why doesnt anyone answer their tele anymore?

[Master ACiD]

tryin to score some vw parts through a couple various suppliers. no one answers the tele anymore. i called a parts company 2 times a day for a week, and even emailed them. i get no response. why is it that someone choses not to answer a tele? i mean its a freakin buisness. how can someone be so busy as to not answer a tele? im a paying customer wants to know? if you are so busy why not get a secretary or 2?

so i call another company. its the same thing, 2 calls a day for a week plus 1 email, never got ahold of them!

i actually want to buy things from these people. they should NOT make it hard for me to spend my money on them.

i usually give someone a week to get in touch with. if i cant get ahold of them in a weeks time then all strings are cut. i dont give a damn how cheap their prices are or how good the quality is. that just pisses me off and i wont give a company like that 1 dime of my money.


so on a somewhat related subject, my lawyer also is bad at taking calls. i called him 2x a day for a week and left messages and everything. i never got a call back. i send him a certified letter explaining how he violated his own contract by not giving my updatres with my case at reasonable intervals and i wont be needing his services anymore. bam i get a call from him the very next freakin day. how about that? i told him to piss off. i got a new laywer now baby. one that answers the tele and even calls me back and is very easy to get ahold of.

i can drop some serious coin on a company that will take care of me and return calls. this is super serious stuff. i have 5 grand in things i need to buy, but i cant get ahold of anyone to buy it from.

[QuickTD]

it ain't limited to auto parts, things are the same all over. In our super-connected-high-speed-internet-cellphone-equipped world you can, in fact, reach nobody. Perhaps they're on the christly phone? I dunno...

 You should try being in a business that requires you to build custom machinery from concept only, never done before, from hundreds of parts sourced from all corners of the US and Canada and deliver the finished, working product in 8-12 weeks. It's a freaking nightmare...

 I love it if someone calls me back, or better yet, just picks up the phone. It really shortens my day. Lately I give them 24 hours and move on to the next supplier, I have no time for phone tag and bull***...

 Seems you practically have to beg a supplier to sell you something anymore, I refuse to do it...

[vwmike]

It depends on the outfit but I think some of this can be atributed to the corporate hierarchy. They preach customer service but the lowly guy at the bottom of the totem pole has no incentive to sell you anything and if they hired another person it would cut into their profits. Running a business  properly is a balance....unfortunately they seem to error on the side of proven cost savings over profits they might see if they hired that extra person and actually answered the phone. The other aspect may be that if this is a small business then they don't have anyone there specifically to answer your phone calls so it is everyones job to answer the phone. The end result is that no one answers the phone. Retail sales is all about customer service and if you piss everyone off then you're definitely not going to make any money. It's amazing how many people don't see that.

[LeeG]

Price, Quality, Service  A Business has to focus on 2, trying to deliver all 3 all the time is the road to bankruptcy.
Consumers focus on the first two now and we live in the era of warehouse size stores where the shelves are literaly stocked with forklifts.  I dimly remember the day when my mom would go to a grocery store and actually ask someone for a pound of this and 12 of those.  I just got home from buying a weeks worth of groceries for my family, other than saying thank-you to the girl that took my money, I didnt say a word to anyone.  And I hear that there are some stores localy experimenting with self serve check out.

The car parts places are the same, the guys you are trying to call are having to compete with Cosco and Canadian Tire (or whatever you local equivalents are).  If they are a specialty place (VW stuff!) then they still have to compete with the internet.    I bet if you show up in person with $5k to spend they will devote some time to you.

[MacGyver]

M_A, I concur.
Try hiring a contractor :evil:
I swear last summer I coulda called & left a message "Hello, I have $30k. If you'd like it please call me back" and it wouldn't have helped :roll:
I'd rather have someone call me back & say Phuck off I'm too busy to help you No response pisses me off :x

Your lawyer story sounds familiar. WTF is it with them that makes 'em think there's no need to call you back. Ever.
Had dealings like that with a window guy couple yrs ago too. Got his name from a local home show. No answer whenever I called any time of day, no callbacks from messages left, or while I was at work if at all..  After several months of hitting my head on the wall I called one Fri afternoon ~5:30pm after work & left a sarcastic msg "Obviously you're WAY to busy for my little $4k job, terribly sorry to have bothered you, I'll find someone not so busy...thanks & my apologies again for taking up your precious time."
Immediately left for the evening.
Arrived back in the morning to a message within 15 MINUTES of my call "Uh, yeah, sorry, if you're still interested in getting those windows replaced I can come have a look for ya..."
SURE :!:
Guess who DIDN'T get another callback...or the job...or any word-of-mouth recommendations :roll:

I hate people. I really do. :?


PS I don't have any US VW parts suggestions for you...up here I use Brian Harriston whenever possible, can't believe how helpful he's been http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/roseland/