4 ms·

This is why a company I know had an armed guard at the door after an angry dispossessed former customer turned up and gave the reception desk PTSD. Don't do th

by ggm 2y ago

This is why a company I know had an armed guard at the door after an angry dispossessed former customer turned up and gave the reception desk PTSD. Don't do this.

TheFreim 2y ago
I find it highly unlikely that someone politely asked for help having an issue resolved and it gave the receptionist PTSD and required armed security. I expect you're instead speaking about a situation where someone showed up and acted in a violent/threatening manner, which the post you are replying to did not endorse, which should not be used to justify keeping upstanding people from trying to get support.
- ggm 2y ago
  No part of Mountain View is set up to handle the queue of customers of Google seeking restitution. Other major corporates have this problem too. You don't fix the problem with your gas account overcharging by going to the Exxon head office. Google is a bit of a shit company when it comes to customer service, but suggesting you can front into their space to get it addressed is really not ok. The problem is the lack of a real service you really can approach. Not, that they wind up needing rent-a-cop in the lobby. If people casually recommend simply visiting the campus of Apple, Meta, Google to get customer disputes settled, then its a low bar prediction it's going to get bad.
  - imp0cat 2y ago
    Actually, you can usually get a lot of help if you show up in person at a major company site and politely ask. Nobody really wants to call the security/police on a random guy, especially if he is not a complete weirdo.
  - sp0ck 2y ago
    Saying "bit of a shit" about company who practically destroyed 20 years of someone data,by blocking account against all facts customer and police provided it not "a bit". This is pure evil. https://www.businessinsider.com/google-reported-dad-police-photos-sick-sons-penis-child-abuse-2022-8?IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/google-reported-dad-police-p...
TheOtherHobbes 2y ago
There's going to be a lot more of this happening over the next couple of years.
rectang 2y ago
It made me disconcertingly furious on behalf of that customer to read your message, which, however you meant it, echoed in my mind as "you have no hope, don't show up in person, don't do anything except accept that BigCo screwed you, the world is unfair and you lost hahahahaha". We might wish for every customer to muster infinite patience no matter how poorly treated, but when a company behaves as unreasonably as described in this story about YouTube, it's not solely the fault of the customer finally losing their shit when "front desk" turns into "front line". "Hire armed guards to protect the company from its own customers" is a wonderfully apt summary of the modern tech approach to customer service.
- ggm 2y ago
  If a company doesn't have a real human helpdesk for dispute resolution, fronting onto the people who have to man a desk to direct visitors to the right meeting room, or handle incoming calls to corporate offices, is just wrong. I'm a customer of google. I pay them money. I would never, EVER recommend that people front into the Mountain View, or any other google office worldwide to discuss their issues. Never.
  - DangitBobby 2y ago
    It's not wrong to talk to the people at the front desk about their company's bullshit practices. I don't have to be a customer, and neither do you have to be an employee. Dealing with people who need help dealing with your company is not going to fucking kill you.
  - mort96 2y ago
    If the company makes the person manning the front desk the only human customers can get in touch with, that's on the company, not customers with a critical issue who just needs a person to understand and rectify the company's mistake.

by ggm 2y ago

This is why a company I know had an armed guard at the door after an angry dispossessed former customer turned up and gave the reception desk PTSD. Don't do this.

TheFreim 2y ago

I find it highly unlikely that someone politely asked for help having an issue resolved and it gave the receptionist PTSD and required armed security. I expect you're instead speaking about a situation where someone showed up and acted in a violent/threatening manner, which the post you are replying to did not endorse, which should not be used to justify keeping upstanding people from trying to get support.

ggm 2y ago
No part of Mountain View is set up to handle the queue of customers of Google seeking restitution. Other major corporates have this problem too. You don't fix the problem with your gas account overcharging by going to the Exxon head office. Google is a bit of a shit company when it comes to customer service, but suggesting you can front into their space to get it addressed is really not ok. The problem is the lack of a real service you really can approach. Not, that they wind up needing rent-a-cop in the lobby. If people casually recommend simply visiting the campus of Apple, Meta, Google to get customer disputes settled, then its a low bar prediction it's going to get bad.
- imp0cat 2y ago
  Actually, you can usually get a lot of help if you show up in person at a major company site and politely ask. Nobody really wants to call the security/police on a random guy, especially if he is not a complete weirdo.
- sp0ck 2y ago
  Saying "bit of a shit" about company who practically destroyed 20 years of someone data,by blocking account against all facts customer and police provided it not "a bit". This is pure evil. https://www.businessinsider.com/google-reported-dad-police-photos-sick-sons-penis-child-abuse-2022-8?IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/google-reported-dad-police-p...

TheOtherHobbes 2y ago

There's going to be a lot more of this happening over the next couple of years.

rectang 2y ago

It made me disconcertingly furious on behalf of that customer to read your message, which, however you meant it, echoed in my mind as "you have no hope, don't show up in person, don't do anything except accept that BigCo screwed you, the world is unfair and you lost hahahahaha". We might wish for every customer to muster infinite patience no matter how poorly treated, but when a company behaves as unreasonably as described in this story about YouTube, it's not solely the fault of the customer finally losing their shit when "front desk" turns into "front line". "Hire armed guards to protect the company from its own customers" is a wonderfully apt summary of the modern tech approach to customer service.

ggm 2y ago
If a company doesn't have a real human helpdesk for dispute resolution, fronting onto the people who have to man a desk to direct visitors to the right meeting room, or handle incoming calls to corporate offices, is just wrong. I'm a customer of google. I pay them money. I would never, EVER recommend that people front into the Mountain View, or any other google office worldwide to discuss their issues. Never.
- DangitBobby 2y ago
  It's not wrong to talk to the people at the front desk about their company's bullshit practices. I don't have to be a customer, and neither do you have to be an employee. Dealing with people who need help dealing with your company is not going to fucking kill you.
- mort96 2y ago
  If the company makes the person manning the front desk the only human customers can get in touch with, that's on the company, not customers with a critical issue who just needs a person to understand and rectify the company's mistake.