An Actual Apology
In the theme of Apology Week, I’d like to frame an actual apology for my incredibly angry Virgin Mobile post. It was mean-spirited*. Virgin Mobile needs to get its act together in the Customer Service department, but the Virgin Mobile Reps themselves are not where the problem lies. And, as a Virgin Mobile Rep pointed out when they responded to my angry facebook complaint (where I told them their customer service was deplorable, accused them of dressing their reps like…er…whores, and then linked them to this post, which they read), there’s no need to disrespect the angels** (the women handing out the sandwiches). In reviewing my post, I am rather surprised at myself. I hold that women should be able to wear whatever they want without being harassed publicly for it, and here I was harassing them publicly for it. I do question the appropriateness of Virgin’s salacious “enter the virgin” marketing schtick and all the mildly suggestive content that goes along with it, but in the end my real problem was with the company’s inability to get me my cheque within 9 months (let’s see if it’s here within the year?), and putting me on hold constantly, and rarely managing to get all my bills and services right; not the fact that they had women giving out free sandwiches. Also the women weren’t dressed nearly as suggestively as I’d have you believe. They were wearing skirts and t-shirts, something that I have been known to do on numerous occasions. And I got free food from them! And also they were very professional! I also got a free sticker! What’s not to love?
So, Virgin angels, I am sorry. There was no need to attack you all over the internet like that!
And Virgin***, you do need to work on your customer service. I’ve come across quite a few dissatisfied customers on message boards, facebook posts, and blogs over the past few days. But me writing incredibly angry blog posts (in which I refer to your company as...what was it, demon spawn?) about it won’t help. I hear your customer service used to be descent. I hear that some of my friends adore you. I just want my money back, and, hopefully, to never have to go through something this frustrating again. Maybe next time I’ll just say that instead. It only took a paragraph.
*This whole incident reminds me of the months that I spent rehearsing for The Glass Menagerie. One of the main reasons why we had an assistant director was to keep the real director from flying off the handle (alright, maybe the main reason we had him was because we desperately needed him and he kept things running smoothly and filled in for the director whenever she was having a hectic time. But the second main reason was to be the hate-email bouncer. I'll explain). I myself got along very well with the director, and never did see her have a melt-down (though she did have this amusing habit of impersonating a bear during rehearsals. I still can't think why), she was apparently very fond of sending incredibly angry hate emails to anyone who happened to be unavailable to act/finance/attend/help set up for her shows. So she always sent her emails to the assistant director, who would proofread them and send them back with comments like "maybe instead of the phrase 'I hate you I hate you burn in hell', we can just say 'sorry you couldn't make it to rehearsal today, hope the antibiotics are working'...and it looks like you accidentally put the caps lock on for this entire post!" Looks like I'm becoming my old director. I'm so proud!
**One might argue that Virgin hiring attractive women in short skirts to promote their company opens these employees up to objectification, and airing a tv commercial that shows a Christmas angel in a mini dress giving out phones and winking, followed by the caption “enter the virgin” could be deemed as disrespectful towards women also—not to mention insulting to certain religious groups—but my statement was a more personal attack.
**Whom I doubt will read this
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