Funny, isnt it? Like the brand “BenQ” and the word “customer service” in one sentence. How does that fit? Well, it doesnt, and thats the point. I am not sure if you all now “BenQ”, they produce, more or less affordable, computer-hardware. It happened like 3 months ago, that i felt like its finally time for more desktop space. So i bought a 24″ BenQ Widescreen for about 300 Euros.

Not everybody got a good opinion on low-cost-hardware. But i never gave a fu*k about it, because its like with people: Many can tell lots of bad storys about somebody, but if you go deeper and try to understand that person and try to understand why this person is acting somehow strange, you´ll often find out, that the person is very interesting, but is hidden behind his bad personal brand.

So, back to the topic. I also wanted to give BenQ the chance to show me, that there is more behind that, sort of mediocre, brand. And guess what, they did! I loved the screen, the quality was awesome (if you have another opinion, let me know), the size was great and the hardware felt / looked good.

What happened was: I started to like them, especially because they gave me what i wanted, for a price that no one else gave me.

But there was one more obstacle, they had to take, before i automatically would start a subliminal word of mouth campaign: CUSTOMER SERVICE. After 3 months of using my screen, it began to have kind of an pixel error. Some pixels at the right side of the screen became black. The screen was cheap, but not cheap enough, that i wouldnt care about this error.

Still, my good opinion about BenQ wasnt damaged a tiny bit. But then they did something what i call “digital suicide”. I called the official phone number of the support-hotline (found on the official BenQ website), and i heard a voice saying, that this number doesnt exist. Well, i was already kind of disappointed after that. But they still had the chance to turn this whole thing around and help me out in a great way.

I was searching for the “real” BenQ support number in an online phone book. I found a number, called there and a man was picking up the phone, saying “Oh, we are actually only distributing BenQ products, but we arent the right guys for these kind of questions”. I replied with an puzzled “Well, how are we going to solve this problem now?”, so he was searching for another number, he would give me. After he was back on the phone, he told me “This is the number, good luck”. Good luck? What is this? I have a warranty, why would i need luck?

It didnt take long for me to realize, why he just said that. The number he gave me wasnt working either. So, in the end, if any of you BenQ people will ever invest the time to support people or to use social media and you maybe read this: Your support is a pain in the ass and i have nothing good to tell about you boys. Its not my fault, its your fault, because you dont give me anything positive i could share. This article could also be about the amazing BenQ customer service, but it wasnt -> because of you.

If you ever realize, how powerful the internet is and how viral your actions can become, i am waiting for your phone call to invite me to your office, so we can talk about how to handle such situations better in the future.

PS: I want a new screen…

Have you tryed http://www.flavors.me yet? Its an amazing, simple yet functional idea. Flavors.me wants to give people the opportunity to easily create a website with their online wysiwyg interface. But me and many others use it more as an online business card, that looks stunning, because of its simple, yet stylish design. What do you think about flavors.me? Did you try it yet? Share your flavors.me urls in the comments. Here is my flavors.me url: http://flavors.me/nicoschweinzer.

As you’re reading this article, I’m pretty sure you’re into the social media “thing” already, or at least you’re interested in it and want to find out more about it and read about opinions on the topic. This is exactly what I want to talk about: Check others’ opinions. Such process involves listening to thoughts of other people, caring about what they think (even if you think its bullsh*t) and maybe commenting and starting a discussion. See? After three sentences about social media, we’ve arrived at the point, where we talk about interaction, which I think is crucial, because communication is one of the deepest desires of every human being.

People want to share, they want to tell their stories, plus they (who wouldn’t) would like to have a little ego-boost. Lots of people don’t like to listen to other people’s stories (especially when they’re not just talking, but actually doing a monologue). They would try to get out of the conversation as soon as possible and, if possible, avoid further contact. I know that feeling and I can tell, that most of the time, the real problem with listening to those type of people isn’t actually that they tell you their stories, but that they had success, and some people don’t want to hear that. Their ego is interrupting all the time, while they are listening to the person who is talking, they already have five stories in queue about themselves and can’t wait until it’s their turn. Everyone, including you and I, wants to have their ego boosted in some ways, especially during conversations.

When you experience this, the desire to take the spotlight, you can choose to make a difference and increase your chance to meet new people/friends/followers/fans. Don’t blame the person, really, its about you. Stop crying. you want to be a character? You got to make the difference. Do not only hear people out, but fully devote yourself to listen to what they have to say. Use your heart, use your mind and if you can give a valuable contribution to the conversation, do it! If you dont, ask questions. Not to pretend that you’re interested, but (if you’re really listening) because there are always questions to ask and it’s a chance for you to get a little more knowledge. Your conversational partner will thank you for, either with a real “thank you man” or with him realizing, that you are “different”, because you really listen. Unlike many others, we all know them… you made a difference, and your conversational partner will remember that, trust me.

PS: Don’t worry, you wouldnt believe how quick people can finish their monologue, if you just let them go. And when that happens, its showtime for you, they want to get to know you (because you are different – remember?) and now it’s showtime for you