#occupyMeh :: the screw ups... and the heroes..
31So... there are a few... they don't happen often... but it happens... and you know who gets the most shit out of this... Customer service.... I have to say my hats off to you and If I ever meet you lovely customer service people.. (@hollboll and @galmaegi) I will buy you a drink. Here's to you Mediocre Customer service team, Where your work is only Mediocre in title, not in substance. 
Who else thinks that after screw ups that they get dumped on... they need a little extra something... to show how much they are appreciated.... and no... not toilet paper!
- 22 comments, 23 replies
- Comment
Couldn't agree more with
As their manager, I can tell you that we are very fortunate to have them on our team. It can be incredibly challenging to deal with folks that are angry, frustrated or that simply feel entitled but these two handle it in stride with great compassion and understanding. In a CS role you tend to get the brunt of all of the bad things that come up but are rarely praised when things go right. So thank you for taking the time to give them a tip of the hat, @sohmageek.
And if you don't mind me taking over your thread, I'd like to encourage all of you to take a moment to share your best stories of how @hollboll and @galmaegi have helped you out, a memorable experience you had with them that brought a smile to your face, or to simply say thank you.
@MEHcus There was this one time... Where @mehcus caused a big issue... oh wait that's in the future... So... one of my most memorable experiences was when I talked with @snapster about them being too helpful... I had a few issues nothing major... you guys shipped me more of an item than I ordered, and you shipped the wrong kind of cable... @hollboll send me new ones/told me to keep the tools you shipped double of. I didn't want to get her in trouble or anything, but I also didn't want the company that I had found that was awesome to suffer for little mistakes... (the cables I didn't care one way or another just didn't want inventory to be off.)
All I said to snapster about it was I'd stop reporting things to Support if they were too helpful like they have been... but I took a liking to the support crew... and kept telling them... usually if I don't care about an issue or don't want something to be done to "fix it" as it's not an issue to me, but I want to give them a heads up that it may for others, I send them a little note. Then occasionally I send them stuff as a Thanks for putting up with my shit, you're great!
@MEHcus @hollboll helped me get my iPad registered with Apple.
they're alright I guessssss
I think we could help a little more by being a little less handsy with threads that pop up regarding incidents with a specific order and leave those to staff and mods
oh also one time I put in a support call just to say hi to CS cuz they're nice :3
@Lotsofgoats I'm totally going to hijack this comment to say a few things on the subject.
The first responses to an upset customer can definitely set the tone for how they deal with CS and end up viewing meh/mediocre as a whole. Overall - the responses this week have been pretty helpful or at least tame. (IMO)
Even if/when it's the 13th comment in a row, or 5th thread on that very issue - for that person, it's their first comment on it. Frustratingly, figuring out how to post in the forums does not mean they understand how forums work. Remembering that can change the way we direct these folks to information.
I understand that it's difficult not to include sassy gifs after saying essentially the same thing for the 5th time in the last hour - but that tone will just piss someone off. The goal is to get people what they need, so they stop CAPSLOCKING in the forum and end up happy with their experience.
Well, this is what I tell myself and use as a guideline. I'm sure staff has a different take on it.
@Thumperchick I think a lot of folks want the forum to be this super welcoming thing (and that's great, it should be!) so there's a rush to say mediocre is great and cheer up sucker, but that winds up falling flat when you're the person who just wants to know what the hell is going on with an order D:
@Lotsofgoats Yes. Especially when the poster comes off as entitled - there's a tendency to close ranks and oust the entitled person. But the fact still remains that they probably have a legitimate issue - which is then compounded by an entire thread of amusing, but unhelpful posts.
@Thumperchick @Lotsofgoats I think that part of the problem, when things go wrong, is that the forum tends to write it off as meh, they didn't promise to be good, blah blah blah, deal with it, get over it, blah blah blah... but when it is a screwup that involves you personally, it matters. There is also an implied contract that when you buy something is doesn't arrive DOA or damaged (well fukus are an exception due to what they are), you get what you ordered and not something else... and that being "meh" doesn't mean people should just accept it with a shrug of their shoulders... I think we need to separate that meh sells, primarily, 1-3 star stuff cheap from what does or does not go on with customer service.
