred +1

Not to sound like a bitter curmudgeon, but today's "customer service" is a mythical concept.

I placed an online order last Sunday and paid an extra $10 for 2-day overnight shipping. The webpage said the item was in stock and would ship within 24 hours. Four days later, it still shows as "processing" at their warehouse. I called customer service this morning, and they said they don't know why it didn't ship. But now I'm willing to pay an additional $12 to get it overnight by tomorrow, so they said they would do that and call me back within a half hour to confirm. A few hours later, I had to call them back, only to be disconnected (twice) while on hold. Finally, I got through, and they said they're still waiting for an email from their warehouse. It's definitely in stock, but they don't know whether it's at their California warehouse or their Kentucky warehouse. This is an important detail, because that 3-hour time difference is becoming a critical factor in making today's shipping deadline. I'm guessing it's a lost cause.
 
marc weber
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And that's just today's example. I've had about 5 similar problems over the past month.

But to be fair, I should also mention the good: The one company I'm impressed with is Apple. I had 2 minor issues with my iPhone (sleep button malfunction and intermittant signal loss), and they gave me new phones with no hassles whatsoever. And all my data (apps, settings, notes, contacts, music, videos, photos, etc.) was easily restored from the backup on my computer. Wow!

No product or company is perfect, and I think people understand that. But how they handle problems makes all the difference.
 
Henry Wong
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fred rosenberger wrote:IMHO, customer service should be every companies NUMBER ONE priority. Without customers, you have nothing. Further, they have angered Henry. Henry is now telling people "This company is SO STUPID I will NEVER use them again". Granted, he didn't name them here, but I bet he's telling people elsewhere who this was, costing them MORE customers.



Well, they very likely did lose me as a customer... and not because I am angry. Basically, I have spent more than 24 hours trying to upload 700 pictures, and was only able to get 250 pictures uploaded. I don't know if I am willing to babysit my computer, to constantly retry uploading, (and maybe clean up duplicates and missing pictures) all weekend, in the hopes to upload the pictures.

Paying about 9 cents a print (plus 49 cents a print for shipping and handling) may be acceptable. Losing three days of my life on top of that is not.

Henry
 
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marc weber wrote:...now I'm willing to pay an additional $12 to get it overnight by tomorrow, so they said they would do that and call me back within a half hour to confirm...


Never got that call back. Instead, I received an email that it shipped via 2-day and is expected to arrive Monday or Tuesday. I need it tomorrow. So much for my 4 calls and paying more for overnight.
 
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fred rosenberger wrote:IMHO, customer service should be every companies NUMBER ONE priority.



You do remember that many companies believed as Fred does. Sears up until the 90s, the old Ma Bell up until it was split up. Then the bean counters decided that the call center was just a cost center, and should be given as little money or talent as possible.

In the 1990s, D*** had amazing customer service. I probably bought 7 or 8 computers for my family directly, and consulted with companies that bought 50 to 100. Then about the turn of the century, they decided to cut costs. They went from great to useless in about 12 months. And I have not even considered a D*** computer since. I occasionally hear that D*** has cleaned up their act. I hope so, but they have lost me as a customer and as someone who will recommend them forever.
 
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Never got that call back. Instead, I received an email that it shipped via 2-day and is expected to arrive Monday or Tuesday. I need it tomorrow. So much for my 4 calls and paying more for overnight.



Will they reimburse you for that ?
 
ankur rathi
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I think customer service has been improved so much in last few years.

Also, these private companies has shown us what we can expect from customer service? They shown us that we are important. Otherwise, if you call indian railway for any inquiry they will hang up phone just after giving an answer, they don't listen response or may be next question as if it's one question per call.

 
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Apart from the main topic, I would suggest to go to walgreen/walmart. They are also cheap for photo print and you don't have to pay for delivery.
 
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