Is anyone else experiencing a complete and total breakdown of everything that used to “just work”? I’m talking about placing an online order, or getting a car repair, or speaking to company representatives to resolve the simplest issues. NOTHING WORKS. And no one helps. Three minutes into an interaction, eyes glaze over and the conversation just ends. It’s like the NPCs are losing power and shutting down. What in the AF is happening?
Some days, like today, I literally have to pinch myself to see if I am dreaming. The astounding idiocy of the post-COVID world we live in does not seem like it could be real.
It’s not just brands. Virtually every single system we rely on to live our daily lives seems to be broken, busted, and mangled beyond repair.
But because this is an advertising blog, let’s stick to simple consumery things like buying, selling, and customer service.
I sign up for email alerts; I receive no emails. I buy online using a gift card; the gift card won’t apply. I try to reset my password for a retirement account; it doesn’t work. I call customer service using the phone number provided on one of its emails; the number is out of service.
Are you freaking kidding me?
And that’s just the damn machines. If you think that talking on the phone with a customer service representative is any better, then God save your wretched soul.
Because these days, the drones on the phones are just as dodgy and disengaged as the computer systems they hide behind — assuming you can even reach one.
It seems like the wait time to speak to any representative now is always “longer than usual.” Sometimes, it’s forever.
The other day, I found myself on the phone with an investment firm, caught in an endless loop with a computer that kept asking me the same questions over and over. As if it was hard of hearing. No matter what I said or what button I pushed, the system would not let me proceed, and would not let me speak with a person.
Some companies offer the option to chat with customer service. It’s faster than using the phone, they say. So I log in and wait for someone to reply. Occasionally, the person on the other end is helpful. More and more, however, I’m seeing representatives just kind of virtually shrug at me through the chat window and give up.
Hey, at least the chat is in English and I can understand what the fuck they’re saying.
I’ve spoken with two phone reps recently whose accents were so thick, their words so unintelligible, that I literally had no idea what they were saying to me. Which is ridiculous because talking to people like me on the phone is precisely the job they are paid to do.
What about dealing with people in person? Are face-to-face interactions any better?
No. Trying to talk with people today is like living a shinier, happier, more woke version of Idiocracy.
Some weeks back, the emergency brake in my car stopped working. So I brought the car in, the garage worked on it, I paid the bill, and drove home. And what do you think happened the moment I pulled the emergency brake in my driveway? It broke again.
I went right back to the garage and told them about it. “We’re sorry, blah blah blah.” Rinse, repeat, rage. As of this writing, the brake on my car is still broken.
And my largest, most recent foray into the world was an even stupider waste of time.
As you may know, I am an avid gamer. A few weeks ago, I went around to several Target stores in search of an Xbox Series X console. You see, I’d traded in all of my old Xbox hardware to Gamestop, as they’d offered some pretty great trade-in values and, despite the new console being hard to find, I’d thought I’d be able to buy a Series X within a reasonable time.
It turned out, I couldn’t. Why? Because hey, don’t you know it, supply chains are broken, too.
I asked the in-store clerk to put me on a waiting list. Nope. They can’t do that in store. I couldn’t do it online, either, as their system would not send me emails. Their system literally would not send emails to my email address. Not one person in the company could, would, or ever did fix it. Not online, not in store, not over the phone.
Then I heard that Target stores were receiving limited stock of Xbox consoles, and potential buyers like me were finding success.
So I went to Target. Over the course of several weeks, I visited five or six stores, many of them a handful of times. In all of those stores, only two of the electronics department reps could be described as anything resembling helpful. Most had absolutely no idea of their own company’s policy of receiving limited stock in stores. They kept repeating the company’s by-then long outdated policy of only selling systems online.
When I asked the rep at the store closest to me if there was a best time of the day or week to call or stop in, the girl, a muppet who looked all of 14, smirked and shrugged at me and said as if in a stupor, “I don’t know. I don’t really care about games.”
Excuse me. Can somebody please tell me what the hell is going on? Is it COVID? Granted, “COVID” has given lots of companies and employees carte blanche to not give a fuck about doing their jobs anymore, but come on.
And the worst part is, all of this stuff I’ve talked about here, that’s just small potatoes. God help you if you or a loved one needs something important, like health care. Even the corrupt U.S. news media acknowledges that the COVID craze in our healthcare system is jamming up the works, preventing people with non-COVID illnesses and injuries — from bumps and bruises to life-threatening cancer — from getting the care they need.
