Time: A Warped View from the Customer's Perspective

From working in this store for a couple years now, I have learned one thing.  Our customers have a really distorted view when it comes to time.  The customers also have a hard time actually listening to what we tell them and imagine we say different things, but that is a topic for another post.  Anyway, I have a couple of stories that will help you see time from the customer's perspective.  There are many factors that determine when a computer that comes in for service will be completed.  Depending on if there are tech associates on the schedule who have the certification to work on computers, how much other bullshit needs to be done in the store, if there is actually an overlap in the schedule so tech work can be completed, and lastly how many computers are currently in the store that need to be worked on.

THE "I NEED IT BACK YESTERDAY" CUSTOMER

If you ever worked as a tech at a retail store you can probably attest that this can be one of the most annoying customers you will encounter.  They drop off their computer which they use for work and it's full of porn.  Apparently actually doing work came second for the need to crank one out.  Anyway they bring it in and ask we get to it as soon as possible.  Then we glance over at our production board and realize that there are about 10 other computers ahead of this one.  We explain that because there are other computers ahead of theirs the wait be a little longer usually 3-4 days if we are backed up.  This is always too much for the customer to hear and they always get extremely frustrated that we aren't miracle workers.

Finally we check in their computer, get to work on some of the others so we can get to their precious as soon as possible.  Maybe an hour or two went by and they call to check the status of their computer.  Are you fucking serious right now?  You just checked in we are still working on the other 10 computers that were ahead of yours.  And you aren't helping  by calling constantly to check up on your baby.  We will call you once we know what the problem is and a way to fix it.

So maybe about two to three days later we are able to get to that computer and we call the customer and tell them what needs to be done.  We usually have it complete the next day once we know what the problem is.  And this is where it gets really fucked up.  We rushed to get their computer done because they need it and when we call them to tell them it is ready they say, "Oh it's ready? I'll be in next week or next month to pick it up!" WTF?? You were mad that we weren't able to rush your computer and when it done within the time frame we gave you, you aren't even picking it up for a freaking month?  This has happened multiple times...

THE "I HAD IT HERE RECENTLY, SO IT IS YOUR FAULT" CUSTOMER

This customer also can piss off a tech.  Our warranty period for tech services is 30 days.  Within 30 days a customer can bring their computer back and we can look at it for no additional charge. Unless something else completely seperate from the original problem occurs then it may need additonal services.  Anyway the customer brings in the computer says we did a tune-up not long ago on it and since then it has been acting weird.  Ok, lets see when your computer was last here.  So it's now Februrary 2012 and your computer was last here in April 2011... That wasn't recent at all.  If the problem of not getting on the Internet just occured in the last week there is no freakin way what we did in April 2011 affected it now...

THE "IT WAS DONE ON TIME, BUT I AM NOT HAPPY" CUSTOMER

Recently our TSAT came down and we were sitting at 78%.  That means 78% of the people that took the survey said we did perfect.  That's pretty damn good if you ask me, well not according to management.  Management only gets mad about how they run the store when the CSAT & TSAT come out.  Anyway, there is a section on the TSAT where customers can actually write about how we did.  Things they liked and things they didn't like.  One customer gave us a 4 out of 5 (which brought down the score to the 78% by the way) and this is exactly what the comment said. "THEY TOLD ME IT WOULD BE DONE IN 3-4 DAYS AND IT WAS, BUT I AM STILL NOT HAPPY"  I'm sorry I didn't rub your feet and lay out a red carpet for you when you came in the store fucktard.

Until Next Time!