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Re: Keep us in Retirement!

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@dfwskier wrote:

I'd suggest that you write Herb CCing Gary. At the very least I expect you'll get a more sincere reply than you've gotten so far.


 

I think that's optimistic. 

 

Neither Herb nor Gary read or answer their own mail, of course. 

 

Herb, in particular, is mostly a figurehead at this point. 

 

 

Re: Keep us in Retirement!

dfwskier
Aviator A

Oh, I understand that neither Herb nor Gary is likely to personally reply.

 

What I would expect is that they would hand off to someone and say "let me know how you resolve this."

 

At least that's what happened at TI, where I spent my work life, and we would never know when we were going to get a "status request?"  from the president or CEO- or he administrative assistant to either.

 

The point is that if you send a letter to Herb or Gary, your letter will get some serious consideration and a thoughtful response.

Re: Keep us in Retirement!

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@dfwskier wrote:

Oh, I understand that neither Herb nor Gary is likely to personally reply.

 

What I would expect is that they would hand off to someone and say "let me know how you resolve this."

 

At least that's what happened at TI, where I spent my work life, and we would never know when we were going to get a "status request?"  from the president or CEO- or he administrative assistant to either.

 

The point is that if you send a letter to Herb or Gary, your letter will get some serious consideration and a thoughtful response.


 

Again, that's very unlikely.

 

First, Herb and Gary would never even see these letters. (The volume of letters they receive daily makes it impossible for them to read each one. They have way more pressing things to do with their time.)

 

The person(s) tasked with opening mail addressed to them would simply route the letters to Customer Relations.

 

CR would:

 

1) Add another tally in the "subject" column which most closely matches the customer complaint in their tracking system, which could likely be as non-specific and all-encompassing as "Rapid Rewards Elite Levels." (Only these counts are "shared with upper management" -- not the specific complaints.)

 

2) Compose a reply, most likely utilizing copy/paste and/or form letter format, with a few places for personalization. Best case scenario, you might receive a phone reply, where the rep would listen to your complaint personally, apologize, and thank you for your input.

 

More than ever, management decisions and company direction these days has very little to do with customer input.

 

 

Re: Keep us in Retirement!

dfwskier
Aviator A

I'm not going to get involved in a senseless debate on the topic so this is my last post on the topic.

 

I will say that over the last 20 or so years I've sent letters to maybe 6 presidents of US corporations about issues that needed resolution, in EVERY case someone other than a customer service rep contacted me about the issue (and incidentally in every case resolved the issue). Some of the companies: Citibank, Lowes, Wyndham Hotels, Choice Hotels, Vail Resorts, and a hospital holding company.

 

Also, as I said earlier, my own personal experience as a Texas Instruments employee was that if someone sent the president a complaint about something my departmenr was doing, ether the president or his administrative assistant kept tabs on how the situation was resolved. They didn't just blow it off by referring it to the customer rrelations department for a cut and paste solution.

 

 

As I said earlier, I recommend a letter to Herb CCing Gary.

Re: Keep us in Retirement!

chgoflyer
Aviator A

Sounds like you feel strongly about this topic. Your track record is impressive. I highly recommend you send that letter, exactly as you suggested. Please do come back and let us know how that works out.