Comments on: How Important is Your Front Line? https://www.evilhrlady.org/2008/08/how-important-is-your-front-line.html Everything to make HR better Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:50:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Original Lee https://www.evilhrlady.org/2008/08/how-important-is-your-front-line.html#comment-2871 Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:50:00 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/2008/08/how-important-is-your-front-line.html#comment-2871 Our last contact with a car rental company was not a good one, but we usually rent from them because we get a union discount and they have a facility two blocks from my office, which makes returns easy if we need to have a car locally for some reason.

The brakes failed on my regular commuter car on a Saturday afternoon. I was fortunately only a few blocks away from our regular mechanic, so I very gingerly drove the car there. But, it was late Saturday afternoon by that point, so he was obviously not going to be able to fix my car before Monday morning, and I needed my rental. I called Usual Car Rental Company. They close at 2PM on Saturday and don’t re-open until 8 AM Monday. Um, what? Nobody rents from them on weekends? After several calls, I finally manage to reach a real live person. If I can get to Nearby Airport, I can pick up a car. OK, fine, I can get a neighbor to drive me over there, or maybe (worst case) take a cab. I go to Nearby Airport to pick up the rental. I give them my bank card.

Clerk: Sorry, can’t use that because it’s a debit card. You need a credit card with an available line of credit of over $5,000.

Me: Um, I wasn’t told this when I made the reservation.

Clerk: Well, if you have some kind of proof that you live where you say you do, such as an electric bill, we could run a credit check and then maybe you can use the debit card.

Me: Grrrr. Here’s my credit card. I don’t know what our available credit is at the moment, though, because my husband is in Japan right now and the hotel always grabs a big chunk of our balance.

Clerk: (after some typing) Oh, it looks as if you have enough to secure the rental, but you don’t have enough left on your balance to pay for more than 2 days. Would you like to use your debit card to pay for the rental?

I leave the rest to your imagination.

]]> By: Infamous HR Guy https://www.evilhrlady.org/2008/08/how-important-is-your-front-line.html#comment-2870 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:41:00 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/2008/08/how-important-is-your-front-line.html#comment-2870 HAHA!!! I would have driven the car across the spikes and rode the rims to my hotel and called a tow truck the next morning to pick it up and take me to get a new one.

Glad another agency could help you out. Could you give the name of that company?

]]> By: jaded hr rep https://www.evilhrlady.org/2008/08/how-important-is-your-front-line.html#comment-2869 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:01:00 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/2008/08/how-important-is-your-front-line.html#comment-2869 In many years of recruiting, often for niche positions like actuaries, industry analysts, specialized techies, etc. the one position I find the most challenging to fill is the receptionist job. You can find anyone to answer the phone, but to find a really good one who can be the face of your company to all your visitors is tough.

]]> By: Dataceptionist https://www.evilhrlady.org/2008/08/how-important-is-your-front-line.html#comment-2868 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 06:18:00 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/2008/08/how-important-is-your-front-line.html#comment-2868 Ugggh pet hate #45890
When staff that are meant to help you aren’t aware of specific details at specific locations, leading them to talk to you like you’re an A grade moron.
“why would you need a barcode?” GAH! I just need one!

]]> By: Rachel - Employment File https://www.evilhrlady.org/2008/08/how-important-is-your-front-line.html#comment-2867 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:13:00 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/2008/08/how-important-is-your-front-line.html#comment-2867 Wow. Why wouldn’t you want to sleep in a car locked in a parking garage?

This goes to the point that everyone in a company matters right down to the cleaners.

]]> By: HR Godess https://www.evilhrlady.org/2008/08/how-important-is-your-front-line.html#comment-2866 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:45:00 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/2008/08/how-important-is-your-front-line.html#comment-2866 Great post! You couldn’t be more right on with this one. My current company doesn’t have voice mail (I know, unheard of!) We have a wonderful receptionist. She is complimented regularly by vendors, customers, prospective employees etc. If you worked in the office, she isn’t always accurate with your phone messages and really can’t handle much else besides answering the phone. I bring this up because she always makes people feel great when they call here. Even when they yell at her. She never has an off day. So when I don’t get the right phone message, I remember that the person who calls back will soon forget she’s mad when she talks to the receptionist. The first point of contact is the most important and leaves a lasting impression, good or bad!

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