Hacker News Reader

Comment by DavidSJ | Hacker News Reader

On a few occasions I’ve called the phone number on a professional vehicle’s “how’s my driving?” bumper sticker to report the driver for good driving. It’s always a fun experience.

View on HN

Amazing idea. I’m sure the person on the line is… not used to this.

I remember one time having a super helpful person at Home Depot walk me through a home project I needed some advice on so I asked to talk to their manager to compliment/thank them.

After a few minutes the manager came over and looked so ready for me to berate them about something only to look incredibly shocked that I was actually complimenting the service I had just received. Was nice for everyone.

I’ve done this a few times in the past as well. But I found it’s less stressful for everyone if you preface it first like, “You’ve been really helpful. Can I tell your manager or mention you in a survey or something?” (Note: direct managers at stores don’t always have the ability to do much to reward good employees and it might be more helpful to fill out a survey or something that corporate sees.)

I would be worried about angering the manager if they learned that this super-helpful employee spent half an hour chit-chatting with a customer instead of doing other tasks. Kinda like how agents are under time pressure in call centers.

That's quite nice of you, though I don't think it is as rare as you suspect. My son works retail as a supervisor and his report is that, while complaints are the main reason customers escalate to him, he does reasonably frequently also get customers who want to compliment an employee.

I've thought about doing that kind of thing but always worry that it might end up hurting them if the company has some kind of binary "number of complaint line phone calls" metric for each employee.

I've heard too many horror stories about employees/stores getting punished when you give them 4 out of 5 stars since (according to upper management) it implies that something was less than perfect.

I once hit one star by accident so I called back and navigated multiple transfers back to the same call center's manager to let them know it was intended to be five stars. Everyone I spoke to seemed quite charmed as it had never happened before.

I often give drivers a thumbs up when they are careful around bikes. German drivers are especially wary of cyclists, and I'm often surprised by how constantly they look out for me.

Be careful there! You need only one idiot to become a meat in a wheelchair. It’s my personal data point. Luckily it was only very close call. I can walk, run and dance again.

Which is why I am grateful for decent drivers. There’s a reason I don’t ride motorcycles anymore though!

I’ve done that in bad weather. The professional drivers will keep the speed over the passes. I love reporting this. I’ve seen so many people drive in the ice and snow like it’s dry pavement and end up crashed.

I've tried similar things and the person on the other end isn't interested. I'm bothering / interrupting them by trying to call in and praise someone. They're not being incentivized to take praise calls.

I have done this and was told that the driver gets a safe driving certificate. (I was specifically calling because I had watched a semi prevent an accident by turning on their flashers and blocking lanes)

When working with technicians I like to tell them and their manager that they’re doing a great job, 5/5 stars. I usually also throw in that whatever they’re being paid, it’s not enough.

The customer service people at 1-800-EAT-SHIT laughed at me when I did that. Then they sold me some of my own "Don't like my driving? Call 1-800-EAT-SHIT!" bumper stickers.

I do the same at restaurants; ask to see the manager then tell them that my server has been extraordinary (when they have been). I try not to do this when it's obviously busy, etc. I also don't try to fool them with a stern "see your manager" demand then trick them.

I once called the "send us your ideas" feedback hotline of a highway station, suggesting this and that. The person on the phone was like "ok... but do you have complains? why are you even suggesting ideas?"

— Alright, I’d like to also lodge a complaint.

— Now we’re talking. What is it?

— I want to complain you’re not taking my suggestions seriously.

I should start doing this. Fine idea

Reply on news.ycombinator.com