When Vincent Ferrari tried to cancel his account, he met with the customer representative from hell. Good thing he decided to record the conversation and post it on YouTube (see below), creating great embarassment for AOL. (If you search for AOL on YouTube, this is the first thing that pops up.)
While Vincent's experience may be extreme, many of us have tried calling customer representative or tech support before and encountered our own share of hilarious and/or annoying frustrations. My suggestion is: every time you want to call customer service, record the conversation. Whether you decide to post it on YouTube or keep it for your records, that's up to you, but you never know what it could be good for. Sometimes the people who answer your call don't always record the conversation. I imagine that they must be sitting at a computer that has predetermined codes or boxes that they fill, and that they are given limited authorization to make changes. (E.g. Toshiba had extended my warranty for a year but it never shows up on my account when I call until I remind them.)
I'm not sure if recording and publishing these calls are any violation of any law so I don't want to encourage people to do that until you and I find out more. I don't think Vincent got in any particular trouble, and if it was a legitimate grievance, the company might be too embarassed to sue. Plus, even if you retract the video, given the power of the Internet, many others would've re-posted it.
So, make sure when you hear the automated recording say "This call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes...", that you do the same.
Showing posts with label guide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guide. Show all posts
Friday, March 23, 2007
social awareness guide #4: this call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes...
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
social awareness guide #3: turn off the tv
After the earlier post of healthy choices, and this one on turning off the TV, you must think I'm a total square. Well, perhaps I am, but I do think I'm right in this regard. Besides, my suggestion isn't to ask you to stop watching TV shows, just not watch it from the TV.
Eh?
Okay, I used to be glued to the TV all the time. When I was living in a dorm and had free cable, I would leave the set on almost all night and day, usually on 24-hr cable news like CNN. After I moved into an apartment, after it became a pain to have to watch TV in the living room, I slowly stopped watching it. We had a digital recorder then, so I could always watch shows on it without having to adjust my life to the TV. Eventually, I stopped watching it altogether. After I moved again, I didn't even apply for cable. I don't even have the antennae connected to my TV.
I'm not a typical high-brow, elitist who thinks Frasier was the shit (never watched it; it could be the shit) and the current TV shows are "stupid." My favorite shows were/are Friends, Scrubs, Family Guy, The Simpsons, Futurama, Seinfeld, The Daily Show, Arrested Development, Iron Chef, and Desperate Housewives. But now that I've stopped watching TV, whenever I turn it on - for example, when I'm at a hotel - I just cannot believe the dribble that passes for entertainment these days. How these shows ever got on TV is unbelievable, and I began to wonder whether it was supposed to be that bad.
But I haven't stopped watching all TV shows because there are some that entertain me. And what I had to say about the dribble is just a personal opinion anyway. But I watch these shows either on DVD or through the Internet. The benefit is that 1) I don't have to suffer through the commercials, and 2) I don't have to shape my life to the TV schedule. Now, if you have something like TiVo, and if you can find ways of skipping the commercials, great. Do that. But if now, just remember that there are other ways of watching TV shows.
Over the years I've grown to be against TV. I should say, I've grown to be against the type of lifestyles that gathers around TV. Perhaps it's not the fault of the TV, or even the shows per se, it's just that it's so easy to be sucked into that lifestyle where all you do is sit or lay there flipping channels and watching reruns you've seen before. I know people who, after a certain hour, just sit in front of the TV watching the endless line of reruns. Even my family in Malaysia, whenever we go back, seem to be stuck in front of the TV despite the fact that many of us traveled thousands of miles from different corners of the world to see each other.
I should say that I study and play video games, which is also something that people have blamed for turning players into mindless robots. I definitely agree that if you play eight hours a day - and I've been there - you are overdoing it. So, I want to make sure that I'm not be hypocritical here. I do think that there's a difference between playing a video game, when your mind is actively solving problems - and watching reruns. It would be like the difference between driving a car, and watching a photo of a car. In any case, I don't think people should play too many video games either, just as I don't think people should read too many books (at the expense of being aware of the people around them.)
If you take just one minute out of each day observing something or someone you care about, you really being realize how unfortunate it is that we turn to things like TV for our exclusive entertainment.
Eh?
Okay, I used to be glued to the TV all the time. When I was living in a dorm and had free cable, I would leave the set on almost all night and day, usually on 24-hr cable news like CNN. After I moved into an apartment, after it became a pain to have to watch TV in the living room, I slowly stopped watching it. We had a digital recorder then, so I could always watch shows on it without having to adjust my life to the TV. Eventually, I stopped watching it altogether. After I moved again, I didn't even apply for cable. I don't even have the antennae connected to my TV.
I'm not a typical high-brow, elitist who thinks Frasier was the shit (never watched it; it could be the shit) and the current TV shows are "stupid." My favorite shows were/are Friends, Scrubs, Family Guy, The Simpsons, Futurama, Seinfeld, The Daily Show, Arrested Development, Iron Chef, and Desperate Housewives. But now that I've stopped watching TV, whenever I turn it on - for example, when I'm at a hotel - I just cannot believe the dribble that passes for entertainment these days. How these shows ever got on TV is unbelievable, and I began to wonder whether it was supposed to be that bad.
