OK, I know some might see this as petty, but to each his own. Here is goes. I've been making an effort at home for the last few years, to reduce my junk mail. Every day, Americans get coupons, advertisers, flyers on their front doors, pre-approved credit card offers, etc., etc.. Most of these things have a way to opt out of them, and a couple of minutes worth of effort will eventually save time in the long run, with less things to shread, recycle, or carry to the trash.
Some companies, unfortunately, make opting out of this madness a big pain. The minutes start to add up, and most people give up. Perhaps these companies don't see annoying their customers as a big issue, and that the loss in sales will easily be made up by impulse buys from that same group of annoyed people. Well, not this annoyed person.
This is where Mueller's comes in. It has been over a year now that I've been trying to keep their medium-sized catalog out of my mailbox. I've called in several times to be removed from the list, and each time, I am assured by a friendly customer-service representative, that my request will be taken care of. Well, they never told me the full story until today, when I complained that this is at least the third time I've had to call and that I want to make sure this time that it gets done.
So apparently how it works is that their mailing list will cover 3 catalog drops throughout the year. Since I called in the middle of a cycle, I will receive the remainder of the three catalogs, even though I'm no longer in their system. Obviously I'm in SOMEONE's system, unless all three catalogs are printed at the beginning, but they have no control to prevent me from getting those extra catalogs. I don't think this is uncommon, and I could probably live with that, even though it's annoying.
Now here's the part where they lost my business. I asked next, so what if I want to order something online again... how do I keep from getting the catalog? With honesty that is appreciated, she let me know that there is no way. If you order, you will get the catalog (3 actually). She told me that some folks have tried to add comments when ordering, stating that they do not want a paper catalog. Mueller's is forced to ignore these requests as they have no tool/process for preventing customer names from getting on the catalog list. I did let the lady know that I'd like to provide my feedback that I won't be ordering anything more for the sole reason that that is the only way to avoid receiving their paper catalogs. Unfortunately, I didn't get the feeling that my feedback would be forwarded to the powers that be. I assume that it's just not in the interest of their bottom line to waste their time on fixing the problem. So be it. I guess I'll just have to order my 8-balls with skulls on them from someone else.
Normally, customer service isn't really something I think about when shopping for pool products online. I typically just go with the best price, as long as the company seems legit. As a matter of fact, usually I haven't ordered from Mueller's because someone else typically has a better price when shipping is factored in, but occasionally the Mueller's price is better and I go with them. Well, customer service suddenly jumped up in importance to me on this issue. Long live the little guy!
Some companies, unfortunately, make opting out of this madness a big pain. The minutes start to add up, and most people give up. Perhaps these companies don't see annoying their customers as a big issue, and that the loss in sales will easily be made up by impulse buys from that same group of annoyed people. Well, not this annoyed person.
This is where Mueller's comes in. It has been over a year now that I've been trying to keep their medium-sized catalog out of my mailbox. I've called in several times to be removed from the list, and each time, I am assured by a friendly customer-service representative, that my request will be taken care of. Well, they never told me the full story until today, when I complained that this is at least the third time I've had to call and that I want to make sure this time that it gets done.
So apparently how it works is that their mailing list will cover 3 catalog drops throughout the year. Since I called in the middle of a cycle, I will receive the remainder of the three catalogs, even though I'm no longer in their system. Obviously I'm in SOMEONE's system, unless all three catalogs are printed at the beginning, but they have no control to prevent me from getting those extra catalogs. I don't think this is uncommon, and I could probably live with that, even though it's annoying.
Now here's the part where they lost my business. I asked next, so what if I want to order something online again... how do I keep from getting the catalog? With honesty that is appreciated, she let me know that there is no way. If you order, you will get the catalog (3 actually). She told me that some folks have tried to add comments when ordering, stating that they do not want a paper catalog. Mueller's is forced to ignore these requests as they have no tool/process for preventing customer names from getting on the catalog list. I did let the lady know that I'd like to provide my feedback that I won't be ordering anything more for the sole reason that that is the only way to avoid receiving their paper catalogs. Unfortunately, I didn't get the feeling that my feedback would be forwarded to the powers that be. I assume that it's just not in the interest of their bottom line to waste their time on fixing the problem. So be it. I guess I'll just have to order my 8-balls with skulls on them from someone else.
Normally, customer service isn't really something I think about when shopping for pool products online. I typically just go with the best price, as long as the company seems legit. As a matter of fact, usually I haven't ordered from Mueller's because someone else typically has a better price when shipping is factored in, but occasionally the Mueller's price is better and I go with them. Well, customer service suddenly jumped up in importance to me on this issue. Long live the little guy!
