Originally published at customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.
This morning, when I got to work, I got an email from the client, asking for yet another explanation of the issues involving the db_interface with Jaws.
I wrote out the following:
The problem with the search box delays things considerably.
Without knowing which criterion the member is going to provide, I have to
spend time scrolling through, (and waiting while the screen refreshes and
Jaws refocuses), before I can get to the next option.
This puts me in the position of having to make small talk with the customer
before I can even get the customer pulled up in the system.
As I’m sure you’re well aware, asking for a customer’s ID would not fix
this problem, as what the customer thinks is the ID could be anything from
a social security number to a prescription number.
Furthermore, referrals are also out, meaning that they can’t be done using
Jaws, and I’m sure you’re also well aware that that makes up a huge part of
what we do.
The current state of affairs does not allow me to meet the criteria set
forth by (client name deleted) for acceptable call lengths, which would effect my quality,
which effects my overall rating in general.
That’s a domino effect I’m not prepared to deal with.
I hope this is helpful.
Please keep this in your records in order to prevent re-explanations from
being necessary.
Pretty self-explanatory, right?
At least it should be to people who are supposed to know what they need to about Jaws so they can write accessible software.
Then, this afternoon, I got another email.
Now, they want screenshots of what I’m encountering.
Now, keep in mind that Jaws is a screenreader, which means that it interprets what’s on the screen and speaks it out loud.
I’ve explained time and time again that there aren’t any actual errors, as in, no error messages.
The problem is that Jaws and the db_interface do not cooperate.
So what do they ask for?
Specific error messages, and whether or not things are just real slow or can I just not use the system.
In other words, “We don’t care if it’s really slow, and you have to put up with cranky customers, and you have to try to bullshit your way into keeping them on the phone so you can argue with our kloogy interface, because it’s not our problem and we’re too lazy and stupid to fix it, but we don’t want to say we won’t fix it because then we’d look bad.”
I’d like to do my part to make sure every person involved in this clusterfuck is kicked out of the gene pool by midnight tonight.
This is a complete waste of my time.
And I should have known it was going to come to this.
“We can’t fix it, because, well, we don’t know how and we don’t want to learn, and it’s not our scores at stake so what do we care, so we’re just going to blame it on you and let you deal with it, and to hell with whatever objections and/or explanations you give us.”
These are the people running America’s companies people!
These idiots, and more like them, infest the board rooms and upper management positions of corporations everywhere.