5 ms·

They could have told him that though if it's the case, and the mystery would be solved. But there obviously wasn't any desire (or more charitably - time) on the

by Nition 2y ago

They could have told him that though if it's the case, and the mystery would be solved. But there obviously wasn't any desire (or more charitably - time) on their end to really look into the reasoning or even understand the question. ---- Edit: I will share what I think is a nice a little counterpoint story here, from a business that is clearly still interested in understanding. I sent Lego an email a while ago: I'm just wondering if you're able to tell me what the tune is that the Lego Primo musical camel plays in set number 2007. It's a set from 1998. We have the camel and it plays a nice tune, but no-one seems to know what it is! They replied a day later: Thanks for getting in touch with us. This is a really really really and I mean really interesting question you got there for us. I have checked with all the resources I have and come to a possible conclusion. The Musical Camel – which in Denmark actually is called ‘PRIMO Dromedar'. 1st theory is that, One DUPLO-designer says that the melody was composed by the designer that created the camel but no one remembers the name who created the Musical Camel. Another thing is, one of the engineer once had a musical box that had the same melody but he is no longer with us anymore and cannot provide us the answer. I am so sorry that, at the end of the day I cannot provide you with any name to the title. But I hope the facts can make a good story for you to tell your friends.

jaggederest 2y ago
That is an amazingly competent response. Every company should aspire to that kind of depth, if a toy company can manage it.
- frizlab 2y ago
  I cannot find it, but I once sent an email to johnnie walker to ask for the music for what is arguably the best ad I ever saw (except for think different). They correctly answered, though the answer was the music is original and copyrighted, and thus I could not get it.
  - axiolite 2y ago
    I humbly suggest: 3M Thermo-Fax https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZVYRMu6Q9k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZVYRMu6Q9k
    - frizlab 2y ago
      I still prefer mine https://vimeo.com/113756330 https://vimeo.com/113756330 :)
      - axiolite 2y ago
        About all you need to do is increase the volume and run it through a (good) Vocal Remover: https://github.com/dezonline/Vocal-Remover https://github.com/dezonline/Vocal-Remover
      - eszed 2y ago
        Hadn't seen either, but man.... That's a good one. Simple idea, great writing, excellent production, superb acting (I love Robert Carlyle). I've always respected Johnnie Walker, but thought their offerings are overpriced for what they are (brand-name premium, I guess). However, I just discovered Johnnie Walker Double Black, and: wow. It's a nice, smoky whisky for $30-something a bottle. I don't know anything else I like better in that price-band. It's my new "table whisky". Great stuff.
madeofpalk 2y ago
The problem is there’s no “they”. Just an underpaid government contractor manning the email inbox, asking around “hey why do the letters say this?” and responding with the bare minimum.
ElevenLathe 2y ago
I have a wonderful memory of eating a snickers bar with my Dad as a kid, and deciding to call the comment line (1-800 number) on the wrapper. I was probably about 6 and just wanted to say that I liked their candy bars. The woman was very nice and took our address so they could mail us some coupons for free snickers bars.
Nition 2y ago
While we're here, does anyone happen to recognize the camel's tune? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKpD-KkaBHc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKpD-KkaBHc We never worked it out.
- qingcharles 2y ago
  I assume none of the Shazam-alikes can make any sense of it?
  - Nition 2y ago
    Yeah, they don't recognise it - or at least Shazam doesn't.
    - pests 2y ago
      Try the ones that let you hum or sing to it - they don't require a perfect radio mix to match the fingerprint. I think SoundHound was the original I used, I think Google's will do the same.
- shrikant 2y ago
  Google's audio search tells me that it's a stock sound effect: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=2wLKlWPkcOM&si=Sle4B04wAoVQ6iZJ https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=2wLKlWPkcOM&si=Sle4B04wAoV... https://secure.dewolfemusic.com/page/digiffects_sound_effects_library#:~:text=Digiffects%20Sound%20Effects%20Library%20provides,24%2C000%20royalty%20free%20sound%20effects https://secure.dewolfemusic.com/page/digiffects_sound_effect.... It appears to be used or sampled in a couple of songs (by Anna Maria Jopek and Boozehounds), but these date in the 2000s so can't have come into the camel from then I suppose!
qingcharles 2y ago
That's wild to get a real response like that. Bravo to Lego. I offered to provide some expert help on a set they were designing once and they immediately put me in direct contact with the designer in Billund. No bureaucracy. Why can't more companies be this good? I've been trying for years to get into one Google account of mine :(
GuB-42 2y ago
The thing is, Lego is a "nice" company, and they care about their image. Answering obscure question the best they can goes a long way, people will be more than willing to share their anecdote. That's great publicity, and all you need are a few guys answering emails, most of them are likely to be copy-pasted for the most part, people are not that original. And if you get a truly original question, it may take a bit more time, but the impact will be greater, and I am sure employees have great fun finding these bits of trivia. TV licensing on the other hand is "evil". They are in the business of collecting a tax that many people see as unfair, and prosecute those who don't pay. Even if their actions are fully justified, they won't make your life better, it is simply not their job. Even if they are genuinely nice in their communication, it won't change the fact that their are after your money and have to be forceful sometimes, and everything will be seen through these lens, so they might just as well assume their evilness.
- Nition 2y ago
  The only thing I would say against this is that sometimes that kind of curiosity can help the business itself as well. For example imagine a situation similar to the post except that it's someone's job to manually write the equivalent of "Please do not write below the line" on every letter. Sometimes little tasks like that can waste time for years before someone finally asks 'do we actually need to be doing this?' I do realise that is not the case in the post, where it's probably even simpler to print the same message on every letter vs. only on some. And your point is of course well made in general.
- miki123211 2y ago
  More importantly, they don't need to be nice and/or care to be successful. Businesses are nice because they have to compete for customers, and that is easier if you're viewed as nice. TV Licensing is a monopoly, they can have the worst customer service on earth, and that won't affect their revenue by much. There's just nowhere else to switch to. This is also the reason why many government / publicly-run systems are so unfriendly and have such terrible UX. It's not like you can apply for benefits somewhere else (and the government would actually be very happy if you could!) , so nobody cares if the application is fifty pages and requires you to put in the same personal details 5 times. To add insult to injury, there are no shareholders that demand the metrics to go up, so nobody has any incentive to optimize anything.
mgarciaisaia 2y ago
Oh you just wrote below the line
amenhotep 2y ago
Capita would probably reply to a customer inquiry with this level of care and attention if appropriate. Individual license holders are not customers, though. The customer is the BBC and its executives who administer the contract paying Capita huge amounts of money to extort people on their behalf.

