WHY HAVE EMAIL?

[Smoky14]

Why do companies have email if they are not going to answer it? Whirlpool tells me they will call within three days, six days later I send another contact me email and yet they do not contact. I'm having battery problems and have emailed the co. and no return contact. This is just this month, more of same in the past.
If I refused to do business with those who don't contact I'd be out of luck trying to get along.
Has anyone else had this experience or is it just me. The wife has that facebook thing and she puts the laundry out there where everyone can see it, and usually gets some response.
What have you found to get best results?

Smoky rant over

 

[Andrew1972]

Email mostly is a black hole for many companies.

Either phone or live chat is most effective.

 

[paulri]

To resolve a problem, I always use a phone, and if I can't get a human, then live chat if available.

I have found in the last several years that if I simply want information about a product, companies are more likely to respond now than when everyone first put up their websites in the 90s and early 2000s. Emails rarely if ever got answered back then. But now, companies I think are more aware of internet, and trying to communicate that way. I often get replies nowadays.

But if it is an issue that needs to be dealt with like a warranty or a repair, absolutely I'd call or live chat. Especially if there is a 60-90 day window to initiate a return/warranty repair, I'd hate to be twiddling my thumbs waiting for a callback.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I always call. I'm too impatient to wait for an email back.

 

[Merkava_4]

What kind of Whirlpool appliance takes batteries ? That was my first thought.

 

[spk2000]

If it is like my company they are likely way understaffed in this area as these people are not making the company any money. Don't overstaff warranty and quality positions as they are not the money makers.

 

[SeaJay]

Youngsters today are generally not willing to pick up a phone and dial a number to speak to someone. They have never had much practice at it, and would prefer to send a text or email. They also have short attention spans and tend to forget after a short time (5 minutes)with no response what the question was. It is a simple & cheap solution for Companies to post an email for complaints or questions, and to then ignore those emails with most of those sending those emails having soon forgotten about them.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: SeaJay
Youngsters today are generally not willing to pick up a phone and dial a number to speak to someone.


I'm not young anymore but find myself in that boat. I can just shoot an email with all relevant details and then go do something else. If it requires more work than that, then sure, a phone call makes sense. But if I need xyz part or need to communicate dates and numbers and facts, it seems typing it out would be faster than reciting said info over the phone.

 

[Andrew1972]

It really depends on workflow of email behind the scenes. If a company is using a standard mail client in responding they have to be very organized to keep up with it.

Other places layer workflow etc on them to process them in a timely fashion. I have built web apps to manage customer email and it's archaic at best if company is using Outlook for example to manage it.

 

[SeaJay]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: SeaJay
Youngsters today are generally not willing to pick up a phone and dial a number to speak to someone.


I'm not young anymore but find myself in that boat. I can just shoot an email with all relevant details and then go do something else. If it requires more work than that, then sure, a phone call makes sense. But if I need xyz part or need to communicate dates and numbers and facts, it seems typing it out would be faster than reciting said info over the phone.


As long is it is a simple communication with only a very few dates and numbers and facts, then yes you are correct is is simpler to type.

However, it is is more complex with subtle nuances, often time it will take a whole bunch of written communications to get the right answers that explain everything. And in those situations, it takes longer and more work to get to the bottom of it. I suspect many product complaints have quite a few of those complexities.