Thanks, Cingular
After searching and being unable to find a way of sending a positive comment to Cingular/AT&T through their website, I figured I'd post this to my journal by way of getting the general good intention out onto the airwaves. This is an odd way of coming back from another minor hiatus, but as promised, it is now September (though well through) and I am struggling back up out of the murk of relocation and many flavors of transition.
I am not generally friendly toward large corporations, mostly because the flip side of the existence of a corporation is that there is not much to be friendly toward. The corporation as an economic structure exists with a purpose specifically to avoid responsibility, and in my view that means they also avoid humanity. Companies that try to convince us that they do have personality are flat-out lying in the interests of the one thing a corporation does have, which is the hunger to survive.
That being said, I was struck today by the oddness of how easy and painless it was to pay my cellular bill. I didn't have to wade through layers of poorly designed web interface, I didn't have to wrestle with multiple websites, I didn't have to wait three days in order to get a transfer from my bank to the service. I logged in and clicked about three times and it was done. Night and day compared to other cellular experiences. This led me to recall the numerous other positive experiences I've had with Cingular, namely unfailingly cordial customer service, reasonable rates and sane approaches to data transfer, strong hardware, and generally even rather aesthetic advertising. Mainly, though, life has been very stressful and hectic lately, and simple things like being able to pay a bill painlessly make them easier, and anything that makes my life easier right now I have an extreme level of gratitude toward.
So this is a general yawp of approval and gratitude to Cingular, and if you work for them or have worked on their services (web especially) it applies to you, too. I realize there are probably tons of counterbalancing horror stories, but the sheer fact that the web interface doesn't support general feedback comments leads me to believe not many people take the time or have the inclination, and despite their many ills, companies that do things right ought to be well regarded for doing so.
There's a lot of negative energy in the world, from individuals and collections thereof. Any one of us gets about a dozen opportunities a day to poke another person in the eye. There's something to be said for letting those opportunities go, and releasing a little positive pulse when you can.
More later, including photos of the new place.
I am not generally friendly toward large corporations, mostly because the flip side of the existence of a corporation is that there is not much to be friendly toward. The corporation as an economic structure exists with a purpose specifically to avoid responsibility, and in my view that means they also avoid humanity. Companies that try to convince us that they do have personality are flat-out lying in the interests of the one thing a corporation does have, which is the hunger to survive.
That being said, I was struck today by the oddness of how easy and painless it was to pay my cellular bill. I didn't have to wade through layers of poorly designed web interface, I didn't have to wrestle with multiple websites, I didn't have to wait three days in order to get a transfer from my bank to the service. I logged in and clicked about three times and it was done. Night and day compared to other cellular experiences. This led me to recall the numerous other positive experiences I've had with Cingular, namely unfailingly cordial customer service, reasonable rates and sane approaches to data transfer, strong hardware, and generally even rather aesthetic advertising. Mainly, though, life has been very stressful and hectic lately, and simple things like being able to pay a bill painlessly make them easier, and anything that makes my life easier right now I have an extreme level of gratitude toward.
So this is a general yawp of approval and gratitude to Cingular, and if you work for them or have worked on their services (web especially) it applies to you, too. I realize there are probably tons of counterbalancing horror stories, but the sheer fact that the web interface doesn't support general feedback comments leads me to believe not many people take the time or have the inclination, and despite their many ills, companies that do things right ought to be well regarded for doing so.
There's a lot of negative energy in the world, from individuals and collections thereof. Any one of us gets about a dozen opportunities a day to poke another person in the eye. There's something to be said for letting those opportunities go, and releasing a little positive pulse when you can.
More later, including photos of the new place.