43 Folders

Back to Work

Merlin’s weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.

Join us via RSS, iTunes, or at 5by5.tv.

”What’s 43 Folders?”
43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

Dansays: Put all your customer service numbers into Address Book

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.

tferey's picture

A Blend of SohoNotes and Daylite

I agree with the above comments on the necessity to create a dedicated group of contacts in Address Book for your Cust Service .

After investigating the same issue 6 months ago, the solution I landed is a mix of two Mac applications (since you can't get rid of your laptop :-)) : SoHo Notes and Daylite.

They both seamlessly integrate with OSX's AddressBook and iCal modules, and are IMHO the best - respectively - Notes/Password manager (which you can link to contacts) and Contact Management package.

Give it try, since they're more than affordable. Hope it helps,

 
EXPLORE 43Folders THE GOOD STUFF

Popular
Today

Popular
Classics

An Oblique Strategy:
Honor thy error as a hidden intention


STAY IN THE LOOP:

Subscribe with Google Reader

Subscribe on Netvibes

Add to Technorati Favorites

Subscribe on Pageflakes

Add RSS feed

The Podcast Feed

Cranking

Merlin used to crank. He’s not cranking any more.

This is an essay about family, priorities, and Shakey’s Pizza, and it’s probably the best thing he’s written. »

Scared Shitless

Merlin’s scared. You’re scared. Everybody is scared.

This is the video of Merlin’s keynote at Webstock 2011. The one where he cried. You should watch it. »