There are always going to be people who act like assholes even if they were handed a trip to the moon for free... I would suspect that some of the delay in customer service is too many emails, not enough support staff since nearly all of the time, when people do finally get to your issue, it is dealt with appropriately and generally with grace or at least humor. I'd guess it is long delays that create issues and that likely is behind some of the angry forum posts. And as nice as the customer service people are, that is likely not really under their control if the root problem is that are understaffed.
@Kidsandliz Our average time to first response, meaning how quickly someone gets an answer from us when they first submit a case, is around 15 hours. That is taking in to account that we do not work on weekends at all. There aren't any delays in response as our goal is to get to every case within 24 hours of a case being submitted (assuming it is during the week). Some people simply expect an answer within a 5 minute window of submitting a case.
@MEHcus
That's completely reasonable. Even non mediocre companies take a while.
What's not reasonable would be me expecting a response 2 hours ago to an email I will have sent next week.
@FroodyFrog You might be alarmed at how often that scenario actually happens.
@MEHcus You might want to post prominently that customer service is open M-F from Xam to Ypm. I didn't, for example, realized that you were closed on the weekends and I have been on here since about day 3 or so. I think the other issue for some customers is that you have no phone customer service. Thus people who want an answer now don't have the option to sit on hold for an hour (or more) to talk to someone. Those are likely some of the same people getting upset with a next day email answer or a non-weekend answer that rolls into a 3 day wait for an answer...
@MEHcus @FroodyFrog
@FroodyFrog @mehcus
@Kidsandliz If you email support over the weekend you get a nice bounce back saying that they will get to it when they are open... Actually... let me find one..
Thanks for contacting your friends over at Meh.
Believe it or not, our mediocre lives extend past the walls of Meh HQ. You see, we like to go home at night and on the weekends just like you. So we do. And we’re not quite big enough to have 24/7 coverage.
We are typically working from around 7am to 5pm Central, Monday - Friday. So if you're emailing us outside of that time, you're probably reading this message. But fear not, we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
In the meantime you can always post your non-account / non-order specific questions in our forum and you just might get the answer you're looking for. We find that our fellow Mehtizens are quite helpful.
Thanks for being a part of our little internet home and keep on being meh.
That's what you get. Within minutes... so It's pretty spelled out I think. I do agree with the whole people expect instant gratification. But I do think that the company plays it off as mediocre support, that makes it much better. I've had a few issues. But you know what... Support has been amazing, The only company that's come close to the level of support I've received is Apple... People know how great their support is. :)
@sohmageek Well you can tell who I haven't e-mailed on the weekend LOL
@Kidsandliz I have :) a few times... :)
I've been lucky enough to not have much in the way of major issues here that required CS. The few times I've needed to clear something up, @hollboll handled it quickly and with a good sense of humor.
I know she handled my sister with the perfect amount of help and sass - turned her into a regular customer, instead of just when I pointed her here.
The few times I have contacted cs, I think it was always @hollboll who responded, Yes, promptly and with efficiency and humor. I don't know how you do it, girl, you are a shining star!!
(and thanks, @sohmageek for the thread).
They're cool. I guess.
@DrunkCat Whoa, curb your enthusiasm, dude.
@Thumperchick I'm sorry, my emotions tend to get out of hand. I'll settle down.
One time, something I ordered broke. I put in a request to support, and @Hollboll flew to my house in San Diego on @snapster's private helicopter. We then went to the amazon warehouse in LA, snuck (it's a word now, sucker!) in through a door that was only mediocrely (I worded this too!) locked and took a replacement.
On our way out we were stopped by a security guard, who was HUGE, and we thought we were busted. It was weird, though, because he only asked us for tree-fiddy.
Well, it was about that time we realized that it was no security guard, but a monster from the paleolithic era! The damn Loch Ness monster!
@hollboll said, "Damn it monster, we ain't giving you no tree-fiddy," and we walked right out.
Good times.... Thanks @Hollboll for taking care of me on behalf of meh and mediocre!
I'll have what he's drinking.
@barnabee Great! That'll cost about... tree-fiddy.
@DaveInSoCal "So I gave him a dolla'!" Damnit woman! If you give him a dolla' he's gonna assume you got more!"
I agree with you that meh CS is wonderful. They have always done me right. They deserve to be recognized for their service and the never ending crap they have to take and have no control over.
@hollboll @galmaegi
That being said.....@sohmageek: THAT'S MY PENGUIN!!!!!!!!!!!
