It’s not my problem!
I live in a very rural setting — “out in the country,” as many call it. When living out in the country, Internet services can be quite challenging.
I was on dial up for many years, then was offered the option of satellite service. A few years ago, one of the phone companies in the area decided to offer us DSL service.
The company gladly took our money, and promised three-meg DSL service to my home. The service was much better than the dial-up, but I was immediately experiencing frequent drop offs, decreased speed, noise on the lines and poor service overall. Yet, the service was the best I could get, so I complained little at first. I figured that the system eventually would be upgraded to provide me with the promised speed. I assumed a couple of service calls would be all it would take to remedy the situation.
After a couple of years of complaining, I had logged many journeys through the phone company’s online automated help line, and its repeated attempts to blame me for my “internal wiring.” (The problem was determined to be a segment of phone lines that another phone company owned and through which my provider was routing the internet service. This was happening because I was actually located just over a phone local access and transport area (or LATA) that was adjacent to the company providing the internet service. This isn’t an unusual occurrence in my area, as I am located exactly on a boundary between two phone companies.)
The phone company that was providing me the service said that the noise and accompanying degraded service was not their problem. The lines that were causing the problem “were not their responsibility.”
As you can imagine, this didn’t sit well with me. First of all, they are taking my money for a particular service. Secondly, they were aware of the fact that I was located across the LATA and they agreed to provide the service. Now, technically, they may be correct — but from my standpoint, they are taking my payments, so they should do what it takes to deliver the product.
It occurred to me that this often happens in aviation maintenance. How often does one of our installations get “messed up” or altered by another maintenance facility or mechanic? When it does, what is your approach? Do you not take any responsibility for it? Do you stand behind your work and/or product even though someone else has improperly serviced or altered it? Or perhaps another device or product is added to the aircraft that then interferes or alters your installation — do you then wipe your hands clean?
From a technical standpoint, you probably have all the right in the world to deny responsibility for the situation because someone else has changed things. Legally and technically, someone has come in and changed the installation. From a customer service standpoint, however, you may not be out of the woods.
In the case of the phone company that’s providing me with my Internet service — whether I’m technically correct or not — it’s my perception that they are fully responsible to provide the service for which I’m paying.
There are several risks of not taking responsibility for your product, regardless of what caused the problem. First, there is a good chance that your product will get a bad reputation. My neighbors think that this phone company provides terrible Internet service, regardless of whether or not things are within the phone company’s control.
If you get blamed, future business will likely not come your way. Probably the worst case is that disgruntled customers can quickly spread the word that your product and/or service is not up to par, steering future business elsewhere.
Have you taken the position of not taking responsibility for your product/service in the past? If you have, it’s not too late!
Back to the case of my Internet service provider. I eventually stirred things up enough that they sent someone to troubleshoot the lines. After two-and-a-half years, I finally have the three-meg service that I’m paying for. In fact, the technician they sent actually went above and beyond, replacing components in the lines and on my home for which they technically were not even responsible!
Now my Internet works. I’m a happy customer and the last thought on my mind is badmouthing my Internet service provider. In fact, I may even spread the word to my neighbors and encourage them to give the phone company a try!
Greg Napert, Proud to be an A&P