Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large. 

Basic table stakes

For a control-freak like me, it’s difficult to entrust tasks to somebody else. But that’s just it: we can’t avoid that in this life. It’s impossible to have all the expertise. At some point you’re going to have to pay someone to do a job. More expensive the service, higher the anxiety. It’s a leap of faith every time I task things out to a new-to-me establishment.

My requirements are not (or shouldn’t be) out of the ordinary: competence, attention to detail, and great communication. I want the job done correctly and comprehensively. I want inquiries to be answered in a timely manner, and be constantly updated during the process. Control-freaks hate to not know what’s going on. You have no idea how much I welcomed package delivery tracking in the early days of the Internet. To be able to know exactly where a box is and when it will arrive? That’s just good customer service.

Notice I did not mention price. I am willing to pay a premium for any place of business with the three requirements I mentioned. This is capitalistic America, after all.

I try to mirror the same three qualities in my line of work. Solving user computing issues is definitely a customer service job. So I take care to be the sort of support agent that I myself would want to bring problems to. Users get timely communication every step of the way. The work will be done within an appropriate timeframe. Laptops leave my hands in better shape and cleanliness than when I receive them.

We’ve all encountered bad customer service in our lives. I do not want to be a part of the problem. And when I find an establishment I can rely on, we are best friends for life. For example: I will patronize only this America’s Tire branch for as long as I live in this region.

Saja boy.