Listen To This Story

I don’t know about you, but I had a very relaxing Labor Day. It got me ready to face the world. 

Tuesday, however, two big companies ruined my day. And it reminded me what these elections are really about: the interests and rights of ordinary people in a world increasingly dominated and shaped by the wealthy and their corporations.

About whether government of, by, and for the people is here to protect us or to let big capital treat us no better than feudal lords did their serfs centuries ago. As the Republican nominee, Donald Trump the billionaire — and billionaire-funded candidate — does not hide what side he is on, frequently repeating the party mantra about taking off onerous regulation of business as if it serves no point to hold companies accountable. 

I’m sure you have your own stories of corporate madness. I hope mine resonates. It’s pretty ordinary stuff — which is exactly what should not be so hard for our corporate overlords to figure out. 

***  

Some time back, I bought a high-powered air filter for my home from Dyson, the big electronics company. It was highly rated — if you believe online reader reviews are even honest. It was expensive. But supposedly high quality, effective, and well worth it. 

It worked fine for a while. And then it started making a noise. I contacted the company and they instructed me to take it to a UPS shop and send it back to them for repair. 

I sent it back, but got no notice that they had received it. No indication, either, that they were working on it or any expected date by which it would be returned.

I tried to contact the company. Eventually I reached someone and was told that yes they had received it and they had no idea when it would be fixed but that I would hear back soon. 

I didn’t.

I contacted them multiple times, and after many maddening conversations learned that they couldn’t fix it and would be sending me a replacement machine. I told them that I had upcoming travel and to please make a note not to ship it without first checking with me to ascertain when I would be home to accept it. The rep said the note had been made.

I waited. And waited. And waited. Weeks went by. Nothing came. I left town. I heard nothing. 

I returned. I contacted them. Their records showed that it had been shipped, delivered by UPS, and was sitting in my building lobby. No “notice of shipment” from the company, no “notice of delivery” from UPS. 

Of course, that expensive machine was no longer there when I returned. Gone. Vanished. 

I contacted Dyson, and went through a long, painful process of explaining everything to their offshore, outsourced customer service people. I was given the impression that somehow this was my fault, they didn’t understand my point about requesting prior shipping notice, and finally, after repeatedly deflecting, they let me speak to a supervisor.

The supervisor was better. He listened, and understood what I was saying. He was clear that the company was in error, and said that it would send out yet another machine, this time making sure I knew when it was coming and was notified of delivery. 

He said I would hear more within 72 hours or so. 

I heard nothing. I called back, went through offshore-customer-service hell again, with all the “thank you for your patience” and “we appreciate your business,” but they didn’t read the prior notes or couldn’t find them and basically told me that they had already shipped a machine and were done. 

When I finally convinced them that they’d made a mistake, I was told I should contact UPS to investigate. I told them there was nothing to investigate: UPS had delivered a package, and it had apparently been stolen after sitting for a few days. 

They said they’d get it taken care of and… I would hear back within 72 hours. 

I didn’t. 

I called back again, and again spent several hours on chat with offshore customer service. They asked me how my day was and then made me recite the entire story again. No matter what I said, they reverted to some script and infuriatingly made me go through answering a bunch of questions. They again told me to contact UPS! 

I asked the rep to escalate to a supervisor, and she stalled for what seemed like an hour, finally doing so. 

I got a supervisor. I again explained that they owed me a machine — and that they needed to send it soon or otherwise they’d be sending it while I was away again. 

While I was on chat, I went to the UPS website and could see that it said “investigation closed.” I was able, thankfully, to get a UPS rep on the phone fairly quickly. That person said that, contrary to what Dyson had told me, I didn’t need to be doing this and that Dyson should contact them directly. I told the Dyson rep; he said, no, I needed to do it. 

Apparently, UPS had “closed” its investigation with a note that the customer had not responded. I disputed that, and the UPS rep quickly discovered that UPS had called me but….had called the wrong number. 

UPS told me they would call later that day to my right number, after which I could answer their questions and then they could close the investigation again, and notify Dyson they had closed the investigation. 

I told the Dyson rep this on the ongoing chat, and he said he would personally take charge of this (after I was already on social media broadcasting my dissatisfaction with Dyson) and make sure to get an update and would personally email me. (Dyson doesn’t seem to provide email contacts for their people, so if you get disconnected or need to reach someone, you have to start all over again with a new person.)

Anyway, here’s the update: It’s been 24 hours, and UPS has not called me back. And I haven’t received that email from Dyson. 

***  

It’s reassuring to many, apparently, to hear that Trump and the Republicans want to get government off the back of business, so that free enterprise can get going with more innovation and thrive in the marketplace. So far, Dyson is off to a roaring start in my book, and I can’t wait until they are less encumbered by onerous obligations, like being competent, logical, or fair. We don’t want consumers trampling on their right to do what only they do best. 

Meanwhile, I decided to look up Dyson. I found allegations that the founder, Sir James Dyson, had backed Britain leaving the EU, largely because he wanted to outsource to Singapore where he would save a lot of money, and it was allegedly difficult to do if he had to follow European rules. I also found that workers in some of his factories have been trying to take legal action against the company in connection with allegations of forced labor. (Dyson sued journalists for reporting this; after a long and protracted battle, it has abandoned the suit.) The High Court of England ruled that the workers had to challenge Dyson in Malaysia, not England. Later, the workers were given permission to appeal that decision, and will do so this November.

In response to my description of their maddeningly poor customer service,  the Dyson company sent this cheerful chat message:

I am glad I had the opportunity to assist you. Have a wonderful day ahead. Thank you for choosing Dyson Chat support. We appreciate your business with us. Take care! Dyson is there for you and wishes you health and happiness

And so does Trump!  

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Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to clarify that the allegations against Sir James Dyson have not yet been settled in court. 

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