April | 2008 | blog.JacobBurke.com - Random thoughts about life, technology and the world around me.

Archive for April, 2008:

When Customer Service Ends & Frustration Begins

Posted on: April 30, 2008 at 4:23 am | Posted under: Entertainment, Life, Shopping
Tags: circuit city, customer service, madonna | Comments: Comments

Tuesday is always a big day for music and movies. Yesterday I went out to run errands with a friend of mine and he wanted to pick up the new Madonna album – ‘Hard Candy’. Our search for the album started at Target, where they only had the basic version of the album. I mentioned to my friend that there is a special edition of the album that comes in a box set with a booklet and even candy. So we went to Best Buy, and due to a shipping error they did not have the special edition. After running around to some other stores (not for the album), we went to Circuit City. This is where things went downhill.

The associate at Circuit City had no idea that there was a new album. She walked around like a moron looking for it in their very small music section. She asked other associates about it and they had no idea either. My friend was pretty upset about this, considering that there has been buzz about the new album and it is a known fact that it would be out on April 29.

It seems that Circuit City doesn’t care about their customers and this is evident when they cannot even properly educate or train them. I just don’t understand. I used to like that store, but it has gone downhill. Most items don’t have prices on them, sections are in disarray, and the store has about three employees on the floor at any given time. I am completely dissatisfied with the level of customer service that Circuit City offers and what happened yesterday was the last straw.

Customer service is vital in any business, whether it be a physical or online store. Keep your customers happy and they will keep coming back. Frustrate them by not knowing what is going on and you will lose their business for good. Circuit City has lost two customers after yesterday.

Cheers!

Facebook Chat – Is This Necessary?

Posted on: April 25, 2008 at 5:11 am | Posted under: Technology
| Comments: Comments

I had the chance to finally use the new chat application that Facebook (FB) has launched. At first I was excited about this, because I am able to communicate with my friends on FB in real-time. Unfortunately, there are a number of drawbacks to this web-based chat system.

First, I have to be logged into FB to use this. I barely check the site anymore the way it is, why do I want to be logged in just to use this? Can’t there be an AIM plug-in that will talk to the chat API to get the same information?

Second, no alert! It was by chance that I ended up using the chat yesterday afternoon. An old friend of mine messaged me to see what television I was catching up on from Wednesday night. No sound alert, no visual alert, just a chat window that came up from the bottom of the page. I know this application is new, but look at the successful chat software out there and take a cue from them. There is a reason why AIM is still so popular.

Third, the interface is very minimal. I like modern design, I keep things looking clean and uncluttered, but in this case – less is not more. I was barely able to do anything from within the chat itself. Again, take a look at AIM and it’s success and learn from that.

Overall, I applaud FB on their efforts, but stick to getting the new layout done. Keep the chat application to those who know what they are really doing.

AJ Vaynerchuk has some interesting insights into the chat application, be sure to check out his article.

What are your thoughts on the new chat from Facebook?

Cheers!

My Love & Hate Relationship with Yahoo!

Posted on: April 24, 2008 at 3:48 am | Posted under: Technology
| Comments: Comments

I am starting to feel like Steve Ballmer these days. No, I don’t have a ton of money to throw around and I am not threatening other companies, but I do have a love and hate relationship with Yahoo!

When I was young, our family bought an IBM Aptiva and we had a dot-matrix printer to go along with it. Soon enough, after lots of complaining from my sister and I, we got internet access. I still remember signing up with Yahoo! for an email account and being able to chat with my friends on ICQ, those were the days. A much more simpler time back then, where you still did more conversing on the phone and in person than via email or online chat.

My first website (if you can call it that) was running on Yahoo! Geocities. I had the free account, so it was riddled with ads, but I managed to get by. I eventually took that site down once I got to college. Why? The story is here.

During college, my love for Yahoo! soured. I am not completely sure what it was that first triggered it, but I was not drawn to any of their services and I even shut down my account. My primary email was the one provided to me by Mansfield University. As the years went on, I just couldn’t bring myself back to using Yahoo!

Everything took a turn for the worse the summer before my senior year of college. A fellow committee member at PRSSA gave me an invite for Gmail. Once I setup my account and started using it, I never looked back. Gmail was the way that email should be – a clean and simple interface not bogged down by ads or flashy content. I was truly happy with my new email account.

Here we are, 2008 – I still can’t stand Yahoo! and what they offer. Clunky email, having to pay to access your account with Outlook or Windows Mobile, horrible directions and time estimates with MapQuest, and applications that cannot remain stable. The only reason I even have an account with them – Flickr. I was so upset when I heard that my favorite photo site was being bought by the company I despised the most. I have learned to live with it, but like would be easier if I didn’t have to deal with them.

So, I don’t like Yahoo!, and I feel that they should just roll over and let Microsoft buy them. They need to quit acting tough and just take it like a man and stop this damn dance once and for all.

That’s my story on Yahoo!, what’s yours?

Cheers!

Twitter Account for Sale…AGAIN?!

Posted on: April 22, 2008 at 2:09 am | Posted under: Twitter
| Comments: Comments

Well Twitter is in the process of fixing things and I am getting an influx of old tweets from the people that I am following. I came across another interesting tweet from Andrew Baron and it looks like his account will be going back up for sale on eBay.

I am completely confused as to why he is doing this. Is this another PR stunt? Only time will tell what exactly is going to happen here, but you can only cry wolf so many times before people stop listening.

Andrew, what are you doing man?