I’m currently sitting in my parents front room writing from a 6 year old laptop, trying not to notice my mothers attempts at cardio kick boxing. All of this because an order I placed with a certain phone company is getting screwed up real bad. I tell you what, as good as ATT’s rates are on DSL, it really isn’t worth the pain in the patookus that dealing with their customer service can be.

–Giants Related–

So why write this here? why on a sports blog? because the experience I’m having here and now with this company parallels some of the complaints and issues I’ve heard about the park. A major brand that wants you to pay your fee, sit down and shut up.

Once again, I would like to emphasize that this certainly isn’t a decision that comes from the board room on a memo in plainly stated laser printed type. No, it’s a breakdown somewhere in the system. A failure to instill the brand in the institution as a whole.
In the case of ATT customer service. In the case of Giants Baseball, the fan.

The face of your company isn’t always the man you hire to represent your company. It’s often the lowest man on the payroll. Customer service isn’t exaclty a high paying position, but it actually costs a fan quite a bit of pocket change to stay with the company. So something has to be instilled at a deeper level, deeper than profits or wins and losses. Your constituancy, if you will, needs to catch the vision.

I am a Giants fan because my father is a Giants fan and he taught me to love that team. We went to more A’s games as a child, but that was about group outings with sports teams and church, it wasn’t for love of that team.

My first day at the stick was something different, something special. My father came alive with memories there, things he told me about baseball and his father. Watching Mays and McCovey and screaming “hit the ball Willie!” and loving it. I found out at Candlestick that my Grandfather was recruited by the Cardinals shortly after WWII. He turned them down to raise his family. And while I often wonder what his carreer would have been like had he played profesional ball, I can’t imagine ever rooting for the Cardinals.

My feelings for this team run deep. Deeper than the boxs, deep enough to turn down employment in LA, deep enough to kick my wife out of the house when she wanted me to turn off game 7 in 2002. So when I say I feel betrayed by the brand, I’d like to think it means something.

I’d like to see the park named after the team or something germane to the city or baseball. I’d like to see the corperate sponsorship buy in to Giants baseball, not have Giants baseball prostitute it’s crown jewel to the highest bidders. Our park wreaks of sponsor-mongoring. I wouldn’t care so much if I saw an ad every 36 inches if it were at least orange and black.

Develope a style guide for crying out loud. Let those guys know that it means somthing ot be a part of the organization. If you want to be a part of the team, you’ve got to do your part. Look like a team player, wear the uniform. From the top to the bottom, take some pride in being a Giant.

–End Giants Related–
As for ATT, Could we at least be Cingular park? That way our park isn’t being sponsored by the big blue and white. Heck you could totaly buy into the whole everyone is on there cellphone here at Cingular Park. At least then it would make somekind of sense.

BTW I want my DSL up and I want it now. Why does a technician from my old provider have to call you guys up and kick yer butts, just so you can get snippety and hang up on him. If you need great customer service for broadband check out SpeakEasy.They can be a little pricey, but the Customer Service is top shelf. This Giants fan is not a fan of ATT.