If you've read even a few days of this blog, you'll know that while most of the time I'm just being sarcastic and poking fun, sometimes I can be quite critical of Taiwan. But for as critical as I can be of Taiwan, I am infinitely more so of America. No bigger example of that than the fact that I choose not to live in America.
However one good thing about living abroad is that it can shine your home country in a different light. Yes there are some times when Taiwan makes the USA look bad and some times when it makes the USA look great. The best times are when it can take something I used to dislike about America and make me change my view on it. A situation like this recently happened to me.
I've mentioned before that customer service in Taiwan for the most part is quite poor. Mainly because no business in Taiwan works on tips. As much as I don't really like the idea of tips, being in Taiwan did show me that they do improve service. However that's not the particular situation that happened recently.
In America one thing that gets a lot of flack is the customer service provided when calling companies and shops. I remember I used to dread talking to customer service departments on the phone as it was always a headache. I much preferred driving however far, just to deal with somebody in person.
Well if you can image it, the customer service on the phone here is even worse. The people are not well informed. It takes a long time to just be able to explain what you need, you have to go through many different levels to reach somebody who can actually do what you need done. And that's just companies with customer service departments. Heaven forbid if you are calling a store to ask a question or request some information. Dream on!
And yes you may assume that some of the problem here is the language barrier, but for the most part my friends will call for me. I am quite lucky to have a friends who are willing to take the phone call bullet for me. Or perhaps that is why I'm even more sensitive to the problem, because I don't mind my suffering, but I feel bad that my friend who is doing a favor for me has to suffer.
Recently though, I had to make some phone calls to some companies back in the states and I was quite worried. As bad as I remembered it being, and my experiences here, I was expecting the worse. However to my surprise it was a complete delight. I had a wonderful time on my phone calls. It wasn't like anything amazing happened, but for the most part they were quick and efficient. I was very happy and extremely surprised.
Stepping back from it, it's not like anything had changed since the last time I was in America and making phone calls, but now being able to compare it to my experiences in Taiwan, I was able to realize just how good we have it back home. So the next time you are on the phone and on hold and loosing your patience, just trust me, it could be much much worse.
