I think this situation illustrates a rather common problem with support in general. With so many companies farming out their support divisions to other countries, service companies, or to penal institutions (yes, this does happen), the customer suffers because the support representatives really have no knowledge of the products and policies beyond what's written in their script book, not to mention any language barriers that may exist.

I have encountered too many companies, large and small, retail and online, that just plain don't care at all about their customers. They seem to think that we are an endless supply of dollars, ripe for the picking. And managers wonder why their revenues are down from one year to the next. Hopefully, one day soon, companies will wise up, realize that they are there to serve their customers, and go back to treating us the way we were treated by merchants forty or fifty years ago.

Back then, companies were glad to have our business because they knew there was another store right up the road selling the same thing. Those in the customer service industry, and the executives in charge of those people take note. You never know whom it is you're dealing with on the other end of that line. You may find yourself the subject of an article similar to this one if you don't start treating your customers like what they are, your livelihood.

James Booth is the News Editor for ZATZ Publishing. In addition to being a Contributing Editor for Computing Unplugged and Connected Photographer Magazines, he is the author of Do-It-Yourself Wedding Photography. A self-taught photographer, James also dabbles in digital graphics and has learned to be a PC and Palm specialist through personal trial and error. James can be reached at jbooth@zatz.com.