My strategy with this assignment was to read just the email string first, starting at the bottom with the student’s initial email to Steve Jobs. My hope with this approach was to avoid shaping my reaction with the opinion of others and what must be endless feedback about who’s right or wrong. My initial reaction is that this student seems to be a typical journalist, self-important, as if her grade is somehow more important than the support calls from millions of Apple customers. She cites six voicemails left for the Media relations department and mentions her grade six times. The Media Relations Department is no doubt prioritizing to keep up with true problems (like Jobs alludes to) and I am inclined to take their side. I may be biased because of the technical support/customer service work that I’ve done in the past.
I am truly surprised that Jobs responded at all, I would think a better tact for him to take would have been to ignore the email. Once he started responding to her emails it may have been easier to just answer her three questions or delegate someone else to provide the standard Apple responses.
Good blog. You may be right. Perhaps Steve Jobs should have ignored her e-mails and invested his time on something with a greater return.
ReplyDeleteI give this blog 4 out of 5 stars.
Great blog, I am surprised just has you are that Jobs responded at all. I would have just ignored the emails!
ReplyDeleteI'd give you 4 out of 5 stars!
I agree that Jobs would have been better of not responding. At least then, he wouldn't have any of this backlash.
ReplyDelete4 out of 5 stars.
I do not think that Jobs should have responded as well. His response made things much worse for him. 3.5 out of 5
ReplyDeleteGreat strategy for analyzing this communication! I did not realize she mentioned the grade six times, and thus confirms the fact that I feel she was provoking Jobs to get a response. Good observation
ReplyDelete4 of 5 stars
Great blog, it really made me think about my own personal biases towards this piece. I too worked in customer service for many years so I feel I have many of the same ingrained sentiments. Also, I must agree that once he responded he was stuck in a rut leaving a persistent journalist knowing that he was at least reading her scrutiny of the company. 5 out of 5.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed suprising that Steve Jobs himself responded back to the student. I agree with you - if he had taken the time to respond, he could have at least forwarded her request to the Media Relations department or at the very least communicated to her that they would try to get to her request. It seems like Apple's customer service skills are lacking.
ReplyDeleteGood work. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Like Lilia I think Jobs could have forwarded her request onto public relations or someone that could have answered her questions. I think our approach to the assignment was interesting as it really allowed you to keep open minded as long as you could. 4 stars
ReplyDeleteVery nice work to observe how many times Chelsea mentioned her grade! However, as much as Chelsea may have been provocative in her somewhat aggressive approach, it is still true that none of us likes to be ignored. If no one responded to her, then it cannot be said that any communication took place between them.
ReplyDeleteI think that you are right on that once Steve started to reply to the email it would have been easier to just give her a good answer or pass it off to some department, but it seems like he wanted to go in for the KO.
ReplyDeleteIt would have just been as easy to pass her email off to someone else or just hit the delete button. By responding he just made it worse. Great Blog. 4.5 stars
ReplyDeleteDaniel, this was excellent approach and great attention to detail.I must add the final conclusion about once Jobs responded tends to echo a sentiment I share.
ReplyDelete