customer disservice

Is it me, or has customer service gotten worse at just about every company out there?

I could strangle about 50 people right now for wasting my time dealing with shit they screwed up. Since I returned from my trip I've had problems with SFSU, Amazon, Verizon Rebates, Speakeasy, the DPT (well, they have always been a pain in the ass), and my worker's comp insurance company. And though I can write emails and letters and make phone calls ... there is little I can do to avoid the incompetency other than choose not to use their service (which is just not possible in most of those cases).

So what is one to do? Go postal? Sit back and take it like a chump? Breathe in, breathe out? Start ninja training?

Most of these places you can't get someone on the phone to save your life. If you do, it's after waiting for 40 minutes on the phone just to be told to send an email to their customer service.

It really seems like this has all gotten worse lately. Most of the organizations I listed above do not outsource their CS to other countries, so I don't think it's a matter of globalization of industry .. or maybe it is a side effect of that trend since more people are being asked to do more work with less resources in order to compete with companies who have outsourced their labor.

I don't know what it is, but it sure makes those places with good customer service stand out like angels.

If there is one benefit from all this hassle, it's that it has re-awakened my drive to only buy products from companies I want to support and from companies who actually value their customers. I know there are many of these organizations out there and they are going to get as much of my business as possible. I'll take courtesy over convenience most days.