The Devil You Know

Customer service at scale, part II: Why my experiences with AT&T make me fear for GM

In Bidness, Gadgets on June 29, 2009
Yeah, you may have a great big battle station, but if you waste the opportunity to shore it up, a rebeliions gonna come. (Image from The Daily Yeah.)

Yeah, you may have a great big battle station, but if you waste the opportunity to shore it up, a rebeliion's gonna come. (Image from The Daily Yeah.)

I’m going to resist the temptation to turn this post into a therapy session over the myriad problems I’ve had with AT&T over the past month. Specific situations will crop up organically in the descriptions below, but instead of a chronological chapter-and-verse story, I’m going to focus on the lessons I’ve learned about AT&T and its processes.

The wedding toast

In Fam, me, Me, ME! on April 27, 2009
houstonworthy2

Man and dog on the eve of the wedding

My best pal, Houston Joost, got married this weekend. I had the privilege of serving as best man. It was an amazing weekend, and I’m thrilled for him and for Jenn Joost (nee’ Keeney).

My toast went over pretty well, so I thought I’d save it for posterity here. Note that I didn’t read this word for word, but it was in the ballpark. I generally prefer speaking extemporaneously, but in this case I needed something to fall back on if when I got choked up.

So here ’tis. I meant every word:

Customer service at scale, part I: Why I’m an Apple customer for life

In Gadgets on June 20, 2009
Image lifted from The Iphone Blog

Image lifted from The Iphone Blog

Yes, I can probably be classified as an Apple fanboy. But if you know me, you know my allegiance doesn’t come easy. For my purposes, Apple produces the best computer and phone technology available. But there are lots of companies that produce good technology — It is my human interactions with Apple that make me a loyalist. My experience in buying the new 3G S Iphone is one of, if not the most memorable I’ve had: