CAP Talk

General Discussion => Membership => Topic started by: ♠SARKID♠ on October 01, 2007, 01:32:10 PM

Title: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: ♠SARKID♠ on October 01, 2007, 01:32:10 PM
A while back I called National HQ about my membership renewal.  Their answering machine said that they would get back to me on the next business day.  That was 3 WEEKS ago...Well the nice [name removed -admin] finally called me back just moments ago.  Unfortunately I couldnt get me phone in time and it went to voice mail, otherwise I might just have been a jerk about it.
Title: Re: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: Pylon on October 01, 2007, 01:47:49 PM
National Headquarters staff are usually quite busy, and do their best to get to every members' request when they are able.  Has your membership renewal issue prevented you from participating in CAP activities yet?

To be fair to NHQ, you should not have waited three weeks to follow up to something which you thought required immediate attention.  If it didn't require immediate attention, then the three weeks follow-up time was acceptable.
Title: Re: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: ♠SARKID♠ on October 01, 2007, 01:53:11 PM
Quote from: Pylon on October 01, 2007, 01:47:49 PM
National Headquarters staff are usually quite busy, and do their best to get to every members' request when they are able.  Has your membership renewal issue prevented you from participating in CAP activities yet?

To be fair to NHQ, you should not have waited three weeks to follow up to something which you thought required immediate attention.  If it didn't require immediate attention, then the three weeks follow-up time was acceptable.

No, it hasnt expired yet.  I'm just annoyed that it took three weeks to return a bloody phone call.  And now I dont even need their help anymore.
Title: Re: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: SDF_Specialist on October 01, 2007, 02:17:41 PM
You should have emailed Susie Parker. She usually responds in at least 48 hours. She's good about getting back to people in a reasonable time frame.
Title: Re: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: pixelwonk on October 01, 2007, 02:27:39 PM
Chalk it up to a lesson learned.
Title: Re: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: Skyray on October 01, 2007, 03:26:44 PM
They got back to me in 48 hours.  I didn't like the answer, but I certainly can't fault the service.  Maybe it just takes them longer to say yes than no.
Title: Re: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: mikeylikey on October 01, 2007, 03:37:52 PM
They always picked up when I called.  The only time they didn't I got a call back like 2 hours later.  Don't be a jerk to anyone at NHQ.  They are WAY more busy (and productive) than you Cadet.  If it is an issue regarding renewals and such.....why can't the local level help you out??

Title: Re: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: ♠SARKID♠ on October 03, 2007, 02:03:49 AM
Quote from: mikeylikey on October 01, 2007, 03:37:52 PM
They always picked up when I called.  The only time they didn't I got a call back like 2 hours later.  Don't be a jerk to anyone at NHQ.  They are WAY more busy (and productive) than you Cadet.  If it is an issue regarding renewals and such.....why can't the local level help you out??

1)  Being busy is one thing, but a 3 week response time on a phone call is bad business.

2)  Never say anything about me or my productivity.  Just don't.  You don't know me, you've never seen what I do or am capable of doing, and you have no right or basis to pass judgment on me like that.
Title: Re: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: Major Carrales on October 03, 2007, 02:12:01 AM
Quote from: ♠SARKID♠ on October 03, 2007, 02:03:49 AM
Quote from: mikeylikey on October 01, 2007, 03:37:52 PM
They always picked up when I called.  The only time they didn't I got a call back like 2 hours later.  Don't be a jerk to anyone at NHQ.  They are WAY more busy (and productive) than you Cadet.  If it is an issue regarding renewals and such.....why can't the local level help you out??

1)  Being busy is one thing, but a 3 week response time on a phone call is bad business.

2)  Never say anything about me or my productivity.  Just don't.  You don't know me, you've never seen what I do or am capable of doing, and you have no right or basis to pass judgment on me like that.

Well, I guess someone wan't born back in the days of snail-mail and paper forms; which routinely took weeks.

C'mon, SAR kid, there are like 60,000 members...many more pressing needs...and you should have called back a few days later.

The productivity comment is likely saying that these people are working CAP as thier job, and have to address the needs of 52 wings.  Cadets and Regular line CAP Officers are rarely that productive...even I, a person who lives for CAP.

Take it with care ;)

Title: Re: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: TankerT on October 08, 2007, 01:53:57 AM
So, you've never made a mistake?  How do you know that there wasn't just some human error that someone realized happened, and they called you back as soon as they realized they hadn't called you about it?