by Nition 2y ago

jaggederest 2y ago

That is an amazingly competent response. Every company should aspire to that kind of depth, if a toy company can manage it.

frizlab 2y ago
I cannot find it, but I once sent an email to johnnie walker to ask for the music for what is arguably the best ad I ever saw (except for think different). They correctly answered, though the answer was the music is original and copyrighted, and thus I could not get it.
- axiolite 2y ago
  I humbly suggest: 3M Thermo-Fax https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZVYRMu6Q9k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZVYRMu6Q9k
  - frizlab 2y ago
    I still prefer mine https://vimeo.com/113756330 https://vimeo.com/113756330 :)
    - axiolite 2y ago
      About all you need to do is increase the volume and run it through a (good) Vocal Remover: https://github.com/dezonline/Vocal-Remover https://github.com/dezonline/Vocal-Remover
    - eszed 2y ago
      Hadn't seen either, but man.... That's a good one. Simple idea, great writing, excellent production, superb acting (I love Robert Carlyle). I've always respected Johnnie Walker, but thought their offerings are overpriced for what they are (brand-name premium, I guess). However, I just discovered Johnnie Walker Double Black, and: wow. It's a nice, smoky whisky for $30-something a bottle. I don't know anything else I like better in that price-band. It's my new "table whisky". Great stuff.

madeofpalk 2y ago

The problem is there’s no “they”. Just an underpaid government contractor manning the email inbox, asking around “hey why do the letters say this?” and responding with the bare minimum.

