<p>I don’t think you were. My HS Sr. daughter is the receptionist for her dance studio. She talks to parents and perspective parents all day long. She has been told that she must always be friendly and polite even when the caller is upset or rude (not that you were). She is also very firm that if she can’t answer something she immediately has the owner take the call or call the person back.
She would never tell someone she was just a student or that it wasn’t her problem. As long as is she on the other end of that phone she is the voice of the studio much the way this student is the voice of the school.
You did her a big favor.
Artmommy they should have given him feedback. If he thought it went fine and it went that badly they did him a disservice. My student has had paying internships and there is a formal exit interview and paperwork to fill out. The supervisor was kind but brutally honest. I laughed reading it because I could see some of her frustrations with my kid were also mine…</p>
<p>I would have a very poor impression of a school that has staff who don’t know how to forward vacation email, or at the least, can activate an ‘out of the office’ automatic reply.</p>
<p>dealing with customer service at my jobs the past three years (work-study and other student positions at my school) I’d say the response you gave her was alright. though to be hoenst you can’t really tell just from words. the tone and volume of those words means a lot more. i know just because i’ve had to deal with it over the phone and in person. it’s always much harder to do it in person because if the person is nasty, well I won’t get into that…anyways it seems the school has problems with departments communicating with one another which i imagine isn’t uncommon. some departments are often split up into different groups and that creates even more problems when you want to get to a certain person. i wouldn’t let that discourage you though. that probably happens at most schools and most companies. that’s not the real service your paying for if your son goes there.</p>
<p>out of curiosity, what is your profession. the reason i ask is because from my experience, some professionals tend to have a certain attitude (which they think is normal, since that attitude is probably required for their jobs). When they deal with customer service it comes off very nasty though.</p>
<p>ebee is right on the money.</p>
<p>I am a RN. I think I have developed the skill of having concerns but delivering them in a respectful, calm manner from dealing with doctors and especially surgeons over my career.
I use what is known as the SBAR in my daily life as well as when reporting to physicians.
S= Situation
I have a concern about the admissions department and setting up tours which I would like relayed to a supervisor
B = Background
My son is an accepted freshman and we have been trying to arrange a tour. No one has responded to several emails I have sent over the last two weeks. The only information we received was from the college and not the general university.
A= Action
I have already spoken to the college and gotten nowhere.<br>
R= Recommendation
I would like you to pass along my concern. (And when she kept saying she was just a student… my recommendation was to be aware that I was her customer and she should make an effort to find out where my concern goes and use this as a life lesson!)</p>
<p>S= Situation
I have a concern about the admissions department not responding to emails and setting up tours for admitted students
B = Background
My son is an accepted freshman and we have been trying to arrange a tour. No one has responded to several emails I have sent over the last two weeks. The only information we received was from the college and not the general university.
A= Action
A tour was arranged but I want to follow-up with the schools actions. Request the name of the supervisor of the department
R= Recommendation
Get in touch withe the department supervisor.</p>
<p>I too am an RN and familiar with SBAR. We both know that we do deal with certain incompetence and skill when the person has not been properly trained to do a job/skill required. It sound like the only way to correct this is to not deal with the student directly but with her manager.</p>