And, you just jumped to calling NHQ?  Did you check with your Squadron?  Or, Group?  Or even Wing?  Heck,
your Wing Director of Personnel (who happens to be a member of your unit) and Chief of Staff for Mission Support deal with membership issues on a regular basis, and could have been able to assist you as well.  Did you contact either of them?  (Yes, a partially rhetorical question.)


Also, prioritizing current tasks is key.  Did you know that NHQ is at a current LOW for staffing due to budget cuts from the Air Force?  And, with e-mail, they have more correspondence coming in from the field?  How do you know that they didn't have some other more pressing issues on their plates?

In all honesty, NHQ staff are hard working folks that take their jobs seriously.  I interact with them on a weekly basis.  And, sometimes they can't get back to me right away with mission critical items.  (But, they always gets resolved before it becomes a problem.)

And, to complain that they have the problem, when you let it sit for three weeks before trying to call back?  That's not very professional.  (I've had instances where my voice mail retrieval system was down for two weeks, and I had messages from that entire time I had to follow up on.  Do you know there wasn't a technical problem?)  Nor is it professional for a cadet or officer to publicly state they would have been a jerk to the person returning their call because of the delay. 

In the end, NHQ staffers work hard, and take customer service very, very seriously.  I've dealt with them for longer than you've been in CAP.  Sometimes, something slips past them.  They are human after all, and can make a mistake, just like you or I can, and do.

And, maybe there is more to the story, and you have a legit reason to be upset. But, is airing it in such a public forum the correct thing to do?

And, remember, some of us out in cyberspace DO know you.  And, what you post can affect how we perceive you during face to face dealings.
Title: Re: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: Matt on October 08, 2007, 03:20:25 PM
Quote from: TankerT on October 08, 2007, 01:53:57 AM
So, you've never made a mistake?  How do you know that there wasn't just some human error that someone realized happened, and they called you back as soon as they realized they hadn't called you about it?

And, you just jumped to calling NHQ?  Did you check with your Squadron?  Or, Group?  Or even Wing?  Heck,
your Wing Director of Personnel (who happens to be a member of your unit) and Chief of Staff for Mission Support deal with membership issues on a regular basis, and could have been able to assist you as well.  Did you contact either of them?  (Yes, a partially rhetorical question.)


Also, prioritizing current tasks is key.  Did you know that NHQ is at a current LOW for staffing due to budget cuts from the Air Force?  And, with e-mail, they have more correspondence coming in from the field?  How do you know that they didn't have some other more pressing issues on their plates?

In all honesty, NHQ staff are hard working folks that take their jobs seriously.  I interact with them on a weekly basis.  And, sometimes they can't get back to me right away with mission critical items.  (But, they always gets resolved before it becomes a problem.)

And, to complain that they have the problem, when you let it sit for three weeks before trying to call back?  That's not very professional.  (I've had instances where my voice mail retrieval system was down for two weeks, and I had messages from that entire time I had to follow up on.  Do you know there wasn't a technical problem?)  Nor is it professional for a cadet or officer to publicly state they would have been a jerk to the person returning their call because of the delay. 

In the end, NHQ staffers work hard, and take customer service very, very seriously.  I've dealt with them for longer than you've been in CAP.  Sometimes, something slips past them.  They are human after all, and can make a mistake, just like you or I can, and do.

And, maybe there is more to the story, and you have a legit reason to be upset. But, is airing it in such a public forum the correct thing to do?

And, remember, some of us out in cyberspace DO know you.  And, what you post can affect how we perceive you during face to face dealings.

:clap: :clap: :clap:
Title: Re: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: Major Lord on October 08, 2007, 04:50:13 PM
Are we talking about the same CAP that the rest of us belong to? I have never had the slightest problem getting them to accept my money!  Call member services, give them a credit card number, and bada-bing, you are renewed!

Major Lord
Title: Re: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: Cecil DP on October 08, 2007, 05:12:19 PM

No, it hasnt expired yet.  I'm just annoyed that it took three weeks to return a bloody phone call.  And now I dont even need their help anymore.
[/quote]

Why didn't you call back the following day? or email? I doubt theres anyone on this website who hasn't received a response from National within 48 hours of submitting a question or problem to them. I even received a response on a Saturday morning, so this is a glitch.

2. If the membership question was no settled,  why complain?
Title: Re: Okay, now I'm annoyed.
Post by: pixelwonk on October 08, 2007, 08:47:15 PM
mkay,
that's enough wall-to-wall mentoring for this thread I think.