ElevenLathe 2y ago

I have a wonderful memory of eating a snickers bar with my Dad as a kid, and deciding to call the comment line (1-800 number) on the wrapper. I was probably about 6 and just wanted to say that I liked their candy bars. The woman was very nice and took our address so they could mail us some coupons for free snickers bars.

Nition 2y ago

While we're here, does anyone happen to recognize the camel's tune? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKpD-KkaBHc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKpD-KkaBHc We never worked it out.

qingcharles 2y ago
I assume none of the Shazam-alikes can make any sense of it?
- Nition 2y ago
  Yeah, they don't recognise it - or at least Shazam doesn't.
  - pests 2y ago
    Try the ones that let you hum or sing to it - they don't require a perfect radio mix to match the fingerprint. I think SoundHound was the original I used, I think Google's will do the same.
shrikant 2y ago
Google's audio search tells me that it's a stock sound effect: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=2wLKlWPkcOM&si=Sle4B04wAoVQ6iZJ https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=2wLKlWPkcOM&si=Sle4B04wAoV... https://secure.dewolfemusic.com/page/digiffects_sound_effects_library#:~:text=Digiffects%20Sound%20Effects%20Library%20provides,24%2C000%20royalty%20free%20sound%20effects https://secure.dewolfemusic.com/page/digiffects_sound_effect.... It appears to be used or sampled in a couple of songs (by Anna Maria Jopek and Boozehounds), but these date in the 2000s so can't have come into the camel from then I suppose!

qingcharles 2y ago

That's wild to get a real response like that. Bravo to Lego. I offered to provide some expert help on a set they were designing once and they immediately put me in direct contact with the designer in Billund. No bureaucracy. Why can't more companies be this good? I've been trying for years to get into one Google account of mine :(

GuB-42 2y ago

The thing is, Lego is a "nice" company, and they care about their image. Answering obscure question the best they can goes a long way, people will be more than willing to share their anecdote. That's great publicity, and all you need are a few guys answering emails, most of them are likely to be copy-pasted for the most part, people are not that original. And if you get a truly original question, it may take a bit more time, but the impact will be greater, and I am sure employees have great fun finding these bits of trivia. TV licensing on the other hand is "evil". They are in the business of collecting a tax that many people see as unfair, and prosecute those who don't pay. Even if their actions are fully justified, they won't make your life better, it is simply not their job. Even if they are genuinely nice in their communication, it won't change the fact that their are after your money and have to be forceful sometimes, and everything will be seen through these lens, so they might just as well assume their evilness.

Nition 2y ago
The only thing I would say against this is that sometimes that kind of curiosity can help the business itself as well. For example imagine a situation similar to the post except that it's someone's job to manually write the equivalent of "Please do not write below the line" on every letter. Sometimes little tasks like that can waste time for years before someone finally asks 'do we actually need to be doing this?' I do realise that is not the case in the post, where it's probably even simpler to print the same message on every letter vs. only on some. And your point is of course well made in general.
miki123211 2y ago
More importantly, they don't need to be nice and/or care to be successful. Businesses are nice because they have to compete for customers, and that is easier if you're viewed as nice. TV Licensing is a monopoly, they can have the worst customer service on earth, and that won't affect their revenue by much. There's just nowhere else to switch to. This is also the reason why many government / publicly-run systems are so unfriendly and have such terrible UX. It's not like you can apply for benefits somewhere else (and the government would actually be very happy if you could!) , so nobody cares if the application is fifty pages and requires you to put in the same personal details 5 times. To add insult to injury, there are no shareholders that demand the metrics to go up, so nobody has any incentive to optimize anything.

mgarciaisaia 2y ago

Oh you just wrote below the line

amenhotep 2y ago

Capita would probably reply to a customer inquiry with this level of care and attention if appropriate. Individual license holders are not customers, though. The customer is the BBC and its executives who administer the contract paying Capita huge amounts of money to extort people on their behalf.