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Dansays: Put all your customer service numbers into Address Book

Submitted by Merlin on October 5, 2007 - 2:26pm.

This morning, like a lot of other people, I was locked out of using my PayPal debit card while the site (and apparently its glass-jawed transaction processing network) took a total dirtnap. So it goes. That’s only indirectly the point of this post (although I did kind of feel like opening a “Can of Cory” on The Pal).

Point is, my pal dansays left a great comment on my whiny Flickr post laying out why he’s put all the customer service numbers of products and sites he uses right into his Apple Address Book. Great advice that I’ll be taking this weekend:

  1. The number syncs to my iPhone, so it’s handy when I need it.
  2. I have a record of the number, should the website decide to, ahem, “streamline” their customer service department by removing all traces of their phone number from their website and forcing all communications through email. This happened to me just last week.
  3. I have a central place to keep all notes related to customer service conversations. Whenever resolving disputes, I switch into hyper-documentation mode. Who I talked with, when I talked with them, and what they promised me.

Smart fella, that Dan. 1 and 2 may seem obvious, but 3 is super-clever. If you’ve ever had to throw down with a dopey company, you know the importance of the paper trail. I really like the idea of having that with me on my Mac and on my iPhone.

in

Highrise

Submitted by djd on October 5, 2007 - 4:31pm.

Just to add… I’ve been totally digging 37signals’ Highrise app. One of the things that constantly impresses me about their apps, including Highrise, is how simple it is to use for the average joe, but also how powerful it can be for a full fledged business.

If you haven’t heard, Highrise is they’re answer to bloated ‘Customer Relationship Management’ software but they sum it up best: “Highrise helps you remember who you talk to, what was said, what to do next, who to call back, when to follow up, and more.”

I used it extensively for keeping track of a recent battle with Verizon in which every time we called they couldn’t pull up any records of our previous discussions… wanted to tell them to get Highrise!

http://highrisehq.com/