But I haven't stopped watching all TV shows because there are some that entertain me. And what I had to say about the dribble is just a personal opinion anyway. But I watch these shows either on DVD or through the Internet. The benefit is that 1) I don't have to suffer through the commercials, and 2) I don't have to shape my life to the TV schedule. Now, if you have something like TiVo, and if you can find ways of skipping the commercials, great. Do that. But if now, just remember that there are other ways of watching TV shows.
Over the years I've grown to be against TV. I should say, I've grown to be against the type of lifestyles that gathers around TV. Perhaps it's not the fault of the TV, or even the shows per se, it's just that it's so easy to be sucked into that lifestyle where all you do is sit or lay there flipping channels and watching reruns you've seen before. I know people who, after a certain hour, just sit in front of the TV watching the endless line of reruns. Even my family in Malaysia, whenever we go back, seem to be stuck in front of the TV despite the fact that many of us traveled thousands of miles from different corners of the world to see each other.
I should say that I study and play video games, which is also something that people have blamed for turning players into mindless robots. I definitely agree that if you play eight hours a day - and I've been there - you are overdoing it. So, I want to make sure that I'm not be hypocritical here. I do think that there's a difference between playing a video game, when your mind is actively solving problems - and watching reruns. It would be like the difference between driving a car, and watching a photo of a car. In any case, I don't think people should play too many video games either, just as I don't think people should read too many books (at the expense of being aware of the people around them.)
If you take just one minute out of each day observing something or someone you care about, you really being realize how unfortunate it is that we turn to things like TV for our exclusive entertainment.
Monday, March 19, 2007
social awareness guide #2: one less
Okay, this is less of a social awareness thing than it is a health guide, although I do think moderating individual consumption of anything can grow to become a moral issue given how consumerism has taken over society.
Anyway, it's hard to cut back on the things you like, whether it's a snack, a drink, a cigarette, or just some extra gadget you need to buy off the Internet. Here's one thing that might help. The next time you're out to get something, whatever it is, just get one less of what you might get. This can be a minor gesture, like taking one less bite of a cookie, or preferably, one less cookie. If you get into that habit, and slowly build up, you might end up cutting back a lot in the long-run.
For example, some things you can do one less of:
Less sugar in your morning coffee
Less salt in your cooking
Less turning on the lights
Less sweets and snacks
Less slab of fatty meats
Less bite of cheese
Less sip of soda
Less cigarette
Less taking the car
Less turning on the heat
Less candy
For some this might not seem like a huge deal, but I think it works. It's more realistic to cut back slowly than to expect people to make huge changes in their lifestyles.
Anyway, it's hard to cut back on the things you like, whether it's a snack, a drink, a cigarette, or just some extra gadget you need to buy off the Internet. Here's one thing that might help. The next time you're out to get something, whatever it is, just get one less of what you might get. This can be a minor gesture, like taking one less bite of a cookie, or preferably, one less cookie. If you get into that habit, and slowly build up, you might end up cutting back a lot in the long-run.
For example, some things you can do one less of:
Less sugar in your morning coffee
Less salt in your cooking
Less turning on the lights
Less sweets and snacks
Less slab of fatty meats
Less bite of cheese
Less sip of soda
Less cigarette
Less taking the car
Less turning on the heat
Less candy
For some this might not seem like a huge deal, but I think it works. It's more realistic to cut back slowly than to expect people to make huge changes in their lifestyles.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
social awareness guide #1: read the labels
Most people don't read labels carefully, especially ingredients labels. It's not a bad habit to have. If you're in the supermarket, looking to buy something, take a minute to look at what's inside. More importantly, teach your kids or students to do it. You can even make it into a fun activity, by having them ask questions about what they're consuming.
As an example, here are the listed ingredients in my can of Campbell's Chunky Grilled Sirloin Steak with Hearty Vegetables. Yum!
As an example, here are the listed ingredients in my can of Campbell's Chunky Grilled Sirloin Steak with Hearty Vegetables. Yum!
- Water
- Potatoes
- Grilled seasoned sirloin beef (contains up to 10% of a solution of water, salt, sodium phosphate)
- Carrots
- Tomato puree (water, tomato paste)
- Corn
- Diced tomatoes in tomato juice
- Green beans
- Modified food starch
Contains less than 2% of the follwoing ingredients:
- Beef flavor base (roasted beef including natural juices, salt, hydrolyzed soy and corn protein, corn oil, onion powder, grill flavor, beef fat, caramel color, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, beef flavor, garlic powder, spice)
- Dehydrated onions
- Vegetable flavor base (sauteed vegetables - carrots, celery, onions), sugar, salt, corn oil, autolyzed yeast extract and natural flavoring)
- Sugar
- Monosodium glutamate
- Hydrolyzed yeast protein
- Grill flavor from vegetable oil
- Beef stock
- Yeast extract
- Beef fat
- Flavoring
- Oinion powder
- Beef
- Salt
- Dehydrated parsley
- Maltodextrin
- Dextrose
- Garlic powder
- Spice
- Partially hydrogenated soybean oil
- Natural flavoring
- Caramel color
After that you can have your kids/students look up words to find out what they mean, and you can talk about what and why food needs to undergo these processes. Sorry, no dirt here, except the insane variety of chemicals that went into this seemingly innocent can.
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