Web site revision

My web site has recently been revised by our marketing department. Please take a minute to check it out. I especially like the resources section. I have some really great links there. And, if you have a link request, please don't hesitate to contact me.

To Serve is to succeed and to succeed is to serve

These days, for a business to thrive and become truly successful, I believe that the way the company serves their customers is what will make or break their business. CEO's are learning this lesson the hard way. But many of them are taking it to heart and working on changing their company and their relationship to both their customers and employees. One CEO I know, gets grounded by serving food in the company cafeteria every once in awhile. He says that making sure his employees eat well and are nourished properly is extremely important, but knowing that he actually had a profound effect on each employee's health by putting their food on their plates made him feel like he was taking care of them in a way he couldn't otherwise do. Not only that, but the interactions he has with employees are so totally different on the food line, than at any other opportunity the CEO has to meet them.
Recently, I had a very bad customer experience with a major telecommunications company - Vonage. Here is a copy of a note I wrote to their forum/customer service blog.
Back in the beginning of April, I needed to cancel my Vonage account. Now, let me preface by saying I have been a Vonage customer for several years (and so is most of my family) and very happy with the service. But, I have changed residences and I no longer need the service. So, I followed procedure and went to the vonage web site and filled out the customer service form indicating my request to cancel. It then brought me to a page that says to contact us (in hypertext) and I clicked on that and was taken right back to the original email form. Thereby creating an endless loop that I couldn't get out of except by calling the customer service line - which I did. I spoke with a rep named Stephen (rep ID #25156 - he wouldn't tell me his last name). He handled the call well in the beginning. And tried to salvage the account with special offers - as I am sure he was trained to do. However, I asked for a one month credit on my account as I was not only frustrated by the endless loop, but I had cancelled no less than 4 times on the vonage site back in April. And, they hit my credit card even though I had cancelled. But, I was willing to let the charge go, but then my account never got cancelled. So, the rep tells me (with a profound Indian accent) in order to get the credit, I have to call back in to the toll free and wait and talk to billing. I asked him to transfer me to billing and he said he couldn't. To wit I said "you mean to tell me that Vonage - the leading VOIP technology company cannot execute a simple call transfer from one department to another?" And, he said no he couldn't do that. Then I asked to speak to a supervisor. And his response was "why do you want to talk to a supervisor - they will tell you the same thing as I did". Now, this set me off. I asked to speak to a supervisor no less than 10 times and each time the rep said that the supervisor couldn't help me and I had to call the toll free. But, he could let me speak to someone else - not his supervisor. In call center land (in which I have lived for over 20 years) this is a big no no. If a customer asks to speak to a supervisor (especially more than once), the rep should comply. But, this rep not only did not comply, but he proceeded to ask me what I wanted to speak to the supervisor about (as if he was afraid of the consequences of my speaking to the supervisor).
Well, now I have to go and call in again to billing and see what happens. See you in a couple of hours.
Now, this is why Vonage is in trouble. More to come.