It’s a Puzzlement

I haven’t talked about Customer Service in a while — and don’t plan to say much today — except: Have you noticed how people avoid calling Customer Service until all else has failed? Do you think that was the plan?

Folks don’t really want to deal with a C.S. representative who, A. seldom has the knowledge or authority to solve your problem and, B. lives in another country where English is not even the second language. Many people would rather have an instruction book, figure it out themselves with trial and error, or look on You tube.

This is a bit of a problem because most merchandise bought nowadays comes with no instruction book.  No help at all except maybe a web address on the packing slip.

And it seems to me that the larger and more expensive the item is, the fewer instructions you receive on how to make it work.

A copy machine for your office, a new computer, the smartest phone in the world? No instruction book. You must log into howdoesthisthingwork.com.  Or call customer service.

All this is true. Yet my $10 curling iron came with a little pamphlet telling how to wind my hair around the wand. Actually that was rather helpful.

My two-cup coffee maker from Wal*mart came with instructions on how to make coffee. Pour water in here, place coffee in basket there. And, then, “If you want more coffee, repeat steps 1 – 4.”

The printing on the bottle of hand soap I bought at Dollar Tree: 1. Wet hands 2. Put small amount of soap in palm. 3.  Lather thoroughly and rinse.

There you go. Instructions on how to wash my hands. But if I want the copy machine to collate and staple, I’m on my own.

To quote the King of Siam, “It’s a puzzlement!”