Customer Retention people are my newest best friends. These folks have the power to throw sweet deals at you if you ever try to cancel a service or return a product. Whether it’s with a 50% discount or 3 months free service, their only purpose is to keep your credit card on file. If you think you’re getting a bad deal on anything (and most of us are), take 10 minutes out of your day and call that 1-800* number on the back of the box.
*1-880 if you’re calling from Jamaica. You’re welcome.
Post Script:
The XM Radio call center is based in Jamaica. Portmore no less. I used up valuable international minutes (as much times spent holding as talking to someone) while calling across the street. I should have just jogged over there or asked for the dudes cell number.
It is my hope that I make at least some sense. My rants are never clear:
We have an inherent flaw in our human make up of persistently asking the wrong questions, and then being genuinely surprised and bewildered when we get useless answers.
It’s worsened when we’re unable to discern that we have gotten useless answers and proceed to act on them.
Whether it be an inability to comprehend, or an inability to communicate, we are often times incapable of getting the facts we need to make informed decisions.
Blessed are the few who have the presence of mind to achieve a vague realisation of this. Far too often the problem is compounded by a veil of ignorance that prevents the uninformed from realising their own disadvantageous position.
This blindness to the truth is perpetrated by the deep rooted narcissism that bubbles in our loins. A self centred view of the world where everyone sees and interprets things the way we do; we, who are the keepers of knowledge and dispensers of wisdom.
The problem is hard to identify but easy to solve. We need to be seekers of truth and not its agents. Let an acknowledgement of, and a drive to dispel ignorance be our purpose. Strive for humility. If our first thought is “I don’t know” half the battle is won. Approach situations as a neophyte. Accept, even before it is proven, that what you know may be flawed or at the very least incomplete. Be open to new ideas and be explicit in sharing. Don’t force, but rather be taken in by the wave of collaboration.
Knowledge isn’t something we own, it’s something we partake in.