5 Dating Don’ts Learned From…Your Cable Company??
By Rosie Munger, BounceBack.com Editorial Staff
1. Don’t chat with little intention of doing anything.
If you have ever opted for the chat function instead of calling your cable company because you thought it would be easier and faster, you probably realized quickly that it was a mistake. Kind of like online dating, at first you’re really not sure if it’s keyword-generated text or an actual person. Have you ever received those generic emails some people send out to everyone fitting their search parameters? It feels a bit like that. Even when you do realize that it is, in fact, a person on the other end, your patience for platitudes will have already dwindled. Everything seems to take longer on chat, but guess what? Most issues can’t be resolved by chat. After all of that, you may have to call in anyway.
Now, don’t think for a second that once they know your issues they don’t know that it might be something that has to be resolved over the phone. Yet, do they tell you? No. They just chat along, even though their “help” is pretty useless. In dating, be honest with your intentions. If you only want to chat, then make that clear because chances are the person on the other end is waiting for you to make the date!
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2. Don’t say you’ll show up between 8 and 12 and arrive at 11:55.
Hopefully most people don’t do this. To be fair, I have had plenty of cable personnel arrive right at the beginning of the window, which always makes for a happy customer. Things do come up, traffic happens, etc., but if you know you are going to be late or on the latter end of an acceptable time period, call your date. Promptness is a sign of respect. Next time you’re getting ready to leave for a date, think about how much you love it when the cable guy arrives at 8:05am.
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3. Don’t give all the best you have to new customers, then charge more a year later.
Many companies these days show much more appreciation for their new customers than their old, and the cable companies are perhaps the worst culprit of this backwards behavior. Instead of rewarding loyal customers who have stayed with them, they charge them more and tantalize the fresh meat with cheaper bundled packages and free HBO. While you do want to put your best self forward when meeting dates, let your amazing qualities reveal themselves over time. Imagine how you would feel if each month your cable provider gave you a new premium channel for free without charging more or taking something away!
Perhaps it’s easy to let your less than lovely sides show after you have been with someone for a while, but try not to make your partner work harder for your affections. We all feel a bit cheated when our special deal ends after 12 months and we have to pay $20 extra for those NFL channels, so contemplate how this feels in a relationship! Put your genuine self forward and don’t take it away after a year.
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4. Don’t charge customers for problems that were your responsibility.
There are generally not supervisors in relationships, which perhaps is too bad. Often it seems that they are the only people who know what is going on at the cable companies. It’s unclear why the supervisor could tell that the extra charge on the bill was due to the company’s faulty equipment and was therefore not the customer’s responsibility, yet the regular customer service agent you just spent twenty minutes with could not.
Be the supervisor. Take responsibility when you are in the wrong. Often the customer service agent’s ability to reduce the charge by 50% will be sufficient, as most disagreements are 50-50 in terms of responsibility. There are times, though, when admitting it was all your doing will win you many points for the future.
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5. Don’t steal your neighbor’s cable.
This is not something the cable company does wrong, but if they find out you are stealing cable, they will come after you! Not only should we not steal someone’s cable, we should not take someone’s belongings. Even more off limits? Someone’s significant other. Just don’t.
Related: Don’t Lose Yourself in Loving Him: 3 Must-Dos
Most people have had some kind of frustrating interaction with a cable or phone company, no matter how hard they try to please us. What’s yours? Is there a dating lesson to be learned?
Rosie Munger admits to becoming very frustrated with the cable company on a basis far too regular for her liking. Always prompt, #3 is the lesson she needs to practice most.