(you will be hearing from my lawyer on this matter)
@sohmgeek Also you know it's a good thread because you got a coveted @snapster star.
@galmaegi and @hollboll are very helpful.... But beware of any requests to cs!
https://meh.com/forum/topics/it-is-always-the-quiet-ones-that-surprise-you
This one time, meh accidentally sent me an Insteon camera instead of a lantern. And then they offered to let me buy it at a reduced price, which saved me the hassle of going to the post office.
Good times.
I constantly deal with CS representatives just because the world has it in it's mind to be mean to me when I order stuff.
A few of them are just crazy (I've had to use the Department of Consumer Protection on several occasions).
Then there are those who if I'm using online chat support, I'll just keep on exiting the chat when I get morons who don't know what they are doing, and hope that eventually someone will be decent.
And then there are the mediocre people like @hollboll who despite having to put up with a lot of complaints, some of them coming from morons, still have a proverbial smile on their face(s) and authentically care about the customer.
Now I'm not saying that CS is easy. If anything it's ridiculously hard just because you need patience and "people skills"; both of which I lack.
I guess what I'm trying to say, is Thank You 🙌🙌🙌
Tl;dr : People are morons, and thank you @hollboll
this was my favorite exchange with @hollboll:
JUL 08, 2015 | 11:51PM CDT
Original message
wrote:
any chance i can change this to a Men's Large? if not, that's cool. the medium will give me a chance to show off the muscles i don't have.
JUL 08, 2015 | 08:05AM CDT
Holly replied:
Chance to show off muscles it is! My mediocre system truly lives up to its name and won’t let me edit orders like that. :(
JUL 08, 2015 | 08:36AM CDT
replied:
you make me sad. now i have to go find muscles. and vodka. vodka first.
JUL 08, 2015 | 08:42AM CDT
Holly replied:
I feel like there’s a Putin joke in there somewhere…
One time, I was stupid and ordering crap in my sleep, so I chose the wrong delivery address. I quickly sent an email with the right address to customer support, and they responded in about 7 hours with confirmation that it'd been done.
Then I realized I made a typo in the correction address. Rather than flip me endless shit, like I would have done, Holly just fixed my mistake.
All in all, probably not an important interaction. Definitely made my day, though, and I still remember it even 4.5 months later.
@rhrgrt
I once read a poster (eek! Words!) directed at educators which, the gist of it was, that while students won't remember what you taught them in years to come, they'll always remember how you made them feel.
The same can be applied here. While you may have a seemingly minor interaction with a person, and you may not necessarily remember it, you'll remember the feelings.
@hollboll and @galmaegi
I've never contacted customer service, so for me they've been just freaking incredible. I have been in their shoes though (which hurt like hell as @galmaegi has really tiny feet) so I can appreciate the bullshit they deal with. I once worked as a CS Supervisor for a rather large e-commerce company (like 50+ major name websites) and I still remember a few specific calls due to the assholeness (now there's a spiffy new made up word!) of those customers. So, good job to all, keep it up and don't forget to tell the occasional jerk to go fuck themselves - mediocre will survive without them or their idle threats to tell everyone they know about their shitty experience!
Meh Customer Service Bump (they deserve it)
When I was a newbie, I mistakenly replied to an email notice of a reply to a forum comment. @hollboll very sweetly let me know of my fuck up and I think there was even a smiley face.
Meh CS is the best and @hollboll rocks! What else can I say?
Love you guys!
I've never contacted CS about something, but I will say this... One time, @hollboll posted a Cat Massage video. It changed my life. (OK, minor change. I think I say "You can't fool drool!" every day. But I... uhh... didn't do that before.) And I'm pretty sure it was hollboll's cat that ordered from a food truck. Adorable.
I've ordered like 50 times from Meh and only had one CS-worthy problem, and they took care of it fabulously.
I do use the forums to vent about the flaky electronic items that are being disposed of here, especially the ones that are clearly just bad production runs.
The couple of times I have had something go terribly, terribly wrong, @hollboll has fixed it right away, with bonus witty banter. Gotta love that. :)
@hollboll helped me find the right person at Mediocre to buy an ad (which you all should do- it's the perfect gift for a Mehrican with everything) , and another project that's in the works.
@dashcloud buy an active directory (server)? WHY?
@sohmageek I hear your pain, but I'm talking about the little boxes off to the right on the main screen- you can read all about my ad-buying here.