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Being in tech support and customer service for a long time plus being into cars, I can make car analogies for just about everything. Cases in point:
When a customer asks the difference between Windows Vista and 7: "Windows Vista was like a car with a lot of hype but was released with a lot of problems. 7 is the same car but redesigned with all those problems fixed and then some." Another way you can look it at was: "Besides all the know issues, Vista was also like a car with a tow hitch that no trailer manufacturer had a compatible receiver for in over 6 months. With 7, that problem was largely ironed out."
Speaking of Vista, when a customer says that Micro$oft should give people Windows 7 for free because they admitted that they messed up with Vista: "Let's say you buy a car from Chevy. The transmission fails after a year, and soon after many more people complain Chevy admits they installed a transmission that couldn't handle the motor and the next version of the car will come with the right transmission. You storm into the dealership and tell the manager that because Chevy admitted they screwed up with your car, that you demand that they give you the next-gen model for free and take yours back. What do you think he'll tell you?" *
When a customer complains and says we're a horrible company because he has to pay to get his 6-year-old modem replaced (unless he has a protection plan): "You buy a car from say Ford and two years after the warranty runs out you need it fixed. Is Ford a horrible company because they're going to tell you the repair is going to cost money?"
When a customer thinks it's poor service to charge him if the problem turns out to be inside the home (Like all ISPs, we are only responsible for outside wiring unless you have a protection plan): "You buy some aftermarket parts for your Mustang. The dealer offers to install them for you which will give you a warranty on them as well. You decline and say you'll do it yourself. A few months later one of the parts break. You bring it back to the dealer who tells you that because you don't have a warranty on the aftermarket parts they are only responsible for the factory parts and to fix the aftermarket item you can either pay to get it fixed, or call the manufacturer of the part. Are you going to tell the dealer that you think it's poor service for them to do that?"
To the old fart who threatened to go back to dial-up because he needed to power cycle his DSL modem once every *GASP!* 1 or 2 months: "Let's imagine that your dial-up was a bicycle. You get rid of the bicycle and upgrade to a nice new sports car, which is your DSL. While your bicycle hardly every needed anything done to it, your sports car requires regular maintenance like any other car. What you are saying is the equivalent of threatening to sell your car back to the dealer and going back to riding the bicycle because you don't like that you have to do regular maintenance on the car."
Now obviously, it's okay to say the first one. The last four.... might get me in trouble if I actually said that to a customer. :/
*Before anyone says anything, I'm sure a company like GM would offer to install a better transmission in said car, or beef up the transmission with newer parts....
When a customer asks the difference between Windows Vista and 7: "Windows Vista was like a car with a lot of hype but was released with a lot of problems. 7 is the same car but redesigned with all those problems fixed and then some." Another way you can look it at was: "Besides all the know issues, Vista was also like a car with a tow hitch that no trailer manufacturer had a compatible receiver for in over 6 months. With 7, that problem was largely ironed out."
Speaking of Vista, when a customer says that Micro$oft should give people Windows 7 for free because they admitted that they messed up with Vista: "Let's say you buy a car from Chevy. The transmission fails after a year, and soon after many more people complain Chevy admits they installed a transmission that couldn't handle the motor and the next version of the car will come with the right transmission. You storm into the dealership and tell the manager that because Chevy admitted they screwed up with your car, that you demand that they give you the next-gen model for free and take yours back. What do you think he'll tell you?" *
When a customer complains and says we're a horrible company because he has to pay to get his 6-year-old modem replaced (unless he has a protection plan): "You buy a car from say Ford and two years after the warranty runs out you need it fixed. Is Ford a horrible company because they're going to tell you the repair is going to cost money?"
When a customer thinks it's poor service to charge him if the problem turns out to be inside the home (Like all ISPs, we are only responsible for outside wiring unless you have a protection plan): "You buy some aftermarket parts for your Mustang. The dealer offers to install them for you which will give you a warranty on them as well. You decline and say you'll do it yourself. A few months later one of the parts break. You bring it back to the dealer who tells you that because you don't have a warranty on the aftermarket parts they are only responsible for the factory parts and to fix the aftermarket item you can either pay to get it fixed, or call the manufacturer of the part. Are you going to tell the dealer that you think it's poor service for them to do that?"
To the old fart who threatened to go back to dial-up because he needed to power cycle his DSL modem once every *GASP!* 1 or 2 months: "Let's imagine that your dial-up was a bicycle. You get rid of the bicycle and upgrade to a nice new sports car, which is your DSL. While your bicycle hardly every needed anything done to it, your sports car requires regular maintenance like any other car. What you are saying is the equivalent of threatening to sell your car back to the dealer and going back to riding the bicycle because you don't like that you have to do regular maintenance on the car."
Now obviously, it's okay to say the first one. The last four.... might get me in trouble if I actually said that to a customer. :/
*Before anyone says anything, I'm sure a company like GM would offer to install a better transmission in said car, or beef up the transmission with newer parts....
Didn't go too well....
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