 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: diz
Date: 2003-07-16 23:59
This is a bit of a sad anecdote but I must tell it because I want to be sure I'm not the only one in this situation (I think I'm not, I hope). I have an account with a MAJOR American publisher (who will remain nameless) and have, as a consequence spend many hundreds of (US) dollars purchasing music from them (via their excellent web site).
I recently received a full score for a work (opera) that was just very badly put together. It is glue bound (with thread) and, therefore, almost impossible to pull apart to fix. The print processing division of the publishing house obviously had a hangover when they assembled this score ... large sections are upside down and in the wrong place. My only way of fixing this is to cut off the spine and reassemble it in it's correct order ... hole punch it and put it into a binder - which kind of destroys the score, somewhat!
I have emailled the company and, thus far, they have ignored my requested to get this resolved. I did, however, tell them it didn't tarnish my view of their product as it was a one off case. What do I do - harrass them and then never get served again (not a wish of mine) or just put up with crap and remain silent?
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Author: diz
Date: 2003-07-17 00:23
A phone call is not an option as I can't record the conversation. Emailling (or writting) at least gets tangible documentation to use in persuing a refund or replacement.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-07-17 03:22
I say harass them. Sometimes a company needs a good swift kick in the arse every now and then to keep them in shape. And, especially with companies, I believe in the addage "Give 'em an inch and they'll walk all over you." You paid for a good score. Do what you need to to make sure that's what you get. And I wouldn't worry about being on their "bad side". For the most point, unless it's a small business, (which I don't know if this MAJOR company is or isn't but I doubt it), I doubt they'll have enough time to worry about all their customers that get annoyed or "harrass" them.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Terry Horlick
Date: 2003-07-17 14:01
Why not try a registered letter. Today everyone e-mails and it is easy to ignore. A registered note is a bit unusual and grabs the attention. Adress it to the highest manager you can identify and he/she has to sign for it. You have the documentation that it was accepted which you want and the recipient knows that folks who sue also use registered mail.
Another approach which is similar but not as attention grabbing is to send a registered e-mail. Not everyone on this board knows how to do that. If you are using Outlook Express for you e-mail click on the tab marked "tools", then "options" then "receipts". When you get there click on "request a read receipt for all sent messages". In order to open the mail and read it they have to allow their computer to email a notification that they got it. This is a step which doesn't mean anything as you already know it was received if it didn't bounce, but it may grab some attention.
Don't forget to reset that Receipt request on your e-mail program or you will be hasseling everyone you mail to! Sorry, I can't tell you how to do this with other e-mail programs I don't use.
There's no threat there, but a very subtle implied one.
Terry
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-07-17 14:11
Terry Horlick wrote:
> Another approach which is similar but not as attention grabbing
> is to send a registered e-mail.
Everyone I know turns that #$%^& off. It's too easy for "stupid" spammers to know you've opened the mail.
(the smarter spammers send you an HTML mail and put an image in the message that when loaded identifies you - and identifies the fact that you have a valid email. Sometimes it's an invisible 1 pixel image.
It's best on Outlook and other mail agents with a "Preview" option to turn the Preview function off.)
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Author: hans
Date: 2003-07-17 17:46
I would write to the president of the company. She or he will give your letter to a subordinate with instructions to "look after this" and it will be resolved quickly because the pesident will not want to learn later that the problem was not handled to your satisfaction and the subordinate will not want to incur the displeasure of his or her president.
If this company does not respond appropriately in the end, I hope that you will share its identity.
Good luck,
Hans
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Author: Todd W.
Date: 2003-07-17 19:16
diz --
As has been mentioned here before, if you pay for your purchases by credit card, you can put this item in dispute until the matter is resolved. (If you've already paid the bill, contact your credit card company.)
You are certainly entitled to get what you paid for, so I don't think asking for a properly put together score would qualify as harrassment. Even persistence in getting them to reply to you (which seems to be the problem at present), I would not call harrassment. Remaining polite through this frustration may be the hardest part.
A registered letter (or certified letter, return receipt requested) is a good option, although there may be a company policy not to accept such letters.
Even though you can't record the phone call, it may still be worthwhile. You may at least (barring endless phone trees) get a real, live person and with patience, politeness, and persistence may get to a person who can help you (or at least get their name and title). If you keep a phone log of your call(s) with date, time, and names of whom you talked to, with a summary of the call, you would have some "ammunition" to use in subsequent e-mails.
It seems to me that a lot of businesses are running lean today in numbers of employees. If you've not had problems with this company before, I expect they want to do the right thing, but the customer service people are overworked.
Good luck in your quest.
Todd W.
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Author: diz
Date: 2003-07-17 21:54
Thanks for your advice - I will send a registered letter - phone calls are expensive from one end of the globe to another - espeically as I know I'll be put on hold until I go through the "right channels" and end up with the receptionist again. thanks.
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