It's All About Service
Thu., March 6, 09:06 AM
After more than fifteen years, I have canceled my subscription to the daily newspaper. I had chosen this paper carefully — I took two concurrently to make a comparison — and I was satisfied with the service. In addition, they had been very good about printing my opinions, and I shall always give them credit as “my first publisher.”
So why did I give it up? Remember, I get highly ticked when the service falters. I do try to think it through. I realize we are on the outer edge of the delivery area, and it is difficult to find delivery people even for easier routes. From time to time, the paper wouldn’t come; I would phone, and the customer service people were always pleasant and as accommodating as they could be. They always credited me for the lost issue.
Unfortunately, we started getting incomplete newspapers. One or another section would be missing, most often the one that Husband really wanted. U.D. and I can read the papers online, but Husband isn’t interested in that “computer stuff,” — unless, of course, he wants us to look something up for him. In any case, I need the whole paper.
Ever the visualizer, I try to figure out what the problem is. Are they having production issues? Is it the delivery person? Is it packaging? In the long run, it doesn’t matter. I wrote my letter of complaint to the director of circulation, pointing out that, no matter whose fault it was, if they couldn’t get their act together, there wouldn’t be any circulation anyway.
After about five incompletes in less than a month, I called and asked for a final billing. If I have to buy a paper somewhere else every day, I won’t bother paying for delivery. I guess it doesn’t happen very often; the person I talked to had to call her supervisor. They were both very nice, and so was I. I had nothing to gain by being nasty. (I actually got two more papers because I had credits on record.)
Several days after that, I had a phone call from the circulation director in answer to my letter. Too late. And a week after that, I received a phone call from what must be part of the parent company, in another state. To him, I pointed out that I had already canceled my subscription, and I repeated that business about getting their act together. I know the newspaper business is hurting, but they still don’t get it.
If you are selling a service, you have to provide that service. Preferably, you provide it better than anyone else. If you can’t do that, your business will fail. Why is that so hard to understand?
Incidentally, I did not expect it of the front-line people, but no one in a position of higher authority even offered me an incentive to re-subscribe. U.D. buys a newspaper (a more local one) each day on her way to work. When the weather is nice enough, I will happily take a walk myself. I’m waiting for a good incentive to subscribe. Stay tuned; I’ll let you know how that goes.
