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Following discussion in a thread which became very off-topic, I thought it best to start a new topic (which will doubtless meander off-topic itself in the usual human way). It's a bit of a rant as well, and a few of you here may very well feel it's aimed at you.
All of us here, whether we modify our cars or not, have contact with independent commercial companies/organisations varying from VW dealers to very specialist tuners. We each have expectations and those expectations vary among individuals.
Your individual level of expectations and how you deal with the situation when they aren't met, is key to how happy or frustrated you will feel. This applies equally to personal relationships - If you are going to have a tick box list against a potential partner you may never experience true love or happiness - You love people
in spite of their human faults. Businesses are made up of people and really there is not a lot of difference except that you won't want to sleep with your hairy tuner, although you might want to with the hot girl on reception at your VW dealer.
Companies invariably recognise the importance of customer service to their business and most strive to do the best they can. Even those who, in my direct experience, I have found exceptional (JKM), don't always call me back as quickly as I might wish. Others who have over several years always been extremely helpful as suppliers (Awesome), very rarely call me back as promised. Milltek usually take ages to get back to me but the quality of their service when they do is second-to-none. TTshop are the same. People at VW Racing I need to speak to are often not available at all! These are just a few examples and the list goes on. But in all cases I don't stress myself out with high expectations - I just remain calm and chase it later. The same applies to emails - They just join a queue - Welcome to the real world. It's simply not realistic to rely on emails as being effective communication and too many people hide behind them due to their expectations of a fast reply - "Why haven't you answered my email?" they say, and then make fundamental and sweeping judgements. There is no substitute for spoken communication. Use all methods of communication and calmly and politely chase things, doing so without fancy expectations. Who are you to sit in judgement anyway? - Prepare to be judged yourself!
I've spent time at the premises of most of the companies I buy from and understand their pressures and workloads - What's the point of getting irritated by your high expectations not being met. Times are hard (so we are led to believe) and economic recession doesn't exactly encourage top heaviness in staffing levels. This in turn, even with the best will in the world, makes it more difficult for companies to meet the expectations which some customers have. Some customers are principally led by trying to milk the absolute maximum out of every single purchase and often regardless of the quality of what they are buying. As part of that attitude they often have high expectations which are totally unsympathetic to those other human beings they are dealing with.
What's more important are the actual products and services offered for purchase. Will you deny yourself the opportunity to buy something first-class just because the customer service doesn't meet your unrealistically high expectations? In an ideal world recieving both would be perfect, but, as in all relationships there's a compromise.
This doesn't excuse companies from not trying their utmost to provide better customer service and responses - It's just a reality check and a suggestion that you may get better results by being more understanding and tolerant and working
with and not
against people and all their human faults.
Didn't your mother teach you that you'll always get more from using honey than vinegar?
Either way, how you behave towards others is your decision, your karma, your life.
