Foo - Customer service is dead.

It's not even worth ranting about. Companies simply do not give a **** anymore. I think they figure as long as they continue to make pleasant-sounding empty promises eventually you'll either be convinced of the quality of their goods and services or just go away.

This is somewhat true. I had to deal with a customer service department today on behalf of a friend (which required me gaining access to the account...). It's the same as it has always been, you must balance "diplomacy" with "force" and get to the top to speak to the right people.

The little guys just don't give a ****...and the company is too big to have it any other way.

While some do have horrible customer service I've recently gotten incredible CS from several companies.

Eton Radio is one that comes to mind. They were nice enough to send me both a European adapter and antenna adapter for free when I called up and asked about buying them. That's wonderful CS!

Here's a tip for those of you tired of automated phone systems:

www.gethuman.com

Its a large list of major companies and the instructions for
what buttons to push to be routed directly to a real person.

Customer service has been eroded away by us consumers and retailers together. They lower prices by cutting staff and opening box stores or selling on their websites, and we shop for those cheaper goods at those box stores or online, driving companies that charge a bit more and provide better service out of business.

I guess consumers must learn that good service costs money.
You can't buy dirt cheap products from a discount store and expect a lot of help.

It's not even worth ranting about. Companies simply do not give a **** anymore. I think they figure as long as they continue to make pleasant-sounding empty promises eventually you'll either be convinced of the quality of their goods and services or just go away.

Too broad a generalization; are you referring to manufacturers, retail stores/resellers or service providers?

If you are speaking of manufacturers and you choose to work with one that has controlled (but reasonable) price margins, a good authorized reseller network and service capability, you will most likely be very satisfied.

Example: Shure sells through authorized dealers, gets their reasonable price margin, has a great service policy. Case in point: I have bought three sets of e4c earphones and have gotten consistent replacement warranty service at no charge even 6 months after the warranty expired. Thank you Shure!

Other manufacturers may have difficulty in certain markets where returns are high and margins are low. Here's a question: are you willing to give up something - return a product without reason or pay very close to reseller cost to get better service? Probably not, so expect more of the same from these vendors or low quality products.

We are very fortunate in the Cycling Industry, where there's margin and a good deal of pride from various manufacturers to keep customers happy, and the availability of the LBS to return items for service and act as a buffer to the consumer.

You don't see massive amounts of bike parts being returned to their manufacturers by the LBS; you do see a constant flow of returns passed from consumer-to-retail store-to-manufacturer

newegg has great service and cheap prices.

I guess consumers must learn that good service costs money.
You can't buy dirt cheap products from a discount store and expect a lot of help.
Amen, brother.

Depends on the company.

Depends on the business. If taking a flight, expect to be farting mayonnaise after dealing with airlines, because there is almost no way to get a decent deal or flight unless you pony up for first class, air transport companies are either immune to lawsuits (or just file bankruptcy), and they can always hide behind "security" excuses to justify their piss-poor attitudes and service.

Computers, depends on the company, I've had great luck with Newegg, although I have not attempted an RMA yet. When CompUSA was around, I've had to return items there, and they were very good about that, although I always tacked a written letter explaining why something was inoperable, such as an MP3 player I bought that had metal burrs on it which tore one's fingers, as well as powering off at random, corrupting its MS-DOS filesystem.

It really depends on what type of industry. Some are just horrific to deal with, others, you should never have to take any crap, assuming a rational and reasonable request.