CEOs of High-Tech Firms CLUELESS

CEOS THINK CUSTOMER SERVICE IS GREAT

This story perfectly shows how out of touch with reality the CEOs of tech companies are. The huge majority of them think that their companies are doing an "above average" job serving customers. This is absurd!! All you need to do is go to the bottom of the page following the article, and see how many people took the time to voice their displeasure with these companies and their CEOs. This is only a sampling of the number of people who found themselves shaking their heads in disgust at the stupidity and/or ignorance of the CEOs surveyed. What I would add to the article is that companies do not realize how one very bad customer service experience can completely change the buying habits of a consumer. Here is how Hewlett-Packard lost me as a customer.

I had been somewhat of an HP junkie for about 7 years. After very good experiences with my first 2 HP desktops, I began purchasing many other HP products: cameras, printers, other peripherals, and a handheld. The handheld was the mistake. All of my HP products are still in good working order, but the handheld is trash. Despite the fact that I had purchased a 3 year replacement warranty on the handheld, I could not seem to get anyone to help with the problems that I was experiencing with the handheld. When I attempted to get repairs done on the machine, HP told me that I did not have warranty coverage. After 4 months of arguing with representatives, nasty emails and 2 letters to executive level individuals, I was still no closer to resolution with the problems I was having with my handheld. They won. They wore me down, and I gave up... well, not really. I am guessing that if I am blessed to live another 50 years, that I will have purchased a truckload more of computers and related products. NONE of them will be from HP - not even a cable. So, there you have it, HP. You may have an incredibly loyal customer who would not even think about buying another brand, but if you screw that customer bad enough - even one time - you will lose him/her. You lost me, and I was a very good customer.