Customer Service Initiatives Annoying?

Hounded by customer service, an article by Liz Pulliam Weston, speaks loudly against technology-based feedback strategies.

An excerpt:
"Enough already with the surveys and polls and follow-up calls. What's the point if you ignore what consumers tell you?

This summer, I had a little glitch with my e-mail service -- a glitch that consumed several days of my time and a few hundred dollars of my hard-earned cash trying to fix.

Sure, that was annoying. But what came next was almost worse.

Each of the three companies with whom I dealt pelted me with phone calls and e-mail surveys demanding to know how they performed." read more here.

Is this really worse? I see this as a passive way to get my attention, to let me know that you have a system in place to foil the foul ups that often fall through the gaping cracks in customer service.

I went to a Subway recently and the cashier chatted on her cell phone while I inconveniently expected her to ring up my six inch turkey on whole wheat. She seemed annoyed that I stuck my money in front of her face. Now, my action may have been a little aggressive, but she clearly was having a personal cell phone interaction while she working the register.

I never said anything.

If I had received a follow up email, I definitely would've vented.

My sandwich was very good, by the way. I usually add Chipotle sauce, lettuce, tomato and always double-meat the turkey.

Good product, poor service.