I don’t know. If you are waiting for the Apocalypse, I think it’s already happened. It’s happening around us every day, like a slow-motion train wreck that few people can see, even fewer people acknowledge, and absolutely no one has the ability to stop.
Why is everything so broken? Maybe a better question would be, is there anyone left who gives a damn?
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Well CC, you’ve definitely hit it on the head. My wife and I talk about this all the time. In fact, we’re always surprised when we actually feel we’ve gotten good service or that the person or persons we’re dealing with have been both pleasant to deal with and helpful. Those are the simple, once prominent traits of the long lost concept of “customer service.” Robert Stack is correct in his comment above that it’s been “years in the making.” Covid may yet bring us some unforeseen benefits down the line, but for now, the pandemic has exposed many of the worst traits of our 21st century, in all aspects of life – culturally, economically and politically. Accountability seems to be the biggest loser here.
When it comes to commercial advertising, it seems like things couldn’t be any more confused. In many ways, I’m astonished but not surprised by how products and services are still being presented as if nothing has changed, whether it’s pharmaceutical companies whose drugs offer relief of symptoms with possible dizziness, diarrhea or death as a mere “side-effect,” car commercials which continue to highlight one-ton vehicles ploughing over the last vestiges of wilderness or the incredibly strident attempts at presenting “diversity.” All of it feels meaningless in the trenches where real people live and die. I get it, everyone’s desperate for things to be normal again, but I’m afraid that ain’t coming back. Ads meant to be “aspirational” (a basic tenant of all commercial advertising) seem to be telegraphing the dystopian future, which is already here i.e. Meta’s new ad. Welcome to late stage capitalism.
Sorry to come off heavy, but times are…heavy.
Keep doing what you’ve been doing. It continues to be a source of intellectual stimulation!
Cris
Amazing post, Criswell. You bring up a great many of the things I only wish I’d included in my own post, and I couldn’t have said them better. So glad you brought up Meta and its ads — anyone who’s read the novel “Ready Player One” cannot help but see the chilling similarities between Mark Zuckerdroid’s vision for us and that story’s dark, dystopian future.
Thank you so much for writing!
My husband and I have noticed this total breakdown in services and products as well. Clerks, online or in-person, and other employees consistently screw-up orders, don’t know the answers to simple questions, repeat the standard, unhelpful and nonsensical excuses ad nauseam and in general don’t care. Nothing works and no one gives two rats’ behinds. We both remember a time when excellent service and products were the objective of all companies. Now, indifference is their motto.
Our response, we only deal with services and companies that places our satisfaction at the forefront. They are getting more and more difficult to find but they are out there. Most times it costs a bit more but we would rather have quality experiences over quantity.
Are we frightened? You bet! Keep demanding better service and resist giving your money and patronage to businesses who are undeserving of it, whenever possible.
Love your blog CC!
Absolutely, CinziaV. We get what we tolerate. We really do need to reward the people and companies that strive to provide great experiences. Hold them up as examples and let the others fail.
Thank you for your comment and kind words. 🙂
Agreed. The techno convenience of listing hours and products online is often erased by on-the-ground reality.
Some outfits seem to embrace broken as the expected norm. Domino’s is a primo example with their “pizza insurance;” i.e., “we screw up your order and we’ll replace it for free.”
How about lesson-learned, and in the future I’ll pass on your shitty pizza and go to the local tavern for some decent hand-made goods…
Bang on, Joe. It’s nearly 2022 and despite all of our accumulated knowledge and technology, we’ve somehow managed to normalize mediocrity. I’m with you. These companies can stuff their shitty pizzas, and if they want me, they can find me at the bar!
Yes, indeed, it seems like we have fallen over the cliff and continue to spiral down the abyss. But this has been years in the making. Without getting in a socio-political debate, our country and society is not the same as it used to be. Overall, folks have been dumbed down, made lazy, and conditioned to believe nothing is their fault/responsibility and everything is owed to them. Yes, I believe most of this has been coordinated, but a lot is also natural entropy. And Covid 19 just gave powers that be a beautiful excuse to really start making things happen. Sad, because our country has accomplished many great things for the world. Hopefully, we can get back on the right track, but I for one am still fearful.
Agreed on all points, Robert. I am afraid, too. Anyone who isn’t afraid is either in on it, or not paying attention.
Good to hear from you.