Logitech Harmony Anything But
Blend some illogical technology with disharmonious technology-versus-user relations plus disharmonious user-versus-tech support relations topped with disharmonious tech support-versus-product relations and what do you get? Why, Logitech’s HarmonyREDUCING OFFICE COST | DESIGNING OFFICE PROCESS | VISUAL WORKFLOW | CRM | FREE DOWNLOADS |
PARTNERS | BLOG | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | HOME theatre remote that’s supposed to control allREDUCING OFFICE COST | DESIGNING OFFICE PROCESS | VISUAL WORKFLOW | CRM | FREE DOWNLOADS |
PARTNERS | BLOG | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | HOME theatre components, regardless of make. And it does that - provided you’re smarter than your average tech-savvy user and smarter even than Logitech’s level one tech support. And even that might not do it.
To put this whole episode into perspective, at least one of the humungo consumer electronics retailers is starting to push back at consumer electronics manufacturers - telling these tech companies to start listening to consumers and delivering what they want, rather than dcelivering what tech manufacturers want to make the way they want to make it. But in Logitech’s case, a “push back” wouldn’t do it. Logitech needs a crushing, cross-body block that breaks every bone in the company, giving it the opportunity to reassemble itself as a consumer-knowledgeable and consumer-focused organiazation.
Why am I so emphatic? Just hear me out about what happened when yours truly tried to program one of these “Harmony” remotes and use it. And keep Kleenex around ’cause you might laugh so hard you cry. Even I may laugh about it - in a year or three.
When I brought this thingREDUCING OFFICE COST | DESIGNING OFFICE PROCESS | VISUAL WORKFLOW | CRM | FREE DOWNLOADS |
PARTNERS | BLOG | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | HOME, I unpacked it - only to discover the only instructions provided pertained to how to hook up the remote to a computer with the supplied cable in order to input component settings, something any yo-yo can do. But as far as actually inputting the settings, nada. You’re supposed to follow the tutorial on the postage stamp LCD display on the remote, which supposedly appears when you push “OK.” But it didn’t appear. In fact, I pushed all the buttons I could find and it didn’t appear. So I took a rolling pin and pulled it across the unit to make sure I hit every button, and one of them worked. Damned if I know which one. But I brought up the tutorial, and it was crap.
So then I loaded the CD-software provided onto my laptop, believing I’d find coherent instructions there. But instead, what I got was a log-in denial. So I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the software. Samo, samo. At which point I e-mailed a service request to tech support, which supposedly would get a response within 24 hours. But while waiting to hear back, I discovered that I could download updated software from the website. So filled with optimism, I did. And I was finally able to log on. But when I started inputting the settings for our system components, I received a “fatal flow” error message saying the software couldn’t find one of its own files. So I deleted, downloaded and re-installed the software again. Samo, samo. Then I had to put it down to do real work.
About three days later, I received an e-mail apologizing for the lack of a response to my e-mail request and giving me a phone number to call for support. So I called. And got a woman, apparantly from the U.S. lordy-be. But my joy quickly turned to irritation when it took her five times or so to get my e-mail address straight, and then she insisted that she had to find my file from the e-mail request before proceeding, which she couldn’t. So she went to get help from her supervisor, and fifteen minutes later I got the tell-tale ring, followed by “If you’d like to make a call, please hang up and dial again.”
Having no more time to waste on this, I waited until the weekend to call again. This time I got someone helpful and more knowledgeable - up to a point.He knew enough to recommend that we didn’t need the software at all. We could load the settings over the web - and hopefully bypass the fatal error. Made me wonder, why the hell are they messing with downloading software or shipping CDs when users can work over the web? Anyway, we managed to get all the values entered except for the Bose receiver, where the fixed drop-down menu omitted the specific setting required. Moreover, selecting “Not shown” leads you to a dead end. So he tried an elaborate workaround - in the middle of which, along came the fatal error again - on the web instance! He didn’t have a clue what it was about, so he entered copious notes into Logitech’s support app, and then informed me that he was escalating the incident to level two support, which I should call the next day. All this took about two hours on the phone.
When I called the next morning, a machine answered and asked for my case number. I entered it. Then the machine infiormed me I wasn’t entitled to level two service and to call back on the level one service number. So I called back on the level one line and after a brief verbal skirmish persuaded some bloke to manually transfer me to level two. I can be very persuasive when I’m that pissed. So I finally spoke to a level two tech. But when this guy tried to bring up my file using my case number, he learned that Logitech’s tech service server had crashed, which meant I had to call back later that day. I wonder what the hell he’d been doing before I called, with no system. But oh well.
