Residents of Saratoga Springs, NY have been noticeably more clueless over the last two months because of delivery problems with the Wall Street Journal. Apparently there is some kind of turf war among carriers. So every morning I go online to https://services.wsj.com, sign in with my account number and login, and report the missed delivery.
A few minutes later I get an email that confirms my delivery problem and tells me I will be credited for the missed issue and the local office is working on the problem. It then goes on to advise me: “In the future, please go to services.wsj.com to report any problems with your delivery. It’s easy and quick to use, and our delivery staff is notified directly from the site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
See the problem? Since that’s exactly what I did, WSJ assuming I did not do it puts into question the rest of the message. And the takeaway is that I assume they are in fact doing nothing about my delivery problem, which in fact they are not.
Then, every few days they vary the mix and send an email that says “To make sure we provide the field office with everything they need to resolve this issue, please answer any of the questions below that apply to your situation.
Location questions:
— When did the problem begin?
— Where is the paper usually delivered?” Etc.
Once I rose to the bait and responded that nothing had changed about my delivery situation (the house has been here for 130 years) but it didn’t actually make any difference. Nor should it, since this is boilerplate that some helpful scribe inserted in the rotation (“if missed deliver complaints = >5, then print ‘n’ ”) so I wouldn’t see the same thing constantly. Instead of fixing the problem, they’ve focused on creating an extended library of customer service correspondence for people who get the same message over and over again.
The lesson here: If you have a contact strategy as elaborate as this one, then there’s something wrong at the core that needs to be addressed. Handle it, instead of asking some copywriter to paper over it. Oh, and don’t insert a marketing message when a customer is already pissed off, such as “Here’s an opportunity to give a great gift at a great price: The Wall Street Journal Print and Online for just $119!” Hey, I could give it to my dad… then he and I could both not receive the paper.
Another unfortunate example of trying to automate what needs to be handled by either a real human being or more complex automation! I had the exact same problem with the WSJ, but it was resolved after a week when I actually got a human being on the line, who was very apologetic and comped me part of my subscription. Nothin’ worse than jonesin’ for the Journal!
Its a joke…. been having problems. I called every day, it was always we will escalate the issue and we will credit you. I was getting about 3-4 papers out of 6 per week. They don’t care, I worked out a deal with my 711 guy. As long as I buy coffee he give me the paper for. 50
I am having a similar delivery issue. They have been giving me credits but unfortunately the credits don’t mean anything..of wait they do. It means I will be getting nothing more than I was was getting prior to filing complaints. I should have asked for the paper for free the rest of my life as I am sure it would not make a difference to what I am getting now.
Stevan, since I wrote this post things have significantly improved at least on my end and the web interface has also been made more efficient. What’s clear to me is that continuing problems are likely on the carrier end: the company’s sending out alerts and the carrier is ignoring them. At this point my advice would be to try to escalate the matter through the website (not sure the steps for this, but you can find them) rather than waste time on the phone with a call that is routed to the local carrier.
WSJ somewhat fixed the issue with delivery issue. They switched me tp being mailed the newspaper. However, even being delivered by mail they still come up short. At this point I gotta smile. It has become somewhat amusing.
Stevan, I tried that as well at an earlier address, in a sketchy neighborhood in LA where they didn’t home deliver the WSJ at all. Arrived with the afternoon’s mail or sometimes the next day. Not ideal.
I can’t describe how BADLY the wsj manages its delivery system..when any change is involved..been with them for 15 years and every change is a disaster…ready to toss them in the recycling bin…sorry about effect on my neighbors in Chicopee MA
I feel your pain Kevin.
Ditto. Been trying to get a paper delivered for about a month. I call every day to hear things are being “escalated.” For some reason, I find this shocking.
Eileen, sounds like you have a lame ass carrier. That’s a problem to escalate for sure. What got my knickers in a twist, though, was the automated clueless emails that followed up my complaint. Are you getting those? Can you share?
How do you tell WSJ customer service is lying? Their lips are moving!
Egregious and shockingly poor WSJ delivery service.
Although I have been a reader since 1968, these guys are playing the game for all its worth, all the time criticizing others for their dereliction.
Over 50 missed deliveries per year–nothing done over last 12 years, except for “escalation,” talk, and meetings.
My carrier delivered the WSJ and the daily Hattiesburg American both. Everything was fine. Then on 4/5 the Hattiesburg American went to 3 issues per week – and so did WSJ delivery. Still hasn’t been straightened out despite “escalation”. I’ve no clue what’s going on.
No WSJ delivered to my home 9 times in past 2 weeks. WSJ CSRs are ineffective in solving problem. Here’s my email today to Tim Pratt, Division Director East/Circulation, The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Barron’s at Dow Jones & Co.Inc in Chicopee, MA. tim.pratt@wsj.com
Tim:
No home delivery of WSJ 9 times in past two weeks.
Same address and same subscription for about five years or more. House has been here since 1820.
BUT, I did find in my driveway this morning yesterday’s NYT, yesterday’s Daily Freeman(?) and today’s Daily Freeman, in nice blue plastic bags. They look like a car ran over them.
Pay for a new Caddy and get a used Buick and a couple of Fiats.
And I didn’t enjoy repeated phone conversations with D-J CSRs and a supervisor that were repetitive, ineffective, inane and annoying.
Any chance you can fix this problem?
Thanks.