First, the latest TTM Consulting Newsletter, Privacy? Not Any More, is now available.

I've been reading a lot of things lately about customer service and computers, and I was drawn to a story about Comp USA and how they had so many serious customer problems that it's probably what led to the company pretty much closing almost all its stores in the United States. I hate to be one to jump on the bandwagon, but as much as I loved the design of the store I had plenty of complaints about some of their customer service issues.

It's not that people were rude, or that some of them didn't know what they were talking about. The first issue was that you could never find anyone to talk to when you had questions. You had to pretty much always go to the customer service desk to find someone to ask a question of, and rarely did that person know how to respond to your question, and rarely did someone come from behind the counter to walk with you to the area to try to help you out.

The second issue was questions about the viability of some of their products. Not that the names weren't valid, but what they were selling you might not have been new, or might not have been what you thought you were purchasing.

The third issue was service. I purchased one of their 3 year maintenance plans, which was pretty much a waste of my money when the local stores all closed up, and I had them build a computer with my selecting all the components. In essence the computer I put together was almost $3,000, including the professional edition of Windows XP, yet I ended up taking it back to them six times, and it still doesn't work properly.

Pretty much after my computer issues I had stopped going, unless I needed something on an emergency basis while I was out of town. One time it was a lifesaver; another time,... well, let's just say that my complaint ended up with the state attorney general's office and leave it at that.

At the present time I have another blog where I talk about marketing and advertise certain products. On one of them, I've been receiving a few negative comments about the products and the customer service problems these buyers have been having. Now I'm going to do my own investigation, because customer service is a big issue with me, if you've been a long time reader of my blog. Bad customer service is the one thing I can't tolerate, and I won't be associated for long with anyone who makes me, or others, feel bad because of this issue.

There is no product in the world worth putting up with being treated as though you don't really matter.