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I use one provider for internet and cable TV service. Even though they offer the cheapest local rates the costs have been creeping up, so I decided to cut some services. I steeled myself for the inevitable arguments, idiocy and foot-dragging that accompany every single customer service phone conversation. Then I dialed the customer service number and prepared to hold for hours.
Within minutes I was speaking with a pleasant woman named Amy. When I told her I needed to cut some services, she didn't give me a canned sales pitch but simply pulled up my account and got to work. The company had changed the service bundles since my original sign-up, so we discussed different options.
I can live without HBO, I said. I can live without anything premium or expanded except Comedy Central and MSNBC.
"You have to have MSNBC!" Amy replied. "I couldn't live without that myself."
She was so enthusiastic that I had to ask, "Do you watch Olbermann?" Yes, she loved Olbermann. So we spent a minute talking about how indispensible Countdown is, and what pigs they are on Faux, and how we both hate Tim Russert. Then we moved on to Stewart and Colbert.
It was like a dam burst open. We touched on Libby and Bush and Iraq, and how we don't care if Bush vetoes the spending bill, Congress has to pass it and all those who oppose it have to take their lumps. We talked about healthcare and the problems we face, Amy as a single mother of two teens and me as a self-employed worker. We talked about the rich getting richer and the middle class getting creamed. We voted for change. We wanted to see change.
There was so much more we could have talked about but it was a customer service call, after all, and she was being monitored. The whole exchange lasted less than five minutes; we moved from one topic to the next in quick snippets, mindful that she was on the clock. All the while Amy was working on a package that would let me retain all my current services for about $30 less per month. Then she explained how the changes would show up on my statements for a few months even though they are in effect immediately, and what to do if I had any problems.
Finally, she gave me her direct line so I can contact her if I have any questions. No customer service rep has ever done that for me before. We thanked each other for the pleasure of the conversation, wished one another the best of luck, and that was that.
I have never enjoyed a customer service call so much. It actually lifted my spirits and gave me hope for the future. Here is someone with a lot on her plate, raising two teens by herself on what can't be a great salary, and dealing with health problems. But still she is engaged and informed, and hopeful herself.
And to top it all off, she takes what must be a sucky job and does it well. Even if politics had never come up, I would have been really pleased by her attitude and resourcefulness.
I'll be sending a letter of praise to company HQ. Until then, here's to Amy and all who are like her.
:toast: :toast: :toast:
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