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Technology and Accountability

June 18, 2008

So, the other week I went down to Miami Fl, to visit the Law school I will be attending and find a place to live. Since I recently turned 25, I now have the freedom to rent a car, yay! So, upon buying my ticket via Orbitz, I also made arrangements to rent a Pontiac G6, styling indeed. In case you have never been down to Miami, the drivers down there have a unique style about them, they’re nutz. Naturally, I purchased insurance for the car; just in case something unfortunate may happen. I got conformation of the tickets, car and insurance policy which I promptly read through. Upon arriving at the rental car station to pick up my car I realized that I didn’t have my insurance policy with me. It had been a few weeks and I was a little rusty on the particulars. The lady behind the counter did her best job of bamboozling me about how the Orbitz insurance packages umbrella and what I paid for doesn’t give me adequate coverage. She made a passionate argument but still my intuition knew better, yet I had no proof. Luckily a person that I was traveling with had the answer in the form of their trusty IPhone. We quickly went to my e-mail and looked at the insurance that I had purchased. Then I had the pleasure of slowly describing to the saleswoman why I wouldn’t be purchasing their insurance. We still got a Garmin though.

Moral of the story, with modern technology and information at your fingertips, don’t EVER try to lie to a customer. You will be held accountable. I know that the person behind the counter was just trying to do her job and get as many mark ups as she could, but lying is never the way to go about it. With the IPhone and Blackberries being ubiquitous, it’s just too risky. Though I had really no complaints about the trip and the logistics providers from a functional standpoint, it was the disingenuous service that really irritated me. When I knew she was lying, she broke my trust and quite frankly, insulted my intelligence. I then understood her MO and her expectation of myself, which was that I was a sucker. We all know my mantra, The Tuesday Model. Well she pretty much zigged when she should have zagged on all concepts. Needless to say that I doubt I’ll use the same rental-provider again. Moreover, as stated in my last post, a satisfied customer will tell a few people, but an upset or offended customer will tell everyone. And thus, my inspiration for today’s blog post of what not to do to a customer, who fortunately for them shall remain nameless… at least in this post.

Written by AndrewHamann · Filed Under Business & Leadership 

Comments

2 Responses to “Technology and Accountability”

  1. Josh Davis on June 19th, 2008 7:38 am

    Andrew,

    It is really a shame that customers get treated this way in todays society still… I think it is mostly brought on by stress of upper management telling their sales employees that they must “SELL SELL SELL!!!” regardless of how they get the sale. Throwing all morals and ideas of customer retention out the door…

    I am happy to be a part of the LUCRUM team, who actually LISTENS to our customers for what they NEED and not TELLING them what they need. I think it is one of our better qualities as professional ITers.

    By the way… Did you have to use the insurance you purchased?

  2. AndrewHamann on June 19th, 2008 8:11 am

    Fortunately no, I had no traffic accidents during my stay. Put I advise getting it if you ever go down there. Turn signals are seen as a sign of weakness, and you’ll get cut off if you use them. Thus, you must keep your head on a swivel.

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