I waited a couple of hours and then called back. At which point I waited yet another hour in the phone queue. Made me think there’s lot’s of disharmony going around. When the level two tech answered and asked me to repeat the case number, he found the file - but not the service incident from the day prior with all those copious notes, including the error message. Which meant we had to start from scratch. After hearing about the Bose problem, he went offline, figured out what was wrong, and entered the proper settings himself, including creating a new menu item for the desired input setting. We even finished before the fata flaw reappeared. The problem with the Bose input menu? Logitech’s software doesn’t distinguish between two different versions of the Bose 3.2.1 mini-system, and defaults to the Release I’s input options. We, of course, have Release II. Although Rellease II is not new on the market, Logitech still hasn’t updated its Harmony software to provide the right settings. Hey, what’s the rush?
So now it works. But do you think I’ll ever buy another Logitech product again? Talk about the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. And support technology that’s totally hosed. And a technology-centric rather than consumer-centric product. Yup. Time to “break all their bones” so they can start over again. Hopefull they’ll get it right next time. If there is a next time.
Better Best Buy - And Why Circuit City Keeps Losing Ground
As those of you who’ve read previosREDUCING OFFICE COST | DESIGNING OFFICE PROCESS | VISUAL WORKFLOW | CRM | FREE DOWNLOADS |
PARTNERS | BLOG | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | HOMEentries know, the new customer service culture at consumer electronics behemoth Best Buy has really rung my bell. But a recent incident has pushed me past being a happy, loyal customer into “outspoken advocate” territory. And it’s also created a striking comparison between BB and its leading U.S. competitor, Circuit City.
Here’s what happened. We recently had an excellent experience buying aREDUCING OFFICE COST | DESIGNING OFFICE PROCESS | VISUAL WORKFLOW | CRM | FREE DOWNLOADS |
PARTNERS | BLOG | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | HOME theatre set-up. But, as can happen, the audio system started experiencing power surges loud enough to wake up the dead. But they were very intermittent, and of course refused to happen when the service techs were there. But BB’s support folks checked everything possible. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the source - which could have been the electrical feed, speaker feedback or the amplifier. So rather than argue that they had to find the problem first before going further, which we’ve come to expect, they just ripped out the amplifier and replaced it - including eating the cost differential between what they put in and what we bought, which they didn’t have in stock. That worked. We came out ahead of the game, with an upgraded amp. And BB came out ahead, because we’ll actively steer friends installing or upgradingREDUCING OFFICE COST | DESIGNING OFFICE PROCESS | VISUAL WORKFLOW | CRM | FREE DOWNLOADS |
PARTNERS | BLOG | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | HOME theatres to it, far erasing the deficit they ran sending service folks out several times and eating the replacement surcharge. That’s exactly how things should work.
And now for the comparison. BB just reported quarterly numbers - and profits are up dramatically, I believe because customers are attracted to the new BB experience. But Circuit City’s numbers are in the toilet. So what does CC do about it, aside from closing stores? Unbelievably, CC is cutting its experienced sales staff members, who are “getting paid too much,” and replacing them with inexperienced “cheap labor.” Exactly the opposite of BB’s successful strategy.
Remember the song, “When will they ever learn?”
More “Bad Companies” - At Least When It Comes To Lead Management
While I designed thisREDUCING OFFICE COST | DESIGNING OFFICE PROCESS | VISUAL WORKFLOW | CRM | FREE DOWNLOADS |
PARTNERS | BLOG | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | HOMEas a forum for sharing with readers the misdeeds of companies towards customers - this entry is about companies being bad to themselves, “bad to the bone” bad.
What I’m calling “bad” is the shameful sales lead management performance of so many lead-generating, B2B companies. “Pitiful” is a kind word to decribe their misdeeds - and “wasteful” is a severe understatement. Most lead-generating companies squander sales opportunities right and left. Not that every sales inquiry is a sale ready to happen - most aren’t - but when marketing treats every inquiry as a potential sale and sales responds by treating them all as trash - nothing good will come of all the dollars invested in lead generation, and the relationship between marketing and sales becoming cat-and-dog-like is a near certainty.
As at least a few readers know, I’ve enjoyed a twenty-year-plus relationship with Performark, a premiere lead management company. And as part of my recent contributions, Performark asked me to write several articles about this issue and why lousy lead management still remains an issue despite so much being said and written about it. And as more than a few of you know, I don’t write a damned word I don’t mean, no matter whether I’m getting paid to write or not. I could mentiopn a couple of software companies that paid me to write articles for them which discovered subsequently discovered this truth, but I’ll be kind. Hey, at least I forewarned them. But the musta bet they might catch me on a “good” day.
All this is to say that even though I wrote these clients for a client, they express my thinking and my thinking alone. And if you’re caught up in lead management issues, regardless of your role, I recommend you read the following two short white papers. I’ll let you know when the next two are done. And if you’d like to learn more about Performark or contact the company directly, visit their website at www.performark.com.
To see/download these articles just click on “Recent Articles.” They’re the top two. And when the remaining two are done, I’ll add those to the top.
