lost and found: one netflix customer

There are two things I really really hate. Okay probably more but only two that have to do with what I'm about to write. One thing I hate is when I buy a piece of software or download something or buy a printer or a camera or any piece of technology and the stupid piece of junk doesn't work! I mean, holy crap! Hewlett Packard, you sell five million printers and you can't get your stinking drivers updated? Yeah, that kinda thing really gets under my skin.

The other thing that gets under my skin? Crappy customer service. I mean every time I call Sallie Mae I spend fifteen minutes pressing buttons trying to navigate menus while my stupid hands-free thingy pops out of my ear every thirty seconds. Finally I speak to a human being and I get some stranger from pluto saying "Haalloooo dis be jar jar binks how can I heeelp you wid yo loan financial moneyyyy serbice accounty?" Yeah, so it gets under my skin.

So last night I was pretty bored, and on a whim decided I'd try Netflix. Cuz you know they say "Try one month free!" and expect that I'll stay keep using it after stealing a month of free service (and, being a born sucker, they're often right). So I get all stoked thinking I'm going to watch some streaming movie on my computer in like five minutes. So let me ask you a question. Do you think it worked? Do you think I logged on and pressed the lousy "play now" button on the lousy japanese anime movie and the lousy thing worked? It didn't work. Holy cow, I hate that.

I tried to fix it. Sure I did. Cuz I love movies, and I want what I want when I want it right now. Tried reinstalling stuff and searching forum boards about netflix error messages and all that nonsense. Did I get mad? Oh yeah. Lousy Netflix, they really pulled my chain. I was gonna write a consumer letter the likes of which Netflix had never seen. I was going to put such inflammatory verbiage on that letter that their greedy little eyeballs would melt out of their sockets.

That's what I was going to do. Instead I noticed the toll free help line. And it was a 24/7 help line. I didn't feel much better. Cuz really, who wants to talk to Jar Jar Binks at night or any other time, even if he wants to help? So I dial the number. And it asks me to type in the netflix customer service number on my screen. So I dial the six numbers. Ring ring "Hi this is scott how can I help you?" His name was Scott, and he spoke English. Not English. AMERICAN.

And he did everything a good customer service person should do. He made me feel like I mattered. And darn it, I DO matter! He knew what was wrong, explained it, walked me through, stayed on the phone while my computer rebooted for four minutes, and made sure it worked.

Now, I don't expect good customer service very often. I expect technology problems on a regular basis. I expect bad customer service most of the time. I thought Netflix would work quickly, and was upset that it didn't but the cynical voice inside me felt somewhat triumphant. But a positive customer service experience flipped the situation upside down, or inside out, or rightside left or something. It didn't restore my faith in humanity, since I never had any to begin with, but it turned me into a satisfied customer. Oh, and I got to watch "Space Battleship Yamato" which is a fantastic anime classic which had a huge influence on Star Wars and all the other epic space opera movies. And I just finished watching Dirty Harry. And I might even watch Season One of Heroes or The Office or something. Netflix: good stuff.