Is customer service dead in this country?

Sunday, March 12, 2006

I am getting a little frustrated with the lack of information companies will put on the web about their products.

For example, the other day I e-mailed a company that makes frozen pizzas. According to their website, to ensure freshness, their pizza was only available in the Midwest and it listed those states. But it never gave a particular about specific stores that might carry their product. So, I used the "contact us" form and asked where I could buy their pizza in the St Louis area.

The response: A list of the 14 states where their pizzas are sold.
Basically, the "customer service" rep just regurgitated the information that was on their website! Obviously, I had been to the website since I filled out their webform. I couldn't resist replying and thanking the rep for pointing out the obvious. I would think it was also obvious that I wanted to buy their product, but was not about to drive from store-to-store in a 14-state area and hope to find their product. What a non-answer to someone who might now be a non-customer!

Then, Boboli decided they would top the above experience. I was on their website looking for nutrition information so that I could add it to my food log/diary. Their website does have a Health & Lifestyle section. Now, that looks like it would have the FDA required nutritional information I was seeking. No, it had some generic definitions of "what is a calorie" or "what is a carbohydrate". Nowhere on their site did they have the information I was searching. So, I fill out the webform and request the nutritional information for three of their products I use regularly.

Here is their automated answer:
Thank you for your e-mail inquiry. Although there is a chance that we may not answer your email specifically, we will do our best to handle your communications effectively!

They may not answer my question specifically?! Well, I don't need some non-specific answer—I already got plenty of non-specific information on their website. Really, is the Boboli company that overwhelmed with e-mails that they cannot answer specific customer questions? Or, is customer service that dead?
posted by suzyjax on 3/12/2006 01:35:00 PM > 0 comments

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