What's Your Time Worth?

Here's an interesting dilemna I ran into this week...

About a month ago my cell phone wasn't working properly. With the warranty, I was able to exchange and get a brand new one (same model) for free... I thought this was great. But now my new phone's battery is not holding a charge. I know I can take it and get a replacement battery if I were to take it in again...but here's the dilemna... where I need to take it is about a 15 minute drive one way...not bad... but I will also end up waiting approximately 30 minutes (minimum) to see a customer service representitive and then about another 15 minute drive home, a total of about an hour to get a new battery. The battery can be purchased online for about $20 and mailed directly to me, no hastles but $20 out of my pocket. As much as I like to be frugile with my money, the pain of wasting an hour at the mall just didn't seem worth it... I purchased the battery online. Obviously each case is different, but to me a lot of these companies are willing to give you good customer service when you eventually get to speak with someone but they make the process one that is far from pleasant which I think in turn is a natural detterent from using their customer service in the first place. What I also noticed at this cell phone store is that 80% of the store is set up to sell phones and accessories to new customers with several avaialable sales representative to help anyone that should need it, with most of the sales reps. just meandering around with no new customers to even assist. On the customer service side, there were 3 representitives and a line of 12 waiting individuals in a section of the store that was less than 10% of the total area available for customers.

It's like most every service in this country these days... as long as there are no problems or issues with your service everything is great. But the moment you have problems be prepared to be put to the test with your patience.