Wrong Number
Wednesday - March 17, 2010
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Del.icio.usI may be the most reachable newspaper publisher in the nation. That’s not necessarily a good thing, it’s just the way it is for me. Although I have a really great assistant, I answer all of my own phone calls. Most people are pretty surprised when I answer the phone.
A couple of months ago, we got a phone upgrade of sorts at the MidWeek office. We were on the original phone system, which consisted of equipment one-step above tin cans and string. We went to being on par with the company system used primarily by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
It was really great, as the phone equipment is top-notch and all our phone extensions conformed to those used companywide. Our office received phones that were freed up when the S-B circulation customer service department moved out of our building in Kaneohe.
That means we would be assigned the extension numbers used by that department. I was offered a choice of what phone number I wanted. I selected something that was easy to remember and it kind of had a mnemonic, memorable sequence.
What I didn’t know at the time was that the number I selected belonged to the customer service supervisor. She was the person you called if you had a complaint about your newspaper delivery that couldn’t be resolved by anyone else. In other words, she handled all the calls no one else wanted.
One of the unique things about the new phones is that I can forward calls to my cell phone. In my position, I have to be available 24/7, which I am.
It started one early Sunday morning, which is my only day to sleep in, when I had several complaint calls about newspaper delivery.
I didn’t realize what was happening and so I assumed everyone was misdialing or had the wrong number. On subsequent Sundays the same thing happened, so I investigated only to find out that, in the past, the circulation supervisor had given out her direct phone number to chronic complaining customers.
That explains why when I identify myself as “Ron Nagasawa, the publisher of MidWeek,” the reply I usually get is, “You’re full of it. I want to speak with your supervisor!”
Ron’s WEBSITE of the week http://www.tahitinuiinternational.com
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