Note: If you want to skip the saga, read the poem at the end.
OK, I promise I won't write about this after today. Sparknotes version of Chico's saga:
1. Ordered something on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Got acknowledgment.
2. After more than a week w/out shipping confirmation, I called.
3. Lengthy hold followed by "We didn't get enough of what you wanted."
4. After more than another week with no cancellation, I wrote an email.
5. Response was "Sorry you feel that way" form letter.
6. Replied saying that none of my issues were addressed.
7. Followed by another canned response, with whine about being a speciality store.
8. Wrote about this on my blog.
9. Contacted by Noelle, who told me to contact her at Chico's.
10. Did so.
11. No response from Noelle.
12. Wrote about that on my blog.
13. New response from Noelle, saying she never got my email, but that I should contact Robert Konst of Customer Service.
14. Did so.
15. Mr. Konst responded that he would be happy to speak to me.
16. I said I would prefer to lay out my issues via email. I sent him copies of the emails I got from Customer Service and wrote a summary of my issues.
17. I sent my email February 6.
18. Are you surprised to hear that I received not a peep from Mr. Konst, not even an acknowledgment that my email was received?
Does all this--admittedly minor--stuff indicate internal problems at the big company?
Thinking of the indifference of the big company to my customer service issues, I am reminded of a poem by Auden:
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
Wait! This is a wonderful poem. I took the lines out of context. Truly, it is not worth wasting this great poem on a story about indifferent customer service. So here is the whole thing.
The More Loving One
W. H. Auden
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.
Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.
Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.
Online text © 1998-2010 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
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11 comments:
So... if there were no Chico's, could you learn to think that sublime?
My French friend Roland said to a store like this, "You have too much money, you don't need mine."
complaining about awful service by my COBRA provider -- and naming names -- on my little tiny blog shocking got my health insurance coverage fixed the next day. this after complaining to the company for 3 months.
Great poem, but really, my brain doesn't understand why you still shop at Chico's. You hate them and rightly so. Why do you give them your money? I see your posts about that damned store and the word 'boycott' comes to mind. I boycott stores and restaurants for giving me far less aggravation that you seem prepared to tolerate.
@Duchesse--You should teach literature! Very good! (It took me a few minutes...)
@littlehouse--Wow. That's what one hopes, but alas not in this case. Congratulations on your success.
@Shelley--I don't really hate them. I just wish they'd stop asking me to get in touch and then not respond.
LOL! At the rate Chico's is going, its stores are going to in total dark sublime...behind the shutters.
I don't shop there anymore, not because of too little service but because of too much. Hate being high-pressured. Nothing annoys me more than some phony saleswoman bubbling on about how great I look in something that makes me look like a potato sack tied in the middle.
Hello,
Unfortunately you has an worse experience with customer service.
BPO
Bad customer service experience was really a mess! Just as we remember good customer service, bad customer service is even more unforgettable.
Small Business Answering service
Going into a Chico's store is like going back into an abusive relationship. They keep promising that they will change, so you walk in the door and wow, do that make you feel unworthy of their time.
Going into a Chico's store is like going back into an abusive relationship. They keep promising that they will change, so you walk in the door and wow, do that make you feel unworthy of their time.
I am encountering similar problems. Although, I must admit I have had actual communication (email and calls)! This contact may stem from the fact that my issue is in regards to my deceased wife's purchases. Did you eventually receive any closure from Chico's? BTW, the poem is great.
@BCB3--So sorry. I didn't see your comment, which was posted at a busy time for me. No--never resolved. I do hope you managed to resolve your issues. My sympathies for your loss. My mother had such a difficult time dealing with my late father's clothing, some of which had never been worn.
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