i think all of us should spend a week working in customer service first.
this thing about "pick up the phone" call such and such....ya right.
the level of information varies widely and if you dont believe or trust what you were told. hang up and call again. talk to 3 different people, listen carefully, then disseminate the information and determine your situation. ya, its that bad. but you will find it no different ANYWHERE else.
you are talking to a rep that sits in front of a computer screen accessing a data base with your information. there is no gray in what they see. its all canned responses since they really cant tell you what you want to hear simply because they dont have that information, so they tell you as much. you do not accept what they are telling you, so they ad-live, paraphase or simply repeat the original information
i work in customer service. i receive calls from customers but i do not call anyone. that would simply be employing another customer service team. i email. that is how its done. PERIOD
i send emails that are supposed to have a 24-48 hour turnaround. some do on a regular basis and they are only standard escalated issues.
problem is, with new products, there is probably no standard. so you have a team in another department who who filter and forward emails somewhere else. they will have the power and ability to resolve about 30-50% of the emails (keeping in mind that about 25-50% of the resolved emails will simply be returned to sender because they were either invalid or sent to the wrong place)
i think what we fail to realize is the Leaf delivery issues are most likely common thru-out the auto industry, but what experience do we have on this?
we dont. we normally go to the dealership and buy what we see. what we dont know is the HELL the dealership went thru to get the cars they have to sell. if you do not believe me, try a special order vehicle FROM ANY MANUFACTURER. how long will it take? you might get lucky and find that your "special" order is not all that special and receive one in a few weeks.
but if your order is actually unique. plan on months of waiting.
as far as other auto manufacturers. i was the first in WA State to get a 2010 Prius. i received just short of 2 years ago (May 17, 2009). i got it under a special discounted program announced in jan, ordered in feb.
they only stated that it would take 2-3 months for delivery. we only had 3 package options to choose from, but they were giving very nice discounts.
then there was ZERO feedback until the dealer called me the first week of May to tell me my car was in port. in fact, when i called my dealer to check on the status, they had no clue as to what i was talking about or the program discount i was receiving.
