When his daughter was planning a trip to Iceland, J.K., a
reader from Boston, read the travel materials supplied by the tour group
organizing her trip and discovered that she would need a plug adapter if she
wanted to plug in any of the electronics she might bring with her. What the
materials didn't say is whether she would also need a voltage converter since
Iceland operates on a 220-volt system and North America operates at 110.
Most laptops, cellphones, and tablets have an automatic
voltage converter built into their plugs, something that J.K. confirmed by
reading the tiny print on the plugs themselves. The only item his daughter
would need to be able to charge those items is a plug adapter.
J.K. researched online to find out what kind of plug
adapter she'd need for Iceland. Then he rifled through his desk and found that
he had just the kind she needed.
What J.K. didn't have was a voltage converter. His
daughter would need one to charge her camera's battery. Again, he took to the
internet and found a local office supply store that seemed to carry several
different types.
When J.K. and his daughter got to the store, it wasn't
clear which, if any, of the plug adapters was also a voltage converter. The
packaging on each item was sealed tight so they couldn't get to the
instructions or specifications.
On his smartphone, J.K. searched for a toll-free number
for the company that manufactured some of the converters in stock, found it,
and gave it a call. After finally getting through to a live customer service
person, J.K. read the various model numbers to him and asked if any of them was
also a voltage converter. The customer service representative said he would
look the item up on his computer to see, ultimately telling J.K. that there was
nothing on his screen indicating the items were voltage converters, so,
"No, I suspect they're not."
After a bit of back and forth, J.K. got off the phone. He
went to the information desk to ask if someone who might know something about
the adapters could help him. When the clerk came over, he asked if he knew if
any of the adapters was also a voltage converter. The fellow took a look at the
packages and pointed out very small print (even smaller than J.K. remembers
seeing on the plugs of his daughter's electronics) that indicated one of the
items was indeed also a converter.
He bought it and it worked great for his daughter while
she was in Iceland.
"Wasn't it unethical for the guy on the phone to
tell me the adapter wasn't also a converter when he really just didn't
know?"
Bad training? Maybe. Poor customer service? Perhaps. Not
giving its customer service representative the tools they need to do their jobs
competently? Certainly. The manufacturer could and should do a better job of
training its customer service representatives to know its products.
But incompetence doesn't make the guy unethical as much
as it makes him and the manufacturer look incompetent. Were it not for the
knowledgeable office supply store guy helping them out, the manufacturer might
have lost the business.
Fortunately, J.K.'s daughter got what she needed, and the
pictures she shared with her father when she got home made them both happy.
Jeffrey L. Seglin, author of The Simple Art of Business Etiquette: How to Rise to the Top by Playing Nice, is a lecturer in public policy and director of the communications program at Harvard's Kennedy School. He is also the administrator of www.jeffreyseglin.com, a blog focused on ethical issues.
Do you have ethical questions that you need answered? Send them to rightthing@comcast.net.
Follow him on Twitter: @jseglin
(c) 2017 JEFFREY L. SEGLIN. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.
1 comment:
Pity the poor customer service rep who doesn't know all the details about 12,500 products! No, the CS rep had no intent to be unethical. He just didn't want to say "I don't really know" and possibly lose his job.
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