by Tony Gray
posted 19 July 2021

When did American business stop accepting calls from customers? I have been frustrated by jumping through ever-increasing hoops on phone menu trees in order to reach a human representative for years but lately it seems, even that is not an option.

I'm not talking about local businesses as much as national and international conglomerates. Are they really saving enogh money by doing away with live customer service representatives to make up for the business they lose?

Have you tried searching a web site for a phone number to call with questions about a product you bought from a big company, lately? If so, how well did that work out for you? A lot of big companies apparently don't want to talk to their customers anymore.

I have tried to contact three large companies in the last few months for help with their products; one was excellent (you can probably guess which company that was) in the sense I was able to easily find ways to contact their support department on their web site and, when I did contact them, they addressed my issue promplty and courteously. The other two? Crickets.

Sony makes great products and has for years. I still use the Sony Dream Machine alarm clock radio I bought around 1987 every day. My PlayStation 4 replaced the PS3 I owned before it and I was planning to upgrade to the new PS5 earlier this year. I did not because my PS4 is basically a big paperweight now and I have not been able to get any help from Sony so I didn't replace my PS4. They have been getting more serious about their account security over the last few years. One day back in the Spring, I signed in and was prompted to reset my password. It seemed to happen every few months so I didn't think too much about it. I grumbled about them being a pain in the butt but I reset it. Then I was prompted for my 4 digit pin, which I provided. Then, they asked for a second-factor code and I had nothing. So, I went to their web site looking for a way to contact support. The best I was able to find was their FAQ and knowledge base, so I searched them for help. Their answer was that I could find the 2nd factor codes on my PS4 after signing in to my account. Wait. If I could sign into my account, I wouldn't need to go to settings for the 2 factor code. I would just go ahead and play the game I wanted to play. I returned to the web site and searched in vain for a way to contact a person to help me resolve my issue but had no luck. The best I could find was the address for the company's US headquarters, in California. So, I wrote them and explained what my problem was and asked them to either reset my account or cancel my subscription. I didn't see the sense of paying $60 per year for something I coulnd't use. That was months ago and I have not received any communication from them to even so much as acknowledge they received my letter. So, I saved $500 by not buying the PS5 and a couple hundred more by not having to upgrade my game to the new console. Sony's loss, in my eyes.

Hewlett Packard makes good computers and printers. The first computer I bought, more than 2 decades ago was an HP with a Pentium 3 processor and a whopping 8 GB hard drive. The desktop I bought to make the print version of this paper was an HP with a powerful processor with a ton of RAM. I have an HP scanner and recently replaced my printer with an HP laser printer. I got it in December, installed the drivers from the CD and was able to print in less than 10 minutes. I was happy. I don't print many personal documents these days so have only printed about a dozen pages sinces I set it up. Last week, I needed to print something and the words were barely legible because they were so faded. I took the toner cartridge out and shook it up using the technique the printer guy at SUNY Albany showed me when I worked the help desk during college. I replaced the toner and reprinted the page. The words were a little more readable but it was still not a clear document. I knew ink cartridges had expiration dates that force you to buy a replacement cartridge every 6 months or so but figured toner wouldn't be like that because laser printers are more expensive. I guess I was wrong. I tried finding a number to contact them, too, but had no luck. Maybe if I created an HP account, I may have been able to but why should I have to do that? I already paid them hundreds of dollars, why should I have to subscribe to something else to get help with their product? I don't expect I'll ever buy another HP product. I'll have to buy a replacement toner cartridge but I don't have to replace any of my current HP products with another HP. If they don't want to support me, I don't want to support them.

Apple makes great products and they still have great customer service. I had problems with two things that they were able to quickly resolve and I am so happy that some American companies still believe in customer service. I don't know if I'll buy another iPhone because I still like my Pixel but I will definitely replace my old iPad with a newer version when the time comes. I still use iTunes on my original iPhone, though. And, if I still need a desktop when this HP computer dies on me, I will buy a Mac to replace it.