There a brief Wikipedia entry on Yorkshire Day if you are interested.

The Yorkshire flag

Whatever the reason, I think there’s some renewed interest in using the discarded shell that is WNY Natter, reverting back to the original purpose which revolved around the words “blethering”, “mardy” and “tyke”.  Check the about page if you feel a need to understand that!

Anyway, you are warned.  Or I am.  What follows this entry is unpredictable.

If anything follows it.

Three weeks after a promise to correct the categorization of the book on their system, it is still wrongly categorized.  It is still therefore ineligible for any of the discount coupons they keep emailing out.

I’d follow up on the last message from their customer services department but I really don’t think they care.

Sigh.

I recently discovered that I can get a discount off my cell bill with AT&T through my employer.  Great!  Every bit helps.  So, off to the AT&T store to arrange it.

Problem 1:  They are happy to apply the discount but want a $36 fee to do so.  I have great problems with paying to get a discount (Barnes & Noble being my least favorite bookseller but the failings of their customer service exceed even their marketing errors) so contacted AT&T and with no debate got the fee dropped.

Problem 2:  The account has to be in my sole name, as the employee.  Again, AT&t happy to switch it over with no mention of any consequences.  The first bill shows an $18 fee per line (so $54 total) to switch names.  I called up customer service, explained that this was a hidden, unmentioned charge, and they took it off the bill quicker than I could say “Verizon”.

Would AT&T have been so quick to make those changes if they weren’t under pressure from competition?  I’d like to think so, but deep down I suspect not. 

Anyway, well done AT&T!

Anyway, our daughter was given a Beanie Buddy when she was born.  It has become, over the years, a much loved toy and a well battered one.  Because of nothing better to do, we recently thought about having a stand-by replacement available.  I know, it could never replace the original, but should something happen to it she will be devastated and possibly it’s “twin” will help that moment.  Clearly, as the item was originally marketed as a “collectible”, since “retired”, and there are masses of sites hyping up the beanie ranges, this was going to be a challenge.

Or not.

I found a replacement, in mint condition, for $3.  Yes, $3.  And plenty of them around.  And there was me, worried that it would be hard to find and expensive.

Ho hum.

At this time of year customer service is important.  As people try and find those elusive Christmas presents the last thing they need is grief from poor customer service.  In the space of a couple of days I’ve had to contact online customer service for both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Amazon sent an item that got damaged in their warehouse.  Not enough to warrant returning the item, but enough that they should be aware.  I received an email response from them within minutes.  And no, I’m not talking about the standard “we have received your email and will be back to you soon” automated email, this was from a real live person, addressing the specific issue.  An unexpected level of service, and all the more laudable because of it.  Issue was resolved quickly.  Great customer service.

Barnes & Noble sent a coupon.  Great!  Books make great presents and cheaper books are even better.  So, I went online to use the coupon only to be informed, in red text, that the book chosen did not qualify for the coupon.  As with too many coupons nowadays the small print detailing the exclusions was far too long, but I think I pinned it down to the fact that the book was classified as a textbook.  Huh?  A book of science fiction short stories is a text book?  Clearly a mistake on their part, so an email was duly sent to customer service.

Customer Service (Madelyn) replied to say that the coupon coundn’t be applied to the book as it was a textbook and the coupon wasn’t valid on textbooks.  Great.  Told me nothing I didn’t know already and didn’t help at all.

So I queried it again.

Customer Service (Kris) wrote back to thank me for pointing out the incorrect classification and to assure me they would correct it as soon as possible.

So I wrote back, as the coupon had now expired, asking if I could get the book at the price I would have paid at the weekend, if their data had been correct.  A fair question, I think.

Customer Service (Rose) replied to tell me that until the online details had been corrected the coupon could not be applied.

At this stage I got tired of the game and ordered the item from Amazon.  A couple of things to note:

No-one at B&N customer service seems to own this issue, even after it was assigned a unique reference.  Each response was from a different person.  That is not good customer service.

No-one at B&N customer service has actually delivered any customer service.  I’ve been told what I already know.  They have promised to update the classification for the book.  But no-one has actually addressed the issue from the customer standpoint.  That isn’t bad customer service, it isn’t customer service at all.

There a brief Wikipedia entry on Yorkshire Day if you are interested.

The Yorkshire flag