Lost and Found

I lost a bunch of things yesterday. I almost lost myself.

It all started when the TV man showed up late. This is the second time the TV man had to show up, not to be confused with the creepy first TV man who sat in his car in front of his house for 30 minutes before getting up the courage to tackle my house.

Regardless, he showed up late and got to work. I could tell from the confused way he was staring at my wall that something wasn’t right. Then I saw for myself. The wrong TV part was sent. Which meant that the right TV part was lost somewhere in space. Or Panasonic’s warehouse. Not that my broken TV that hasn’t lasted a year is panasonic or anything. I’m just saying. One in ten thousand breaks. My TV repairman quoted some obscure statistic for me.  I happened to be the lucky one. The rest of you can buy a panasonic without fear of malfunction since I took the hit for you. I tried to explain to the customer service department at Sears that my TV should be replaced since this kind of problem happens once in ten thousand, but they were busy chewing their gum. And laughing in the background. I’m sure the laughter was because someone had just told a funny joke, and not because my request was so ridiculous, but still, they laughed.

Which begs a small insertion here, kind of like a footnote. What is it with customer service departments these days? I don’t mind apathy or complacency, or rudeness, or any of these attributes as long as you call yourself something else – like “phone workers”, or “time killers”, or “just waiting til 5pm” department. But if you’re going to carry the mantra of “customer service”, then shouldn’t one of your job criteria be to serve the customer? i don’t know, I’m just a doctor, but I’m just saying…

Back to my Panasonic TV though. I was reassured by Sears that since I was still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, that I should speak directly to Panasonic about my problem with the TV.  It took me 47 minutes to get a “customer” service representative on the line. She was also chewing gum. Nothing she could do to help me out, she said.

And that’s when I started losing things.

First, I lost my temper.

Then I lost my patience.

Then I lost my religion.

Then I think I lost my mind.

Until finally I lost all of my pride.

And found out a valuable lesson.

Customer service does not manage the Lost and Found department.

My TV was still broken. The laugher continued, the gum was eventually spit out. Life for the rest of the Sears and Panasonic world went on as usual, while I spent the rest of the day looking for the things that I had lost.

I eventually found them. But it took all day and a little bit of me in the process.

Don’t lose those things that no one else can help you find. You will only hurt yourself in the process.

Proverbs 14:29

“Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.”

Related posts: