NOTE FROM ASSISTANT EDITOR:
The negligent and disrespectful service described here happened to Marie over the last two weeks. The problems this caused nearly ruined an important project our staff had been involved in for some time.

We are what we are. By nature, we are gullible creatures. And, by nature, we tend to be patient and trusting, sometimes to our own detriment.

I come from the generation that pioneered catalog buying. I jump for joy every time a UPS or a Fed Ex truck arrives at my front door or when the friendly postman, one of the last vintages, I think, of a way of life I once knew, arrives at my door with packages I ordered from companies I have never seen. People like me have fostered and built a multi-billion dollar industry -- the Mail-Order business.

For over three years a now, I have dealt with photo developers that way -- through the mails. It's a little more expensive doing it that way and, God knows, it's a slower method than running down to your local developer for a one-hour quickie developing or putting it into an envelope at your friendly neighborhood drugstore and waiting for the three-day turnaround. It was no matter that occasionally my mail-order supplier screwed up my order -- they will get the hang of it, I told myself. Then why do my developing through the mails? I remind you that first it's fun, even though it's addicting. And, PhotoWorks®, my mail-order developer, previewed my photos through my E-mail, at first, then on-line by way of creating a personal website for me, which, in spite of the poor reproduction quality of the photos is, I admit, a nice feature but not something I couldn't do on my own. They have also, within the last year provided me with a viewing site, which is a very active selling tool for them; a feature extended for my benefit, so their sales pitch tries to convince me. It's actually their way of reaching my circle of relatives and friends to try to widen their customer base. But, in spite of that, I persevered continuing to develop my film with them for the added service of getting my photos on disk. When my local developer instituted that service, then my new reason was to have my photos burned on CD. When my local supplier offered that service along with two sets of hard copy prints, at less cost, I had my first thoughts about rethinking my developing preferences. When an offer came through, via E-Mail, announcing a newer, faster, easier way to order film developing, I gullibly thought PhotoWorks® had redeemed themselves. It read:

EZ Ordering Makes Order Forms Obsolete!
There's an easy way for you to place a film developing order without filling out an order form. Introducing EZ Ordering. To take advantage of this free service, just call us. A friendly PhotoWorks® Customer Service representative will ask you a few brief questions about your order and payment preferences, such as what size of prints you prefer and how many sets of prints you would like with each order. After that, all you have to do is place a label (that we will provide to you) on your roll of film and send it in to us. We'll take care of the rest.

On my next order, I dutifully followed their outlined procedure. I called customer service and when they answered, I trustingly asked for the EZ Ordering Service and started to outline my order. A sweet talking lady interrupted me with an apologetic, "Excuse me, but I don't know of that service so I can't help you." Frustrated, I hung up. At that moment, second thoughts struck me forcing me once more to rethink my developing preferences.

My last intolerable, photo-developing nightmare started in the third week of March -- the 25th, to be exact, when PhotoWorks® screwed up my last order. I was patiently waiting for my hard copy prints and CD's to arrive, by priority mail, which is, at the outside, a three-day delivery. Those prints were the third and forth developing of my eight-roll project. I should interject here that I am writing this in the wee hours of the morning of April 3rd, in order to meet my April 5th publishing deadline for PRESSPOINTS NETNEWS®. As of this writing, those prints have not yet arrived!

But as trusting as I am, I have not accepted this show of bad service to come down without a fight. A fight, I might add that has led me nowhere. First, I dutifully notified their customer service person of my plight. My dilemma was out of their hands, they had said, because they have no control over the post office and how they deliver. "Be patient, your package will come," one service rep assured me. I waited but that wait brought me no results and no mail. In two days, I phoned again and got the same rote answer as before; "Be patient, your package will arrive." That prompted me to take my next drastic step. I took advantage of a personal message I had gotten from PhotoWorks® through my E-Mail. The invitation read:

A Message From Our New CEO
Hello. I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I'm Howard Lee, the new CEO of PhotoWorks. I recently joined PhotoWorks because I saw a tremendous opportunity to help customers like you, share their photos and memories with friends and family in new and powerful ways. Gary Christophersen, our former CEO, is now our Chairman. We've joined forces to make sure PhotoWorks will always be the same reliable, top-quality photofinisher it's been for the last 23 years, just like it was when our name was Seattle FilmWorks. You can depend on it!
Thanks for being a loyal PhotoWorks customer. I'd like to hear directly from you to find out how we're doing because I consider you my best source for insights on our performance. Please e-mail me at: hl@photoworks.com. I look forward to serving you for many years to come.
Howard Lee

The next day an auto responder, issued from the desk of an E-Mail rep, stated: "Due to the deluge of e-mail, Mr. Lee, our CEO, receives, it would be impossible for him to answer your E-Mail for at least three weeks" That response not only left me cold but it had left me in wait mode again. But this time I didn't wait; I was hot under the collar, as they say. I picked up the phone and spoke to a service rep again. Josh, after hearing my complaint, was less than co-operative; he offered me no solutions that would solve my problems or appease me. On the contrary, he became defensive when I asked him how he thought a company such as his could survive when reps such as he have the attitudes he was projecting. He was fast on the comeback. According to him, they had thousands of customers to survive with. But dissatisfied customers, one by one, will multiply and eventually do you in, I had warned him. He was confident that an event of that nature could never happen to PhotoWorks® he proudly said. His attitude sent me reeling and I threatened to take my business local, to Sav-on® or Costco®. Josh didn't take my threat very seriously saying that I was welcome to do that, as I would find that their quality could never match PhotoWorks® quality. I asked him if losing one customer was a concern of his or his company's. He reminded me that a loss of that nature could not possibly hurt a company as large and as widespread as theirs was. While I applaud his loyalty, I criticize his foolish beliefs.

After hanging up from Josh's and my phone conversation, this time seething with photo-rage, I redialed and asked for a supervisor. Belinda made a valiant attempt to apologize for Josh's verbal behavior but even she could tell that her apologies went unheeded. She asked me to wait one more day and if I didn't get my package the next day then I should call her back and she would try to find a solution to my dilemma. At this juncture, it's needless to tell you that my eleven-day priority mail package didn't arrive. When I talked to Belinda the next morning she dissipated my anger at PhotoWorks® by suggesting that she could order my prints redone free of charge. I was elated. "Do it," I exclaimed! On the heels of my exhilaration, she dropped the next bomb!
"That will take seven to ten working days and we will rush it out by regular mail."
"What!" I yelled. "No, no! Order reprints immediately and send them UPS Overnight!" I demanded.
"But, Mam, in order for me to relieve your dilemma, I have only this option open to me," she insisted. "You will just have to wait."

I hung up in disbelief. But what else did I expect from a company that was out of my reach? What else could I expect from a CEO who appeals to his customers to E-mail his office with any and all complaints, then puts off responding to invited feedback and then avoids addressing their service problems? How much more assistance could I demand from PhotoWorks® customer service reps who are at a loss to know how to solve their own inefficiencies?

What PhotoWorks®, their Chairman of the Board and their new CEO needs is the philosophy that Jeff Bezos, CEO of amazon.com® publicly expounds. It's the "You Betcha Service" philosophy. He believes in one on one customer service and his creed is to provide the utmost service to his customers, no matter what it costs. And there is Enco, Inc®. Their service rep personally called us, before our shipment arrived, to warn us that the wrong tool had been shipped; they already had replaced that shipment with the tool we had ordered, shipped UPS Overnight. "Please use this return number to return the wrong shipment, freight prepaid. And I can't ever forget the company that I order computer software from. In tracking their shipments, they found that our order was detoured to another city. To correct the problem, they credited my credit card account, reshipped the software, UPS Overnight -- No Charge! My account was recharged only after I had signed for receipt of the package. My first knowledge of the whole transaction was an E-Mail notification from a rep in their shipping department.

So, how do I solve my customer service problems with PhotoWorks®? My solution, of course, is to go digital -- pop for a digital camera and end what has now become a photo-developing nightmare for me. I'm sure that I speak for others who have had the same sort of experience as I've had. Think of the cost differential. When I consider the monetary outlay for the camera and compare it to the cost of processing film, the camera will pay for itself within six months.

EDITOR'S NOTE:
If you, dear reader are thinking of converting to a digital camera, don't buy your camera from PhotoWorks® online store. Stay tuned for our staff member, Mad Duck's recommendations of his favorite digital camera and how to find the best buys on the web.

From 4PointsPress Assistant Editor: The Mad Duck
Also stay tuned for our follow up of PHOTO RAGE. Neither I nor anyone else on the 4PointsPoints Staff will tolerate disrespectful or negligent service from anyone. This article will be forwarded to everyone we can locate at PhotoWorks®, the Better Business Bureau in Seattle and a number of high circulation E-Zines (Electronic Magazines). If you have had a similar experience with PhotoWorks® please drop us an email with the details. Direct your email to the Editor.