In the last post I looked at Sumner's claim that government makes everything worse and had to disagree.
"My experience tells me that you don't have to be a government entity to either have long lines or be rude. "
"Someone that makes $25 dollars an hour at the Post Office and someone that makes the same at Cablevision has the same basic incentives-they make decent money and don't want to screw up and be fired. My experiences with both seem to be getting better all the time."
"What libertarians like Sumner can't seem to imagine is there being any incentive other than the inventive of economic competition. But remember, someone who works at C or the PO don't think of themselves as being a government or private worker just someone with a decent paying job that they had better not screw up."
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/08/sumner-on-government-and-culture.html
I don't think it's across the board either way. Some private companies have excellent customer service and some don't. I find that places like Wallmart and Costco don't. There seems to be no worries about economic competition. Trying to flag down anyone for help at these and many other places is an exercise in trying to talk to someones rapidly retreating back.
There are some government agencies that are not pleasant to deal with-but not so much the IRS as immigration and naturalization. But of course that's not because government is inefficient but because that's how Republicans think these agencies should behave.
If you need any help with these offices they treat you as if you're guilty of something until proven innocent.
Overall, it seems to me that both government and private business is always working on improving the customer experience-though in reality, the government rightly doesn't see us as customers primarily but citizens.
But both the government and business is constantly trying to improve things for customers/citizens and technology offers an unlimited array of possibilities for doing that.
If there isn't a huge difference between government and private enterprise regarding service it's clear to me that where there is a huge cultural difference is between England and America. I say this after vising England 5 days last week. There folks in customer service actually do their job.
Even at the subway there is customer service. Try finding anything like that in NY. Now I'll admit that CS is a big issue for me-it's a real pet peeve. I'm not an especially demanding customer-and I usually leave a big tip-but I expect good customer service.
Sometimes I wonder if maybe I desired the impossible here. But after my short time in England I see that my ideal isn't Utopian that it exists in England. I guess this shows that even if I left at 3 years old, in my soul, I'm still an Englishman.
Just bad manners in particular really gets me going. And they just have manners in England. This is what you have to call a 'cultural difference.' It isn't political. I mean the fact that the Conservatives are in power isn't the reason the English are polite. They were just as polite when Gordon Brown was in office and before Margaret Thatcher won in 1980.
Culture is a difficult-and controversial issue. Many people don't even like the word-like Noah Smith. But how do you discuss an aspect of a country that is neither political or economic? It takes along time for politics to change culture.
Not everything about English culture is better to be sure. But CS certainly is.
P.S. Things like manners and politeness, I think are very important cultural matters to study. I said I'm not demanding about customer service-I don't ask for a lot of things or special perks. But what does get me is if there is any show of attitude. Seriously, if you're in a bad mood I shouldn't know about it, Not if you're serving the public.
If you can't help it then stay home and grouse to your friends on Twitter. Don't come in and try to take it out on me.
I find that rude people mostly think they're 'just being real' or 'just being honest' but to me they are mostly just being themselves which is stupid.
"My experience tells me that you don't have to be a government entity to either have long lines or be rude. "
"Someone that makes $25 dollars an hour at the Post Office and someone that makes the same at Cablevision has the same basic incentives-they make decent money and don't want to screw up and be fired. My experiences with both seem to be getting better all the time."
"What libertarians like Sumner can't seem to imagine is there being any incentive other than the inventive of economic competition. But remember, someone who works at C or the PO don't think of themselves as being a government or private worker just someone with a decent paying job that they had better not screw up."
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/08/sumner-on-government-and-culture.html
I don't think it's across the board either way. Some private companies have excellent customer service and some don't. I find that places like Wallmart and Costco don't. There seems to be no worries about economic competition. Trying to flag down anyone for help at these and many other places is an exercise in trying to talk to someones rapidly retreating back.
There are some government agencies that are not pleasant to deal with-but not so much the IRS as immigration and naturalization. But of course that's not because government is inefficient but because that's how Republicans think these agencies should behave.
If you need any help with these offices they treat you as if you're guilty of something until proven innocent.
Overall, it seems to me that both government and private business is always working on improving the customer experience-though in reality, the government rightly doesn't see us as customers primarily but citizens.
But both the government and business is constantly trying to improve things for customers/citizens and technology offers an unlimited array of possibilities for doing that.
If there isn't a huge difference between government and private enterprise regarding service it's clear to me that where there is a huge cultural difference is between England and America. I say this after vising England 5 days last week. There folks in customer service actually do their job.
Even at the subway there is customer service. Try finding anything like that in NY. Now I'll admit that CS is a big issue for me-it's a real pet peeve. I'm not an especially demanding customer-and I usually leave a big tip-but I expect good customer service.
Sometimes I wonder if maybe I desired the impossible here. But after my short time in England I see that my ideal isn't Utopian that it exists in England. I guess this shows that even if I left at 3 years old, in my soul, I'm still an Englishman.
Just bad manners in particular really gets me going. And they just have manners in England. This is what you have to call a 'cultural difference.' It isn't political. I mean the fact that the Conservatives are in power isn't the reason the English are polite. They were just as polite when Gordon Brown was in office and before Margaret Thatcher won in 1980.
Culture is a difficult-and controversial issue. Many people don't even like the word-like Noah Smith. But how do you discuss an aspect of a country that is neither political or economic? It takes along time for politics to change culture.
Not everything about English culture is better to be sure. But CS certainly is.
P.S. Things like manners and politeness, I think are very important cultural matters to study. I said I'm not demanding about customer service-I don't ask for a lot of things or special perks. But what does get me is if there is any show of attitude. Seriously, if you're in a bad mood I shouldn't know about it, Not if you're serving the public.
If you can't help it then stay home and grouse to your friends on Twitter. Don't come in and try to take it out on me.
I find that rude people mostly think they're 'just being real' or 'just being honest' but to me they are mostly just being themselves which is stupid.
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