Six Ding-Dongs And A Golden Nugget: My Troubles With Verizon
What are the three most important aspects of providing technical support? Train your people. Train your people. Train your people. Simple. But based on my multiple experiences last week - seven to be precise - Verizon Wireless doesn't get it. I've actually praised Verizon in the past for the positive, "can do" attitude of its mobile office and broadband support staff. But I guess my early experiences, probably with core staff who were involved in getting these initiatives off the ground before widespread adoption, were an aberration. The "can do" attitude remains - but now it's coupled with "can't do" performance that staggers the imagination. Consider what just happened to me. My trusty, rusty, five-year old ThinkPad finally kicked the bucket. Couldn't open Windows with a can opener. Dead as a doornail. So, I rushed online to buy my new ThinkPad, being a trackpoint devotee of the highest order, and Lenovo's the last out there still offering precise trackpoints instead of sloppy touch pads. When it came, I discovered that I'd uncharacteristically failed to copy my broadband Outlook settings into my Verizon Outlook contact record, so I had to call Verizon to retrieve them. And call, and call, and call, and call, and call, and call I did.
Here's where the story gets really scary. Service rep one gave me the wrong values. After inserting them over and over again without success, I hung up and called service rep two. She gave me different values, but the values that didn't work. After she continued asking me over and over again to reenter the same values, I hung up and called service rep number three. He gave me yet another set of values, and when they didn't work, he told me that for some reason the system was rejecting my password (how he knew it was the password not the user name is beyond me), and had me select a new password. When he said it would take 80 hours to take effect, I yelped. He came back and said a reset wouldn't take nearly that long, and to try again in a day. I actually waited for three days before trying to connect again, but to no avail. So I called service rep four, who informed me that 80 hours was hard and fast, no exceptions (like they wait until 79 hours, 59 minutes to throw the switch in order to fully irritate the customer). So I waited until after 80 hours and tried connecting again. Guess what? So I called service rep number five, who castigated service reps one through three for not knowing what they were doing, before she authoritatively gave me the "definitive" values. Which didn't work. At which time I blew a gasket and demanded to talk to her supervisor, ding-dong number six, who gave me still another new set of values. Hey, guess what again? These values that didn't work either.
Six ding-dongs. Six different sets of values. None of them worked. But this bloke had authority to go up on Verizon's server, where he spotted something amiss. He told me he would fix it, and to connect tomorrow to verify that it worked. Like I would have trusted him? So it's Saturday now (this saga started on Tuesday), and I tiptoed into the office, trying not to upset these new magic values. I won't make you guess. YOU IDIOT. I'm sorry, YOU IDIOTS. So I called rep number seven and asked for another supervisor. He made the mistake of asking me what the problem was, and his head must still be ringing, days later. But he recovered, apologized (the 151st apology I'd received), and asked me to read all the Outlook settings. He then told me that several were incorrect, and gave me new ones. I'd encountered all the new settings on previous calls, but never in this combination. So we tried, but I couldn't connect. But he was cool and told me we'd stay on the line until I was connected (which from my perspective could have taken weeks). Then he asked something no one else had regarding the age of my Verizon Mobile Office software. When I told him that I was one of the very early Broadband users, he grunted in approval. So we went to "Control panel" and "Add/remove programs to uninstall the Venturi accelerator component of the software that's a.) no longer necessary; and b.) KNOWN TO CORRUPT ENCRYPTED DATA ON THEIR UPGRADED BROADBAND NETWORK.
A couple of mouse clicks later, and my "Test settings" command in Outlook for the first time in 247 attempts. What a travesty. And this guy was probably a college student working weekends for beer money rather than one of Verizon's "service unprofessionals." Now does this whole experience stink, or what? And I wish I wasn't writing for a "family blog" so I could say what I really think - #%^&*+!@$#^^&%$#@+&%?*$$@!!!!
Intuit Apology Is Nice, But…
If you’ll look back to my previous post regarding Intuit’s customer service issues, you’ll quickly realize that outsourcing customer service offshore to service reps that: a) don’t know QuickBooks; and b) don’t understand basic double-entry bookkeeping; and c) don’t speak English recognizably were the core problems. So while I was happy to receive an apology from a U.S.-based customer service supervisor who read myREDUCING OFFICE COST | DESIGNING OFFICE PROCESS | VISUAL WORKFLOW | CRM | FREE DOWNLOADS |
PARTNERS | BLOG | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | HOMEentry, I was also struck by the futility of it. The miserable service I experienced is bound to happen over and over again until Intuit realizes that farming out customer service to cheap overseasd labor doesn’t cut it - not unless it’s willing to thoroughly train reps (including educating them in bookkeeping principles) and then motivate them to stay for years, not months. And anyone familiar with the contact center labor scene in India realizes that employee churn is endemic. Hence, Intuit’s offshoring customer support is a problematic venture at best. And customers like me suffer the consequences. Which is why the minute a software company that ”onshores” customer service comes out with a competitive application, I’m gone.
My thanks to the conscientious support supervisor who apoligized - and even gave me her number for the next time I need support - but nice words don’t change policies. Intuit’s customer support will stay in its rotten shape until some executive there wakes up and smells the customers.
