|
Simply send an e-mail to sales@mindconnection.com. While phoning may seem faster, it really isn't. |
| |
| Caution: Never e-mail your credit card information to anybody.
Caution: Avoid giving credit card information over the phone. Phones are not secure. Nothing is more secure than a browser. Our system provides 128-bit encryption--the safest available. |
| Why businesses prefer e-mail:
The typical phone call lasts 20 minutes, and almost never addresses anything not already answered on the Website. The typical e-mail takes only a minute or two to answer. So, we can choose between helping 3 customers an hour and getting nothing else done or helping as many customers as we need to and still be able to run the business. Thanks for respecting that.
Why we don't do faxes:
We adopted a no fax policy in the early part of this decade, due to the information management problems inherent in faxes. They simply emulate paper, and that creates huge problems in accessing the information in them.
If you absolutely, positively must resort to phoning:
Call 913-831-7483 during regular business hours (US Central Time, GMT -6), Monday - Friday. We reply to e-mails seven days a week.
- Feel free to e-mail us with your ph#, time zone, and best time for us to call you.
- If you call about the status of your order, we will ask you to e-mail us the receipt e-mailed to you at time of purchase. We do not aid in phishing scams by giving order information over the phone.
- If you want to call to place an order because "I don't want my credit card information to go over the Internet," then you are unaware of a basic fact about credit cards--all c/c information goes over the Internet to be processed. Period.
If you're stranded on a tropical island with no computer and just your GSM phone, then, yeah, we'll be happy to take your call. Please don't wade into the water while making the call.
|
| No, we don't try to automate the phone process:
- We do not use a call center in India. This means you won't reach "a real person" who will read from a script and leave you steaming.
- But a real person is just that. And there's only so much "real person" to go around.
- We do not torture our customers with a "Press 9 to repeat the senseless choices" message.
Why your call may not be answered:
- We may be answering e-mails. Customers who e-mail get priority service.
- We may be on the line with another customer. We don't put people on hold unless there's a good reason to. And there seldom is.
- We may be working on something to help a customer who e-mailed us for information or assistance.
|
|
To save you time, here are the answers to the most frequently asked phone questions:
- What's the status of my order?. Forward your confirmation e-mail, with a note at the top asking us to check on this (and change the subject line accordingly). If you call, we will ask you to e-mail. We do not provide order information over the phone.
- How much is it? Prices are on the Website.
- Is it stock? Yes, it is. Exception: it's marked "pre-order." Sometimes, a stockout occurs before we can remove the product--but this rarely happens. If it does, we will let you know ASAP and put the order and the charge on hold.
- Did it ship? We need your order information so we can look into this. If you call to ask this question, we're going to ask you to reply to one of your three confirmation e-mails. Save time by skipping the call.
- When can I expect it to arrive? The Website provides various shipping options and you can pick the one that best suits your needs. Order fulfillment is same day, if the order is made before noon Central time. Orders are not filled on weekends and holidays. Orders placed during peak shopping times, such as just before Christmas, will encounter delays. Exception: Products that are electronic downloads. Obviously, these "ship" pretty fast!
Our favorite:
- Why all these charges COD? This question always come from Canadian customers. Answer: You have a bloated government and the money to pay for it doesn't grow on trees. Instead, your government inflicts you with ghastly fees for the "crime" of buying from your neighbors to the south. Yeah, you're being robbed. But it's your government that's doing the robbery--not FedEx or us. You might want to take a look at eBay and notice all of the "No shipping to Canada" notices. Please stop blaming USA merchants for this problem. Only Canadian citizens can fix the Canadian government. Sure, that's a big job. But you're a great people. Get going on that!
|
Most callers just want to know there's a real person at the company they are about to send money to. Yes, there's usually at least one real person here and we've been in business online since 1997.
Ever wonder why companies bury their phone numbers? There are many reasons. Here are some:
- About 70% of calls involve asking how much something costs. The price is on the Website. Companies are bombarded with calls that just don't make sense and handling those is why it's so hard for people who need to call to get through.
- Service reps can filter issues by importance and call the customers who really do need help over the phone but who would otherwise wait an eternity on hold. A very visible phone number means those important calls can't be handled in a timely manner--you're going to be tortured with elevator music or stupid advertisements while you wait forever on hold, or your call will be shuttled to someone who is just plain clueless. Have you "been there, done that?"
- Calls are enormously resource-intensive. Just do the math--how many half-hour calls a day can a company handle, before service suffers or prices go up? That's15 calls per staffer per day, assuming the two breaks required by law. This adds to the cost of every product and service.
- It's simply not as effective for the customer. If you send an e-mail, you are much more likely to pose a precise question someone can answer intelligently. Well, at least your question can be precise.... :)
- E-mail creates a record, phone calls don't. With the record, a company rep can follow up very easily. This makes for a better customer experience.
Why will e-mail work better for you?
- E-mailing saves you time. Instead of waiting while someone on the phone looks things up, you just send your question and then open an e-mail to read the response.
- You have a record. Why give that up? And, you don't have to take notes while someone is talking to you!
- You get a response that is far more orderly and detailed than a verbal one is.
- You don't wait on hold, and you don't get shuttled to a call center in India.
|
| |
| Relative merits |
| Email (preferred by dentists, 10 to 1 or whatever that is):
- Upside: Your e-mail client is quick for you to use, and it keeps a record of your communication.
- Downside: You will send your e-mail from your e-mail server through probably 30 hops to our e-mail server. It might get lost (so if we don't reply, contact us again).
|
Phone:
- Upside: It appears to be quick.
- Downside: There is no record of your communication. Also, we won't have had time to research your question and will probably ask you to e-mail us information so we can e-mail you a reply, anyhow.
|
| If you can't get to your e-mail, then call us. We call people, too. We'll help you the best we can, which is usually pretty darn good. |
|
|
|
|