I know that my black card is going to be pulled after black people read this post. And quite frankly, I don’t know how I would feel about that.
I contacted two black institutions for research assistance and my experiences with both provided disappointing results. I wrote about the first one in Good Service is to Hard to Find. What I didn’t say in that story was that the only reason why I think I received a response from the person is because I contacted the President of the institution. Had it not been for “their” intercession, I probably still wouldn’t have gotten a response. I also did not mention that in my correspondence to the President that I let “them” know about the better customer service and quicker responses I received from non-black institutions.
Now for the second story. I reached out for assistance at an institution that is NOT in Illinois in early April asking for an update on April 22nd. When I did not receive a response, I sent an e-mail on April 30th. I get an e-mail from my assigned support stating that he did not find anything and he was on his way out of town. He then gave me directions on how to conduct research myself. Seriously? Even after I him I did not live in that state. Nice! The manager will be hearing from me today!
The only reason why I did not do my own research is because it was not available online. Honestly, I would prefer to do it myself . But to have no help at all even though it has been assigned and it is YOUR job is very frustrating, especially when I give ample notice and do not get any type of communication.
I will not disclose the names of these institutions at this time for two reasons: 1) I know I am going to need them again and 2) I hope to share stories of improved customer service in the near future.
Since I released my frustrations, it would be great to hear anything positive. Got anything?